A severe shortage of desks and chairs at the Ndama Combined School in the Kavango East region has forced many pupils to sit on the bare floors. A few relatively lucky ones use empty maize meal bags to sit on. The school, located less than 10 kilometres east of Rundu, also battles over-crowding, with some classes accommodating 70 learners each. It has 2 420 learners in Grades One to 10 taught by 74 teachers. Two sessions in the morning and afternoon are held to accommodate all learners. Some teachers, who preferred to remain anonymous, said teaching and learning have become difficult as they cannot move around freely to help learners individually. Acting Education Director Christine Shilima told Nampa that the office was aware of overcrowding at the school. She said the issue is being addressed, but limited funds make it difficult, pointing out that 120 chairs were allocated in April 2016. Shilima called on stakeholders, individuals and private businesses to assist the ministry in procuring chairs for the school. She noted that plans are underway for a government school to be constructed at the Tuhungireni settlement at Rundu.