GOBABIS: The Epako Secondary School in Gobabis on Friday received textbooks worth N.dollars 20 000 from the Old Mutual Group Namibia, as part of the company’s efforts to reward excellence and performance in education.

The donation was made in honour of a commitment Old Mutual made to award the best-performing Government school in the region in the Grade 12 national examinations of 2011.

Handing over the award, dubbed the Old Mutual Education Excellence Award, Old Mutual’s Chief Executive Officer for Operations, Sakaria Nghikembua said the award should serve as motivation to set an even higher performance standard next time.

Nghikembua said Old Mutual believes in the ability of learners to maximise their potential if given the correct motivation and incentive.

“We believe firmly that you are all able to perform to expectation and do your best, regardless of who you are. Therefore, it is important to always set higher standards for yourself and measure your achievement according to that,” he said.

Receiving the award on behalf of the school, its principal, Dorkas Ndokosho, praised the learners and teachers for their hard work during the course of last year which led to their school winning the award.

Ndokosho called on both the school staff and learners to redouble their efforts, as other schools would also be competing for the same honours during this year’s Grade 12 national examinations.

“We will have to redouble our efforts and continue to strive towards quality results. As such, we should not underestimate other schools in the region or think too highly of ourselves,” she noted.

The textbooks cover a wide range of subjects taught at Grade 12 level.

The Grade 12 class of 2011 was the first at the Epako Secondary School, following the school’s upgrade from a junior secondary school to accommodate Grade 11 in 2010 and eventually Grade 12 last year.

The Old Mutual Education Excellence Award will be awarded annually.