Delta Secondary School Windhoek (DSSW) (german: Delta Oberschule Windhoek, DOSW) previously known as ''Deutsche Oberschule Windhoek'', is a government secondary school in
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
. Situated in the capital
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...
, it was separated from its younger counterpart Delta School Windhoek (DSW), formerly known as ''German School Windhoek'', in January 1975.
Activities
DSSW annually has a
Dragon Boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...
Race at
Avis Dam
The Avis Dam is a dam outside of Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Bot ...
. The event does not only raise money for the students but it also promotes class and school involvement. It also has an annual open air school outing for Grade 8 to Blumfelde and Grade 11 to Rock Lodge.
History
The secondary school started with 153 scholars who were taught by 10 teachers. During the first few years it occupied the building in ''Peter Müller Street'' (today
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
Street) that today houses the
College of the Arts. In July 1978 the school moved into the building of the former ''Kaiserliche Realschule'', later known as
Deutsche Höhere Privatschule
Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to:
*''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places
*''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym
*Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...
(DHPS, German Higher Private School), in ''
Leutwein Street'' (today
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
Avenue).
In 1979, the school was converted into a high school with 33 candidates completing the Matric Examinations (Cape Senior Certificate) in November of that year. At this time the school was under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Education for the Administration for Whites. This directorate ensured that each scholar had the opportunity to have scholastic education in his/her home language in his/her own culture and social sphere. This insured that all instructions for all subjects until grade 9, used German as colloquial language and as the basis of cultural events.
In 1990, the Republic of Namibia
became independent. The final (Cape Senior) matrix examinations were written in 1993, which were then replaced by the Namibian and British Cambridge syste
NSSC(the Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate). English became the language of instruction and all Namibian scholars were allowed to enrol. DSSW was the reception school for expatriate children that grew up in the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
during the
Namibian War of Independence. Those children, known as the
GDR Children of Namibia
GDR-Children of Namibia is a colloquial term denoting black Namibian children that were raised in East Germany, also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). During the South African Border War, the children of hundreds of Namibian refugees a ...
and at the school as ''GDR-candidates'', smoothed the integration process by initiating the social contact with other Namibians.
DSSW has been known for its high academic performances, especially in subjects like mathematics where students were honored with numerous awards. DSSW was the 8th best performing High School in Namibia in 2012, and occupied place 10 in 2013.
Grade 7 became part of the Primary School again. School numbers gradually increase to over 760 scholars and more than 35 teachers. In 2007 DSSW also introduced the opening of ''Projekt Lilie'' under the motto “Die Zukunft beginnt im Klassenzimmer” (“The future begins in the classroom”).
Projekt Lilie is an initiative supporting and promoting
education in Namibia
Education in Namibia is compulsory for 10 years between the ages of 6 and 16. ''This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain. There are approximately 1900 schools in Namibia of which 100 are privately owned. Nami ...
, with special reference to the maintenance and advancement of the German language and culture.
References
External links
DSSW Against-violence on women
{{Schools in Windhoek
Schools in Windhoek
Educational institutions established in 1975
1975 establishments in South West Africa