The graceful and impactful growth of MDPS

Maurits Devenish Private School (MDPS) has come a long way since its humble beginnings and has experienced gradual growth over the years.

Aside from the school’s growth in numbers, it has also developed its own interesting traditions while continuing to implement a diverse selection of plans to benefit the school and its learners.



The history

MDPS was founded in 1997.

It began in one house in Oshakati with only five learners and one teacher, Peter Ebershon – the five learners are now represented by the five stars in the school’s emblem.

As the school slowly began to grow, it attained its first principal and school director, Amanda Williams, followed by two more principals, and its current principal, Riana Boshoff.

MDPS is situated in Ongwediva with 220 learners, three blocks (buildings), and an office that was officially inaugurated in the year 2000.



The school’s atmosphere

Speaking of the school’s structures, Maurits Devenish is one of the best schools in the north when it comes to visual impact and comfortability, from the buildings in which the learners are taught to the uniform they wear.

The school has a conducive educational and academic environment for learners from all walks of life.

Each classroom has air conditioning, the bathrooms are well maintained, and the classes are always cleaned.

But it doesn’t end there; the school’s outdoor environment is enhanced by the large number of trees and plants, which complement the aesthetic buildings quite well. In addition to the classrooms, the school also has three netball courts, a rugby field and a volleyball court.



The school’s tradition and extracurricular activities

Apart from standing out visually, it also stands out socially with its traditions, norms and involvement with the community. Some of the school traditions are: the annual variety concert (it was originally called "Sotte Concert"), the annual easter treasure hunt, and the grade six's annual trampoline jump – a fund raiser for their grade seven farewell.

MDPS is a school that really aims to benefit learners in many different areas of their lives. Hence, the school has also collaborated with different organisations to help improve the skills of the learners.



A few of these new projects are:

• Karate lessons to teach learners self-defence and discipline.

• Chess lessons to encourage critical and logical thinking.

• Namibian Scouts Association, which helps to develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, and leadership skills and motivates students to perform good deeds in their communities.



Similarly, the school hosted an inter-school invitational athletic meet with different private schools and hopes to make this an annual event as well. The schools that participated in the athletics event were Cabatana PS, Kleine Kuppe PS, Leer Speel Speel PS, Liberty Heritage PS and Lighthouse Academy.

Academic Performance

The school isn’t only a place for extracurricular activities, social events, and aesthetics.

Most importantly, it is also a fine educational institution, as it is a combined school that provides education from pre-primary to AS level. Furthermore, all the teachers at MDPS are qualified and have the motivation and mindset to educate their learners.

Maurits Devenish Private School is a school with an inspiring past, a growing reputation in the present, and a promising future full of potential – all with the aim of enriching learners’ academic and athletic performance while also cultivating social etiquette.