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Monday, January 31, 2005 - Web posted at 7:30:43 GMT Nowaseb boys in school at last TANGENI AMUPADHITHE Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture has finally enrolled three Windhoek children who had been denied an education because their mother could not afford to pay the school fees. |
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The enrolment of three Nowaseb brothers, 12-year-old Cassius, Avery (10) and Jerome (9), ends years of being left outside formal education though they have lived in Windhoek all their lives. Veiue Kangueehi, the spokesperson of the Ministry, said last week that all three boys were enrolled at the People's Primary School (PPS) in Katutura and that a place in the hostel has been found for them. Jerome, who briefly attended school at Tobias Hainyeko last year but dropped out because it was too far to walk, has been placed in Grade 2. Avery and Cassius started in Grade three, because they are too old for Grade 1. The boys know the alphabet and speak some English, which their mother and other siblings taught them. Kangueehi gave the assurance that the children will not be expected to pay school fees, an expense that their mother Susanna Nowases can hardly afford as she is paralysed and unable to work. Nowases, who is a TB sufferer, is facing eviction from their shack at the Goreangab Dam because of growing municipal debt. Their water supply was cut off some time ago. "We are following the channels [to obtain] the exemption from paying fees," said Kangueehi. "We are glad that we could honour our Constitutional obligation to provide children with schooling." The Namibian Constitution stipulates that all children under 16 years must be in school, and the education law prohibits children being turned away because their parents cannot afford to pay. But Nowases, who is pleased that her two teenage boys can finally join their mates in school, says her earlier pleas to have them enrolled were dismissed because she had no money. Kangueehi said last week that her Ministry should not be made to "look like we are not doing anything". * Tangeni Amupadhi is now a freelance contributor to The Namibian. |
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