Othika School investigates missing funds

By: OSWALD SHIVUTE

THE Othika Combined School in the Omusati Region is investigating fraud after some of its parents claimed that money they had contributed towards a school tour for children had disappeared.

A tour to the coast was arranged earlier and was supposed to happen last week but a teacher in charge of it allegedly disappeared and the tour was cancelled.
The parents claimed there was also no trace of the N$11 000 they contributed towards the tour.
The parents claimed that the teacher disappeared with the class keys and the matter was not even reported to the circuit or regional education director.
The school principal, Hilja Shifugula, refused to comment on the allegations but said many of them were not true.
However, she confirmed that a teacher at her school had disappeared on the day the school tour was supposed to start and that his cellphone remained switched off.
She said the teacher had since returned to the school and that the management was investigating why he was absent without prior notification.
“That’s all I can tell you. We are still investigating this matter,” she said.
The teacher in question could not be reached for comment.

---