THE Ekulo Senior Secondary School near Omuthiya in the Oshikoto Region expelled 12 senior pupils from the hostel last month because of complaints of sexual harassment.
Principal Mwetuhange Hishekwa said female pupils had requested the school board to take action against the Grade 12 boys. Earlier, a reader sent The Namibian an SMS complaining about the expulsion during examination time and charging that the principal was abusing his power.The SMS also said many pupils were forced to live in shacks outside the school hostel.Hishekwa said the pupils were only expelled from the hostel for one day, on October 28, to teach them a lesson.He added that the pupils’ parents had agreed to the decision.According to the principal, female pupils had complained that the boys had invaded their rooms and night and demanded sex, threatening to beat up the girls if they didn’t comply.A committee was set up to investigate the complaint and found that it was true, he said.”The learners wrote their grade 12 exams and are now back home.I think they will now realise that life outside will not be easy as it was in the school hostel,” Hishekwa said.He said the school had a critical shortage of hostel accommodation and had to erect corrugated-iron shacks next to the hostel to accommodate about 200 pupils.”We had no other option than putting up zinc structures to accommodate those learners, until such time that the Ministry gets funds to build additional hostel accommodation for us,” Hishekwa said.Earlier, a reader sent The Namibian an SMS complaining about the expulsion during examination time and charging that the principal was abusing his power.The SMS also said many pupils were forced to live in shacks outside the school hostel.Hishekwa said the pupils were only expelled from the hostel for one day, on October 28, to teach them a lesson.He added that the pupils’ parents had agreed to the decision.According to the principal, female pupils had complained that the boys had invaded their rooms and night and demanded sex, threatening to beat up the girls if they didn’t comply.A committee was set up to investigate the complaint and found that it was true, he said.”The learners wrote their grade 12 exams and are now back home.I think they will now realise that life outside will not be easy as it was in the school hostel,” Hishekwa said.He said the school had a critical shortage of hostel accommodation and had to erect corrugated-iron shacks next to the hostel to accommodate about 200 pupils.”We had no other option than putting up zinc structures to accommodate those learners, until such time that the Ministry gets funds to build additional hostel accommodation for us,” Hishekwa said.
