170 Epukiro children not at school

OVER half of the 300 children attending a Roman Catholic school at the Epukiro settlement in the Omaheke Region will miss school again this week because Government funding has still not arrived.

The 170 affected pupils could not attend Epukiro Roman Catholic Primary School last week, because the hostel is closed because of a lack of money. Reacting to a report on the issue, which appeared in The Namibian on Friday, an official at the school said over the weekend that the situation had not changed for the better.”The regional office of the Education Ministry at Gobabis again promised us the Government cheque would arrive by Friday 12h00, but this did not happen,” said the school official, who did not want his name published.”The children will now again miss out on classes this coming week.The church simply does not have the money to buy food for the 170 hostel children.”Officially recognised and registered private schools, including church schools, receive a subsidy per child per school day as well as a subsidy for children accommodated in adjacent school hostels.Government is supposed to pay out these subsidies at the start of each term, but this seldom happens.Epukiro and three other Roman Catholic schools at Omaheke have not received a single cent in hostel subsidies for 2007 for the first two terms.The schools financed the first two terms from their own funds, but they are now depleted.The cheques for Gunichas RC Primary School, Johannes Dohren RC High School and Mokaleng RC Combined School at Aminuis only arrived during the school holidays, at the end of last month.As a precaution, Gunichas school sent out letters to parents on the last day of the second term, requesting hostel children to stay at home when schools started on September 4 because there was no money to feed them.”We were then informed via the various NBC radio services in our area during the holidays, that we must bring our children for the third term, because the hostels could open for them at these three schools,” a parent told The Namibian.A civil servant in the finance department of the Education Ministry told The Namibian last week that the payment voucher for the Epukiro school was issued on August 24, but he could not say if the cheque had been printed.Reacting to a report on the issue, which appeared in The Namibian on Friday, an official at the school said over the weekend that the situation had not changed for the better.”The regional office of the Education Ministry at Gobabis again promised us the Government cheque would arrive by Friday 12h00, but this did not happen,” said the school official, who did not want his name published.”The children will now again miss out on classes this coming week.The church simply does not have the money to buy food for the 170 hostel children.”Officially recognised and registered private schools, including church schools, receive a subsidy per child per school day as well as a subsidy for children accommodated in adjacent school hostels.Government is supposed to pay out these subsidies at the start of each term, but this seldom happens.Epukiro and three other Roman Catholic schools at Omaheke have not received a single cent in hostel subsidies for 2007 for the first two terms. The schools financed the first two terms from their own funds, but they are now depleted.The cheques for Gunichas RC Primary School, Johannes Dohren RC High School and Mokaleng RC Combined School at Aminuis only arrived during the school holidays, at the end of last month.As a precaution, Gunichas school sent out letters to parents on the last day of the second term, requesting hostel children to stay at home when schools started on September 4 because there was no money to feed them.”We were then informed via the various NBC radio services in our area during the holidays, that we must bring our children for the third term, because the hostels could open for them at these three schools,” a parent told The Namibian.A civil servant in the finance department of the Education Ministry told The Namibian last week that the payment voucher for the Epukiro school was issued on August 24, but he could not say if the cheque had been printed.