Eight unregistered schools in Khomas, Kavango East instructed to close

Khomas regional education director Paulus Nghikembua has taken action against three illegal schools in the Samora Machel constituency that were offering education from pre-primary to Grade 7, affecting 800 pupils.

Nghikembua said the schools in the Khomas region were instructed to close or stop offering unregistered services until they are registered.

“The three illegal schools were never registered under any of the above provisions, thus provision of education at such schools and at the above levels is unlawful. It is should be made clear that there are procedures for the registration of private schools and standards to be met before education is provided.

“Under no circumstances will illegal operations/provision of education at unregistered schools be tolerated,” he said.

Nghikembua said the affected pupils were integrated into nearby schools, namely Olof Palme Primary School (junior primary pupils), Hillside Primary School (grades 4 and 5), and Martti Ahtisaari Primary School (grade 4-7).

“This is a temporary arrangement. The plan is to construct a fully-fledged primary school in the immediate vicinity as soon as suitable land is made available for educational purposes,” he said.

Nghikembua said although a person has the right to establish and maintain a private school at their own expense, schools are required to be registered in terms of section 42 of the Education Act (Act 16 of 2001) before education is provided to any person at the school.

“We are positive that there will be a lasting solution to have more schools built to cater to the growing population in the region, especially in the Windhoek area,” he said.

LEGAL PROCEDURE

Education ministry executive director Sanet Steenkamp said the Kavango East has five unregistered schools with 654 pupils.

Steenkamp said the national examination board, fully appointed by the minister, sits three times a year to look at all the applications for private school registration, and there is a full process to see whether they are complying with all requirements.

“We give strict instructions to the regional directors to close all unregistered schools. This requires in-depth dialogue, conversation and deep engagement with community members,” she said.

Steenkamp said in terms of unregistered schools, they have a legal opinion from the Office of the Attorney General to intervene.

“We have a legal process that is being followed by the Office of the Attorney General for unregistered schools. The minister must inform the schools to close down and this is what we have been doing with negotiations and have pupils integrate in nearby schools. If that does not happen, we will then have the court interdicts,” she said.

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