Parents of pupils at !Oe#Gab Primary School in the Erongo region who were hospitalised due to a sanitation crisis say they will not allow their children to return to the school.
Sixteen out of 279 pupils were hospitalised last week due to poor sanitation at the school.
Parents who want their children removed from the school due to its alleged failure to protect the children and inform their guardians are now saying they will not allow their children to return, proposing that the school use their continuous assessment scores as final marks.
Parents say the school environment is no longer safe for their children.
“The school does not look safe and construction is going to take a while. The school should use continuous assessment marks,” one of the parents says.
Education minister Sanet Steenkamp told The Namibian on Friday that a cleaning campaign at the school, along with the construction of a dining hall and toilets, will begin soon to ensure a safe environment for pupils to return to.
Erongo education director Ernfriede Stephanus says they may be considering the use of continuous assessment scores as they plan to close down the school for the rest of the year.
“We had a meeting with the school board and management on Friday and we are considering closing the school down for the rest of the year to work on the modalities,” she says.
She says a site meeting is scheduled for 8 October and will look at the possibilities of a partial handing over of new buildings, consisting of sleeping quarters.
“We had a meeting with head office officials and the constructor today.
We will meet on 8 October at Tubusis, and only then will we know the way forward.
The issues of hygiene and cleanliness will be addressed and appropriate actions will be taken where negligence is established,” Stephanus says.
She told The Namibian that the completion date of the new hostel was originally set for 22 August 2024.
Fransina Amupolo, the mother of a nine-year-old girl who was discharged on Sunday, says she is considering other schools for her child to attend next year.
The Grade 3 pupil was discharged from the Usakos District Hospital. However, she still cannot move or eat on her own. “I give her oral Hydralyte every day and feed her but she is very weak,” Amupolo says.
Amupolo, who lives in Windhoek, says she sent her child to Tubusis to get an education, however, considering the condition of the school’s environment, she has concluded that keeping her child there would be careless.
A staff member at the school says the progress of the construction of new buildings and toilets is very slow, and some pupils may not be returning.
Currently, all 16 pupils have been discharged and sent home until the construction of new hostel blocks, toilets and a dining hall are completed.
Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture executive director Erastus Haitengela says the ministry is currently assessing the issue to determine feasible options for pupils.
“We shall communicate with all relevant stakeholders once our consultations are finalised,” he says.
School coordinator Joseph Komeni, who also has a child attending the school, disagrees, arguing that all pupils should return to write examinations. “These parents are distressed but it is not our decision.
What about those who did not do well in their previous activities?” Komeni asks, adding that the decision is not for parents to make but is the director and the ministry’s call.
He says hostel representatives have the responsibility of teaching pupils to clean up after themselves, however, they failed to do so, putting children at risk. “They are careless. Why do they not go around the pupils’ hostels to inspect?” he says.
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