Ex-teacher runs amok

A DISGRUNTLED former teacher of the Namib High School at Swakopmund disrupted classes on Tuesday and allegedly made death threats against staff members.

According to witnesses, the teacher – who was transferred to another school at Swakopmund earlier this year – turned up at the school’s staff room on Tuesday morning. She allegedly screamed at her former colleagues and demanded to be re-appointed in her previous post.The former teacher is also alleged to have threatened the principal and teachers, saying that they “will see what happens” if they refused to give her certain documents she wanted.She was also said to have created chaos in one classroom, making threats while wielding a tape recorder.She allegedly gestured at one teacher, making a cutting movement with her forefinger across her throat.Pupils became aware of the situation when the principal ordered teachers over the intercom to lock their classroom doors and keep the students in their classes because an undesirable person was on the premises.Some pupils alleged that the former teacher had written ‘Hitler was buried here’ on the blackboard in one classroom.Officials from the regional education department were called in to defuse the situation.According to one official, the principal at the school where the teacher is currently employed was encouraged to appoint a relief teacher in her place until she had undergone medical examinations.The teacher in question wrote a letter to The Namibian last year, in which she made accusations of racism against several of her colleagues.In the letter she complained about teachers who remained in their positions after retirement and charged that the school was “dominated by one racial group, the German-speaking Namibian teachers”.She claimed that “white learners have more access to reporting cases or issues to the principal’s office than their [black] counterparts”.An official at the Ministry of Education confirmed Tuesday’s incident and said that the woman should be kept off the school premises.The principal was advised to alert the regional office and the woman’s husband if she returned to the school.Until she had received medical attention, the Police should preferably not be involved, the official said.She allegedly screamed at her former colleagues and demanded to be re-appointed in her previous post.The former teacher is also alleged to have threatened the principal and teachers, saying that they “will see what happens” if they refused to give her certain documents she wanted.She was also said to have created chaos in one classroom, making threats while wielding a tape recorder.She allegedly gestured at one teacher, making a cutting movement with her forefinger across her throat. Pupils became aware of the situation when the principal ordered teachers over the intercom to lock their classroom doors and keep the students in their classes because an undesirable person was on the premises.Some pupils alleged that the former teacher had written ‘Hitler was buried here’ on the blackboard in one classroom.Officials from the regional education department were called in to defuse the situation.According to one official, the principal at the school where the teacher is currently employed was encouraged to appoint a relief teacher in her place until she had undergone medical examinations.The teacher in question wrote a letter to The Namibian last year, in which she made accusations of racism against several of her colleagues.In the letter she complained about teachers who remained in their positions after retirement and charged that the school was “dominated by one racial group, the German-speaking Namibian teachers”.She claimed that “white learners have more access to reporting cases or issues to the principal’s office than their [black] counterparts”.An official at the Ministry of Education confirmed Tuesday’s incident and said that the woman should be kept off the school premises.The principal was advised to alert the regional office and the woman’s husband if she returned to the school.Until she had received medical attention, the Police should preferably not be involved, the official said.