Gibeon pupils insulting teachers and skipping classes as broken homes spark school discipline crisis

Pupils at a Gibeon village school in the Hardap region are reportedly behaving increasingly disruptive, insulting their teachers and skipping classes.

Captain Reverend Dr Hendrik Witbooi Primary School’s pupils allegedly have no respect for their teachers, raising concerns about discipline.

School principal Aermgarda Gawases says pupils sometimes fail to do their homework, and when asked about it walk out of the classroom.

She claims the disrespectful behaviour started about three years ago.

The latest incident involved pupils breaking school windows.

“We cannot scold or discipline them, because we will get in trouble. The behaviour is causing teachers emotional harm as they cannot put up with pupils’ bad behaviour,” she says.

The Education Act of 2001 and the Constitution expressly ban corporal or any other degrading form of punishment, humiliation or abuse of schoolchildren physically, emotionally or psychologically.

Gawases says the school has a life skills teacher who provides children with psychological support, but the school has too many pupils for the teacher to attend to.

The school currently accommodates 568 pupils.

“We are very concerned about the poor discipline of our pupils. They don’t respect their educators and insult them. It’s high time we make it a priority to talk to our pupils about moral values,” she says.

Gawases urges parents to collaborate with the school on promoting a more respectful and harmonious community, saying the future of the village depends on the pupils.

“Let’s protect the emotional well-being of our teachers. Parents should teach moral values at home,” she says.

Life skills teacher Savelia Hamandike says the children’s poor behaviour is affecting their academic performance.

She says some pupils are absent for no reason and that there is a lack of parental involvement.

“As a teacher, it affects me emotionally. When we try to handle pupils, the parents confront us. I’ve received numerous messages from parents,” she says.

Hamandike says it’s concerning that some pupils live alone or are sent to hostels, adding that the lack of parental care affects their behaviour.

Gibeon constituency councillor Jeremias van Neel says he is aware of the insults hurled at teachers in vernacular languages – mostly targeted at teachers who do not understand the language.

“It is bad behaviour. Some parents are not managing their children and are at shebeens most of the time – that’s why discipline is lacking,” he says.

Van Neel says his office will convene a community meeting to identify ill-mannered pupils and engage their parents on the matter.

‘BROKEN HOMES’

Hardap regional education director Paulus Lewin attributes the behaviour to the prevalence of broken homes.

“Children find it difficult to follow examples set by their parents, because we have lost our values and morals. The directorate’s approach is to encourage families to put themselves together and for teachers to allow children to adopt leadership roles to positively impact society,” he says.

Meanwhile, deputy executive director of schools and formal education Edda Bohn says education is a shared responsibility, which begins at home, where a culture of care and respect should be nurtured and carried into the school environment.

She says pupils’ well-being is essential for unlocking their full potential, adding that parents, guardians and communities must provide the basic support needed so that school becomes “a meaningful extension of home”.

“Problems must be unpacked to get to the root cause. Schools’ management teams may call on their regional school counsellors, and teachers should not get to the point where they feel alone in this endeavour,” Bohn says.

Gibeon is one of the oldest settlements in Namibia.

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