Pupils at J&W Mouton Primary School on farm Karanas near Rehoboth were sent home for the semester holiday without report cards due to a shortage of ink and other administrative challenges at the school.
Parents say the situation has left pupils, especially Grade 7s, disadvantaged as some need their reports to apply for placement at other schools for Grade 8 next year.
The school, which is in the Oanob circuit in the Hardap region, has no English teacher either.
School principal Brandon Hammond this week confirmed the ink shortage, but said he could not comment further as he has resigned from the school.
“I’m no longer at the school, and I’m not returning. I have no access to any school resources . . . There was no copying paper or ink, and there were technical problems regarding the reports,” he said.
Hammond said the reports would be printed once the school reopens and pupils would receive them during their first weekend out.
A teacher at the school said the matter has been brought to the attention of the education minister, deputy education minister, regional director and deputy director.
Parents who spoke to The Namibian yesterday said they sent their children to the school for nothing other than education, and going home without report cards has broken the trust they had in the school to educate their children. Mpingana Ngambue, one of the parents, said she would visit the school when it reopens to ask for her children’s report cards.
She said the school principal had promised to engage them on the matter through a WhatsApp group, but has not done so.
“It is not right. Pupils in Grade 7 need those reports to apply for placement at other schools for Grade 8. They should give us those reports,” she said.
School board member Isabel Gabriel said the acting principal could not sign the report cards off as she was booked off for three months.
The school’s acting principal is Ndahafa Haihambo, The Namibian understands.
Gabriel said she has been informed there is no English teacher.
“As a parent I don’t feel good at all. I expected to see how my child performed. The school must get a serious principal who acts like one,” she said.
Aleeta Amushila, whose two children attend the school, said the children were not given activities to complete over Easter weekend.
“I’m not even sure if the pupils write exams or tests. It was a long weekend, but there was no schoolwork. I asked the acting principal about it on WhatsApp, but she only sent me a sticker,” she said.
Amushila said she does not want her children to return to the school.
“The school provides better education, that’s why I sent my children there, but it is failing us now,” she said.
Other parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they have raised the issue with the director’s office after the school has failed to respond to them.
The Namibian has seen an email parents sent on 6 May, asking for urgent intervention from the director’s office.
In the email, parents requested the immediate appointment of an English teacher, the release of pupils’ reports, and an investigation into why basic resources such as ink are unavailable at the school.
Hardap education director Paulus Lewin yesterday said the directorate is aware of the unfortunate developments at the school, and that a team will be dispatched at the start of the semester to assess the situation.
“My office will keep you updated once more details are available,” he said.
