No place for farm children

THREE children of farmworkers in the Okahandja area might not be in school next year because they are unable to find hostel accommodation.

Their parents now fear that the pupils will become street children – like others before them. Robert Williams, head of one of the departments at the Okahandja Secondary School, told The Namibian that they are unable to accommodate Collen Thomsen (14), Diana Ketjiwadje (15) and Johnny Rooi (15) – all of whom are set to graduate from the KW von Marais Primary School at the town.”Unfortunately the Government policy states that we have to guarantee places for repeaters of Grades seven, eight and nine and thus we are unable to accommodate the learners,” said Williams.He said the school management projected, based on the results of April and August, that a number of pupils might not pass and has set aside places for them for next year.In the process, they have shut out the three farmworkers’ children.Williams said the school can only take in a small number of pupils and will forward the rest of the names to the head office in Windhoek for placement next year.That will mean that the three children might be placed in other towns.CRIME FEARS “I told Johnny that there was no place for him and he was crying.He said we must plead with the school to take him because he doesn’t want to become a street child,” said Maria Hohas, mother of one of the pupils.”If no school, Collen will become a criminal.There is no work for those without education and they turn to crime,” said Lettie Thomsen.Karin Neethling from the farm Agagia, some 80 km north of Okahandja, has paid for the education of the three children so far and is the one who approached the school with the parents.She expressed fear that placing the children far away from home could lead to problems.Their parents will not be able to fetch them from the hostel for exit weekends.She also mentioned earlier cases where children placed with relatives at Okahandja had dropped out of school and ended up on the streets.Williams said the system is not able to take in more pupils because of a lack of classrooms and hostel accommodation, especially in central Namibia.He said the Okahandja Secondary School accommodates pupils from a “catchment area” that includes Ovitoto and Otjozondu and looks at children’s abilities and subject choices before accepting them The parents suspect that their children are being discriminated against because they are farmworkers and are calling on the Ministry to lay to rest their concerns before the big January rush for school placements starts.”We even applied before the deadline to prevent that,” added Neethling.A local newspaper last week quoted Charles Kabajani, a director in the Education Ministry, as saying that not much will change between now and January – meaning if pupils are turned away now they can just as well look for other options.The parents expressed the hope that the management at Okahandja Secondary School will find a way to accommodate their children.Robert Williams, head of one of the departments at the Okahandja Secondary School, told The Namibian that they are unable to accommodate Collen Thomsen (14), Diana Ketjiwadje (15) and Johnny Rooi (15) – all of whom are set to graduate from the KW von Marais Primary School at the town.”Unfortunately the Government policy states that we have to guarantee places for repeaters of Grades seven, eight and nine and thus we are unable to accommodate the learners,” said Williams.He said the school management projected, based on the results of April and August, that a number of pupils might not pass and has set aside places for them for next year.In the process, they have shut out the three farmworkers’ children.Williams said the school can only take in a small number of pupils and will forward the rest of the names to the head office in Windhoek for placement next year.That will mean that the three children might be placed in other towns.CRIME FEARS “I told Johnny that there was no place for him and he was crying.He said we must plead with the school to take him because he doesn’t want to become a street child,” said Maria Hohas, mother of one of the pupils.”If no school, Collen will become a criminal.There is no work for those without education and they turn to crime,” said Lettie Thomsen.Karin Neethling from the farm Agagia, some 80 km north of Okahandja, has paid for the education of the three children so far and is the one who approached the school with the parents.She expressed fear that placing the children far away from home could lead to problems.Their parents will not be able to fetch them from the hostel for exit weekends.She also mentioned earlier cases where children placed with relatives at Okahandja had dropped out of school and ended up on the streets.Williams said the system is not able to take in more pupils because of a lack of classrooms and hostel accommodation, especially in central Namibia.He said the Okahandja Secondary School accommodates pupils from a “catchment area” that includes Ovitoto and Otjozondu and looks at children’s abilities and subject choices before accepting them The parents suspect that their children are being discriminated against because they are farmworkers and are calling on the Ministry to lay to rest their concerns before the big January rush for school placements starts.”We even applied before the deadline to prevent that,” added Neethling.A local newspaper last week quoted Charles Kabajani, a director in the Education Ministry, as saying that not much will change between now and January – meaning if pupils are turned away now they can just as well look for other options.The parents expressed the hope that the management at Okahandja Secondary School will find a way to accommodate their children.