Parents not informed of hospitalised children at Dâures school

Sixteen pupils from the !Oe#Gab Primary School at Tubuses settlement in the Dâures constituency were hospitalised this week due to alleged water contamination.

The parents of the children were allegedly not informed and some only discovered this through a WhatsApp group.

A parent who this week anonymously spoke to The Namibian for fear that her child may be victimised, said the principal should have sent the parents a formal letter, informing them of the situation.

“Usually, the school coordinators communicate with us, but this time they were not ordered to do so,” she said.

“Usually, the school coordinators communicate with us, but this time they were not ordered to do so,” she said.

The concerned parent said the school has been without water and functional toilets for over a year, and pupils access water from a tap outside the school.

The parent said she wants to remove her child from the school because it is not safe, and no action has been taken to improve the situation.

“There is no cleanliness. The children are relieving themselves in the bushes and do not have a dining hall,” the parent said.

Joseph Komeni, the school’s coordinator, said he also learnt about the hospitalised children through the parents’ WhatsApp group.

He said the school did not inform him of the situation.

“I called the principal this morning and asked him about it, and he said everything was okay,” he said.

Komeni said the boys’ toilets have been dysfunctional since 2022 and they therefore use the area behind their hostel block and the yard as a toilet.

He said he does not know whether the issue has been reported to the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture as he believes he does not have this right.

Komeni said the school’s pupils should be sent home and urged the principal and the ministry to handle the situation.

“Our children should only be sent back to the school once there are toilets, water and a dining hall,” Komeni said.

Community member Habasen Guriras said the government must provide the school with mobile toilets, or it should be closed until ablution blocks have been built.

School principal Bernard Geingob this week declined to comment, referring The Namibian to Erongo region education director Ernfriede Stephanus.

Stephanus this week said she is aware of the situation, but will only comment once she has assessed it.

She said parents have lodged complaints with her office regarding the matter.

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