Pupils at Haudano Senior Secondary School in the Okalongo constituency in the Omusati region were sent home last Wednesday after the school experienced a sewerage system breakdown.
The system collapsed last Sunday due to an overload of sewage from the school, the Okalongo constituency office and the Okalongo Police Station.
School principal Abel Nhinda yesterday said there have been issues with the school’s sewerage system over the years, but on Sunday it stopped working completely.
“The problem is that there are sewer lines from outside the school that contribute to the overload of the school’s sewerage system,” he said.
Nhinda said the situation is unsanitary and poses a health risk to both pupils and teachers, since sewage water runs throughout the school and hostel premises.
“It’s disturbing, because we just got back from the holiday and a week later, pupils have to be sent back home. There is no academic progress and we have a mock examination approaching.
“This will affect our performance,” he said.
According to Nhinda, his office has since last week tried getting help in the form of a sewage truck or a sewage submersible pump, with no success.
“We have met with stakeholders last week and this issue was on the agenda. We believe if we could maybe get assistance, we could call back some pupils, especially the Grade 11s, who are also about to write their external examinations,” he said.
Nhinda said the school contacted the education director’s office, but has not received feedback yet.
“Officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport also came to assess the situation, but have so far only come up with a quotation to buy parts for the sewage machine,” he said.
The school has 750 pupils, of which 744 are residing in the hostels.
“We have also informed parents about the situation, and we will have a parent meeting tomorrow, together with other stakeholders to see how we can rescue the situation,” Nhinda said.
He said if the situation persists, they will consider obtaining tents to ensure pupils are taught, while the regional council is attending to the issue.
Photo: Contributed
MINISTRY RESPONDS
Omusati education director Ben Eiseb said the issue is not their responsibility, but that of the Omusati Regional Council and the works ministry.
“That sewage at the school is not for the school only, it’s for the community,” he said.
Eiseb said the works ministry was supposed to take the issue up, but they assumed the Ministry of Basic Education, Arts and Culture would respond faster.
“This issue is like Covid-19|: It’s not in our hands and obviously whatever it brings will affect us. The seriousness must be seen by the regional council, as well as by the Directorate of Works,” he said.
Eiseb said it was unfortunate that the issue affects pupils and they may treat the situation the same way they did the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Either we move the pupils to a different school or erect tents for the Grade 11s and the advanced subsidiary pupils until the regional council attends to the problem,” he said.
REGIONAL COUNCIL RESPONDS
Chairperson of the Omusati Regional Council Andreas Shintama said the regional council will attend to the matter since it does not only affect the school, but also certain settlements.
“We are attending to it. It’s being looked into and we will respond,” he said.
