Tubusis pupils remain home amid sanitation crisis

PUPILS of !Oe #Gab Primary School at Tubusis village in the Dâures constituency of the Erongo region remain at home after parents withdrew them last year.

The move followed a sanitation crisis that hospitalised 16 children with running stomachs and vomiting.

Erongo education director Ernfriede Stephanus confirmed last week that pupils have not returned.

“Experts need to confirm the way forward but three blocks are ready for pupils to come back,” she said. 

Assessment of the school’s infrastructure was done on Friday.

Stephanus said a feedback meeting will be held today and a final meeting to determine the way forward will be held on 29 January. 
A total of 279 pupils were registered at the school last year and all remain at home as sanitation facilities are not available. 
Stephanus said the dining hall also remains a challenge. 

She, however, announced plans to keep pupils at school during the first semester’s holiday to make up for lost time. 

School coordinator Josef Komeni yesterday said teaching is expected to begin on 9 February, with hostel pupils returning on 8 February. 

He said the toilets and a dining hall are under construction but water is available.

“The toilets and dining hall will wait until the new buildings are done. They have been building for four years now but we were promised children will be back in February,” he said. 

Construction is expected to finish by the end of January.

Komeni welcomes the idea of keeping children at school during the holiday, saying it is only fair they make up for lost time. 

Fransina Amupolo, mother of a 9-year-old who remained hospitalised while others were discharged, says the school has not informed them yet whether children should return.

She says she has been unable to place her child at another school after failing last year, as pupils did not sit for exams. 

“She cannot be accepted to other schools because of her low grades. I don’t know what to do anymore,” Amupolo says. 

Another parent, Lovis Shitilifa, says she is concerned about her children’s education because they are at home while others are attending school.

“We are really worried about our children’s education. I went to find a different school since the school did not inform us of the way forward but there are no spaces,” she says.

Although worried about her children’s health, Shitilifa commends the school for its quality education.

“There is great education, that is why I sent my children there,” she says.

The school has operated for nearly a year without running water, a dining hall or functional toilets. Pupils reportedly defecated in open areas and were sometimes forced to clean up after waste themselves, creating serious health risks.

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