San parents in the Zambezi region have withdrawn their children from school, protesting being excluded from job opportunities at a newly built hostel.
Some Ndoro Memorial Combined School pupils have not been attending class for the past two days.
The state-of-the-art hostel at the Omega 3 village in the Kongola constituency was constructed at a cost of N$57 million and can accommodate about 650 pupils.
The hostel, which has taken years to complete, is a symbol of hope for the San community in the area, as their children would no longer walk long distances to school, and would reduce incidents of human-wildlife conflict.
Furthermore, they were hopeful that once the hostel was operational, it would employ some of the locals.
However, to their dismay, after the vacancies were advertised and they applied, none of the San community members were successful candidates.
Kaseta Khumalo yesterday said the community took the matter up with regional and national education leaders three months ago.
“Upon receiving our complaints, the whole recruitment process was put on hold. We were told they were busy looking into our concerns. However, it has been months now, and we are not being told what is going to happen.
“Therefore, we decided that the pupils will not go to school until we get answers. The pupils also are suffering because they are taking too long to attend to the issue, further delaying the opening of the hostel,” he said.
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Principal Linus Sipopo yesterday confirmed that over 300 pupils have been absent from school due to the issues raised by community members.
He said only the Grade 11 pupils showed up at school yesterday to write mock examinations.
“The issue is being handled by the regional directorate, and we will have a meeting today [Thursday] with the community and school board members,” he said.
Kongola-based community activist Glen Shebo yesterday said he supports the community’s stance, saying it’s only fair that they benefit from employment.
He said the directorate’s lack of urgency to address the issue jeopardises the Namibian child’s education. He, therefore, called for a speedy resolution.
“Pupils live in makeshift shelters to be close to the school. Furthermore, they are in danger of being attacked by lions and hyenas at night, which are roaming around these makeshift shelters. The situation should be resolved the soonest,” Shebo said.
Questions sent to regional education director Alex Sikume went unanswered.
