Hakusembe classes to resume
Plumbers from a local vocational training centre are helping to solve sanitation problems at the Kavango West school pending a permanent solution.
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
Learners at Leevi Hakusembe Secondary School are likely to resume classes this week, Kavango West education director Teopolina Hamutumwa has told Namibian Sun.
The Namibian National Students Organisation (Nanso) and Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu) ordered teachers and 381 learners to suspend classes recently, citing health concerns.
Hamutumwa said the issue could have been handled differently if the unions had consulted the directorate.
Regional representatives of Nanso and Nantu visited the school last Monday and said they were dissatisfied with the sanitation situation.
Unsanitary
The toilets and showers in four of the six hostel blocks were out of order, which meant that the 381 grade 11 and 12 learners who had resumed face-to-face classes had to share the remaining two toilets.
Hamutumwa acknowledged the problem but said she expected proper consultations between the parties involved.
While confirming a meeting on the issue last week, she also said that it is not the mandate of the unions to stop classes and order people to go home.
“The main purpose of the meeting was to hear what happened and I think what came out strongly was there was no consultation on their part.
“It was also not their mandate to stop the face-to-face lessons. Their mandate was to consult us. Also, what I realised is that it was the regional chairperson and not an instruction from the national Nanso student body,” Hamutumwa said.
Solutions
Hamutumwa indicated the education authorities had asked a vocational training centre to help solve the plumbing issues.
Once the temporary repairs have been made, learners would be allowed to return to school while a permanent solution is found.
“The process of procurement to overhaul the whole sewage system has started but that process will take a month to start.”
The school's hostel, built in the late 1970s, is designed for 430 residents but has accommodated between 1 000 and 800 learners in recent years.
Currently the hostel accommodates 833 learners, which puts pressure on the sewerage system, and its dormitories are overcrowded.
RUNDU
Learners at Leevi Hakusembe Secondary School are likely to resume classes this week, Kavango West education director Teopolina Hamutumwa has told Namibian Sun.
The Namibian National Students Organisation (Nanso) and Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu) ordered teachers and 381 learners to suspend classes recently, citing health concerns.
Hamutumwa said the issue could have been handled differently if the unions had consulted the directorate.
Regional representatives of Nanso and Nantu visited the school last Monday and said they were dissatisfied with the sanitation situation.
Unsanitary
The toilets and showers in four of the six hostel blocks were out of order, which meant that the 381 grade 11 and 12 learners who had resumed face-to-face classes had to share the remaining two toilets.
Hamutumwa acknowledged the problem but said she expected proper consultations between the parties involved.
While confirming a meeting on the issue last week, she also said that it is not the mandate of the unions to stop classes and order people to go home.
“The main purpose of the meeting was to hear what happened and I think what came out strongly was there was no consultation on their part.
“It was also not their mandate to stop the face-to-face lessons. Their mandate was to consult us. Also, what I realised is that it was the regional chairperson and not an instruction from the national Nanso student body,” Hamutumwa said.
Solutions
Hamutumwa indicated the education authorities had asked a vocational training centre to help solve the plumbing issues.
Once the temporary repairs have been made, learners would be allowed to return to school while a permanent solution is found.
“The process of procurement to overhaul the whole sewage system has started but that process will take a month to start.”
The school's hostel, built in the late 1970s, is designed for 430 residents but has accommodated between 1 000 and 800 learners in recent years.
Currently the hostel accommodates 833 learners, which puts pressure on the sewerage system, and its dormitories are overcrowded.
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