Tsumeb
For many years it has been the norm for learners in matric to have extravagant farewell parties, where they would feast on sumptious treats while dressed in expensive outfits.
However, this tradition may soon become a thing of the past for learners in the Oshikoto Region.
It has been noted with great concern that parents are often pressurised to spend on expensive materials during such matric farewell parties, to the extent that it leaves some families highly indebted and consequently puts them in such financial dire straits that some are unable to pay their children’s university tuition.
These remarks were expressed by Tsumeb Mayor Veueza Kasiringua during a meeting with Oshikoto Regional Governor Henock Kankoshi and other stakeholders on Friday. The occasion was used to keep the governor abreast of the challenges, developments and issues faced by key stakeholders, as well as offering suggestions to deal with some of the issues that were raised.
“I’ve noted that some learners buy expensive clothing for farewell parties, which should not be the case. As a member of the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), it is disheartening to know that some learners will not be enrolled in university, despite having been awarded the loan/grant to study, because their parents now cannot afford to pay for the registration fees and basic necessities needed before the NSFAF can settle the expenses,” Kasiringua stressed.
“All that money spent on farewell parties could have been saved and used [to pay tuition]. So now instead you will find the child staying at home for the whole year, because there is no money,” Kasiringua reiterated.
“A farewell should instead been seen as the last day whereby learners wear their uniforms with pride as that will be the very last time they ever wear that uniform,” she further opined. The mayor, however, insisted she is not opposed to farewell parties as such, but to the manner in which some learners try to flaunt their parents’ wealth.
“This should stop and Oshikoto Region will be the first one to implement that,” she said.