Windhoek
A primary school teacher in the Hardap Region has been put on anti-depressant medication for six months, reportedly as result of sexual harassment and intimidation at the hands of her principal.
The 26-year-old teacher, who did not want to be named for fear of further harassment, told New Era she started having problems with the school principal after she rejected several of his unending sexual advances.
The principal apparently wanted sexual favours from her when she commuted with him occasionally from Windhoek to Rehoboth in 2011, but she was not interested in the proposed affair, she said. He would also come to her home in the evening, but she would refuse him entry, she explained.
“Instead of keeping the matter personal after I rejected him he brought the matter to school and made the working environment difficult,” she said. The young teacher claimed the principal also instructed her to have an abortion after she became pregnant by her husband, or else she would be fired.
On a certain day last year she said she wore a knee-length black dress to school. The principal came into her classroom while she was teaching and told her that her underwear was visible and that the Grade 7 learners were watching.
The principal would also patrol outside her classroom window while she was teaching, or would spend an inordinate amount of time during visits to her class, she said in an exclusive interview with this newspaper.
The distraught teacher said when she eventually brought the matter to the Hardap education directorate’s attention for the matter to be resolved internally, ministry officials started investigating, harassing and intimidating her.
The teacher was initially scheduled to be admitted to Okonguarri psychotherapeutic centre to be treated for major depression, but has since been advised otherwise by a psychiatrist – and has instead been put on medication for six months.
Teachers Union of Namibia (TUN) president Mahongora Kavihuhua said if there is no improvement in her condition she would be referred to the treatment centre.
“I have major depression. This was caused by the [harassment] issues and the inactiveness of the [education directorate in the] whole region,” she said. The problem was exacerbated by the fact there was apparent inaction on the part of the Ministry of Education.
The teacher said, instead of dealing with the matter she was advised by the directorate to consult a private lawyer and the directorate never replied to her request to be transferred to another school.
She said she nearly had a physical confrontation with the principal recently when he wanted to read a letter from the regional education director regarding the issues she had raised in a staff meeting.
“I intervened and told him he is violating my rights. I told him that the matter was with the Teachers Union of Namibia and the director. The question is: did the director authorise the principal to read the letter out loud at school?” she wanted to know.
“We have a female head of department and she should have intervened if that was the case,” the affected teacher said.
TUN’s Kavihuhua said sexual harassment is prohibited by the Labour Act, the Constitution, the Public Services Act and staff rules. He said the Hardap case had been reported to them and wondered how many cases are reported, but not given due attention by the education directorates.
Kavihuhua said the ministry was insensitive towards the complainant and the situation and failed to act in terms of public staff rules. “When public servants lodge complaints the supervisor and all of them have less than 10 days to intervene, but they did not act. They were victimising the complainant,” he said.
He said the union would have an urgent meeting with the permanent secretary to discuss the possibility of the teacher returning to that particular school and other related issues.
“The union is contemplating taking legal action against the ministry for failing to adhere to their own rules,” he said, noting that in his view the directorate’s failure to address the complaint of sexual harassment caused “the teacher to be in that catastrophic situation.”
Kavihuhua stated Hardap Region’s education inspector and deputy director are both women, but did not treat the matter with the sensitivity it deserves and instead attempted to conceal the issue.
Ministry of Education spokesperson Johanna Absalom said the ministry is investigating the case. “The human resources department has since visited the school and the ministry is attending to the matter with urgency, ” Absalom said.