ONGWEDIVA – Eight teachers were dismissed last year for misconduct, education executive director Sanet Steenkamp has said.
Six teachers were discharged from public service for being absent from work, while two teachers were dismissed for having sexual relations with learners.
Of the eight, three were sacked from their duties in the Kavango East. Two of these teachers were found guilty of having sexual relations with learners.
Three more were discharged in the Zambezi region, and two in the Otjozondjupa region.
Steenkamp stressed that after a teacher or principal is accused of misconduct, he or she gets a right to reply to state whether they are guilty or not.
“We give equal treatment to all the people, where we ask them to write a statement about his or her case before the person appears before disciplinary hearings,” she noted. After the investigations are done, the regional education directorates then send the feedback to her office. “It’s then my onus to send that statement to the Office of the Prime Minister, where the action should be taken whether the person will be discharged from public service or not,” she stated.
Steenkamp added that the Office of the Prime Minister has the power to discharge people from public service because it is the one that deals with public service employees.
“I don’t have the power to dismiss a teacher or a principal from public service. To dismiss someone is a process, and there are procedures that are required to be followed.”
She thus urged teachers and school principals to discuss and share information regarding the Public Service Act. Steenkamp said it is not good when a teacher or school principal loses their job. Therefore, they should always follow the code of conduct to avoid becoming victims of dismissal from their duties.
Meanwhile, a week ago, a school principal at the Oupumako Combined School was also relieved of her duty after the ministry discovered she forged a document in 2020. Another teacher is currently in police custody after a series of threats against his principal, colleagues and villagers. He also called his senior a witch, corrupt and stupid.
In 2021, Fransina Mwetufa, a teacher at the Limbadungila Combined School was found to have been teaching with fake qualifications.
– fhamalwa@nepc.com.na