By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK He respects all teachers in the country for their tolerance in daily doing their job as professionals under the most trying economic conditions to make ends meet and all the disciplinary problems in schools. This was said yesterday morning by the Minister of Education, Nangolo Mbumba, when he spoke at the 90th anniversary of Windhoek High School. The school has been celebrating since last week as one of the oldest educational institutions in the country. “This school is very centrally located and strategically situated close to the National Assembly, the banks and the central business district in the capital. Learners do not have to move to it from afar like their rural counterparts to learn to become professionals,” said Nangolo Mbumba to applause from the senior students at the school. He urged learners not to leave the country for greener pastures in other countries. “Go finish your studies elsewhere, but make sure you come back to Namibia where you are needed. Don’t become voluntary educational refugees in other countries. Go study hard and make sure you come back to the land where you were born,” the minister emphasized. He referred to the fact that due to the apartheid system he as a former teacher and black man could not become the principal at Windhoek High School then. “Now the country is free and you can become what I could not, even the principal of this school,” he said to the multi-racial group of learners and teaching staff at the school. Mbumba compared the school to a three-legged pot standing on pillars such as the school board, the teaching staff and the learners – he considers as the owners of a school. “Windhoek High School has definitely stood the test of time as an educational institution with all the necessary facilities, unlike many other schools where children are being taught under trees with no basic facilities such as libraries. At the same time I wish to salute those parents who are constantly contributing toward their children’s education. Many parents just pay their school feels and that is where their involvement in education ends,” Mbumba charged. Businessman, Harold Pupkewitz, one of the first Std 10 learners of Windhoek High School in 1929 gave a rare insight into the school’s history and background. “I am rather disappointed that most of my contemporaries are no more around to witness this celebration nor the teachers, who then considered their teaching profession as a calling. The school in my opinion was the cradle of patriotism and education for many Southwesters at the time as well as Namibians of today. Students were then well prepared for the harsh realities of the outside world,” said Pupkewitz as a guest speaker. He alluded to the fact that prior to his arrival from Poland to Namibia he as a Jew was discriminated against in his motherland. “I never experienced that since my arrival in this country after all those years. In fact opportunities abounded. For that I will always be indebted to Windhoek High School,” said the 92-year old business tycoon. School principal, Vera HerlÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚©, emphasized the fact that she and her staff of 48 are in the business of education and will remain in it for a lifetime. “If we allow others to train our minds we will become successful in education. May we continue to change and open the minds of Namibians for years to come,” she said of her staff to great applause from the learners.