Windhoek
The principal of Ella du Plessis High School has expressed serious concern about Grade 10 and 12 learners who become unruly and habitually vandalise school property and attack fellow learners, including some of the staff members after the learners write their final examinations each year.
Principal Jakavaza Kavari warned learners to refrain from adopting such a negative attitude, saying it would count against them when they return to collect their school reports the following year. He stressed that it is mostly male learners who present a problem, while the main challenge facing female learners is teenage pregnancy.
“Girls don’t bunk school and are not stubborn like boys,” he said. Kavari said when learners are done writing their final examination they get excited and sometimes go to extremes.
“Sometimes their happiness tends to hurt other people. They begin throwing each other with water and later start physically attacking fellow learners and teachers,” remarked Kavari, while adding that this unruly behaviour led to the killing of a Grade 10 pupil two years ago.
Kavari said after witnessing the unruly behavior in 2013, he called in City Police on previous occasions to maintain order when these two grades were done with their examinations: “Last year we called in City Police that searched for guns and knives, warned pupils and escorted them out of the school. They told learners to go straight home.”
He stated that from their side they know what type of learners they are dealing with and they put in place a strategy to prevent bad behaviour and vandalism: “Before the examinations we warned them about such behaviour and we would call them in again after they finish their exams”.
He urged learners to leave an exemplary legacy at school rather than a negative one that could haunt them in future. “Why would a learner want to insult or beat others after writing exams?”
He added that the unruly behaviour of some learners is damaging school property. He said school property is government property and learners should know there are many pupils who will come after them and use the same desks, chairs, mattresses and books, noting that government has limited resources to replace these assets.