Festus Hamalwa
Grade 8 learners will be allowed back to Haimbili Haufiku Senior Secondary School on Monday. This was agreed at a meeting held in Eenhana this week, which was attended by, among others, the Ohangwena governor, education director, school board and some senior officials from the education directorate.
The meeting was held after a demonstration that took place last Monday, where parents demanded the return of grade 8 to Haimbili Haufiku SSS for the 2022 school year as a matter of urgency.
Parents felt neglected, deprived of
their rights as stakeholders and disappointed by the conduct of the directorate of education when it unilaterally removed the junior secondary phase from the best school in their community and Ohangwena region at large.
This has resulted in parents having to look in other regions such as Oshana, Omusati and Oshikoto for grade 8 placements.
The school board and the management
of Haimbili Haufiku SSS had made
several requests to the directorate of education for grade 8 to be returned to the school. The first attempt was made on 1 July 2020 to the regional director through the inspector of the Eenhana circuit.
Speaking to New Era on Wednesday, education director in the Ohangwena region Isak Hamatwi said this is good news for the parents who were fighting for their children.
Hamatwi confirmed that learners are expected to start their classes next week at the school as was agreed in the meeting.
“We are only expecting to have one grade 8 class because we might run out of space; therefore, only 42 learners will be in grade 8 for this year while we are looking forward to creating more space for next year,” he stressed.
Hamatwi said only learners with parents who were demonstrating will be considered first because their names were already registered at the first meeting that was held at Haimbili Haufiku before the recent demonstration.
He stated some learners had already started the year at other schools but their parents will now take them to Haimbili Haufiku.
He called for order during the admission process of the learners, and that teachers should work hard to produce outstanding performance towards the end of the year.