A school principal in the Kunene region flexed his muscles late last year to expel three pupils, citing the poor conduct of their grandmother, with whom he has had several run-ins over the years.
The grandmother is a former employee at the school.
It is a move described by education executive director Sanet Steenkamp as unprocedural and invalid.
Alpha Combined School principal Karina Muhuka expelled three learners who are grandchildren of Kakujarukua Japuhua, a former cleaner at the school.
New Era understands that the main reason for what appears to be a draconian move by Muhuka stems from Japuhua’s questioning of how the school is being run, particularly “how the school spends money in a reckless fashion”.
A missive dated 5 December 2023 and obtained by New Era, penned by Muhuka, outlines why he resolved to chuck out the three learners.
The trio on the receiving end are Uahakahana Tuutovengi (grade 8), Teopolina Japuhua (pre-primary) and Upuratena Japuhua, whose grade is not disclosed in the letter.
What is apparent from the letter is that none of the charges relate to the trio.
“The school principal of Alpha Combined School hereby informs you that your children who are attending school at Alpha Combined School should be taken to other schools,” Muhuka stated, laying the foundation for his decision.
He slapped Japuhua with five charges, on whose basis he premised the decision.
Sins
Chiefly, he informed the grandparent that one of the reasons was “your lack of respect towards the school’s leadership, which has gone on for many years”.
“When you have issues, you do not come to my office, but run to other offices to report issues that concern my office; the insults and foul language you use against the school principal; and your lack of confidence in the school’s current leadership,” Muhuka wrote to the parent.
The final straw for him was when Japuhua walked out of a meeting while they were deliberating.
“You walked out while we were discussing, and left us with words in our mouths,” he said.
“As such, we hereby inform you that your children will not be accepted at the school, based on the abovementioned reasons. As such, we are informing you to take your children, and take them to a school with a principal of your liking or who you have confidence in,” reads the final part of the letter.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Muhuka was not immediately available as he was preoccupied with a “learner placement meeting” but did not deny the suspension.
Detailed questions sent to him via WhatApp were also not responded to apart from Muhuka saying: “I have no time today. I will get back to you tomorrow.”
Ministry
On Tuesday, Steenkamp, while addressing the issue generally, indicated that it was only her office which is empowered by law to expel a learner.
“Learners cannot be expelled at school level. This is hearsay, so I don’t want to waste your time. Did the parent write to my office? I have not received anything.
But it is only my office that can expel a learner, in consultation with the regional director following due process. So, those learners are not expelled from school. The expulsion of a learner is a process, and it cannot end at school level,” Steenkamp stressed.
Sacrificial lambs
On her part, Japuhua indicated that her children are being used as “sacrificial lambs” by the principal.
“My children have committed no crime. I am just a pensioner, who is trying to get them the best education possible. The only crime I committed was to demand for accountability and transparency in how the school is run, and how our hard-earned money was being spent,” she stated.
Specifically, she took issue with how the school handled payments in respect of chairs, desks and material for which parents contributed N$60 900.
A financial report, also obtained by this paper, shows that the school spent N$35 410 on chairs, N$585 on desks, N$8 585.4 on materials and N$16 319.60 on transport.
“I am uneducated. I am a pensioner who relies on the government grant and a small GIPF pension. So, every cent matters to me. This is why I asked the principal how the school spent N$16 000 to transport chairs from Oshakati (Oshana region) to Alpha.
“There is no way it can cost so much. Even if it did cost so much, there would’ve been cheaper options. That is all I raised and when I realised my points were being sidelined, I walked out of the meeting. But I will keep on demanding answers. Next week, I am taking my children to school for their first day. He [Muhuka] has no right to expel my children. They have committed no offence,” the grandmother stated unambiguously.
Photo: Alpha
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