Kuvee Kangueehi WINDHOEK The School Board of the Winnie du Plessis High School is expected to meet the Permanent Secretary of Education, Vitalis Ankama, in the coming week to resolve an ongoing feud regarding the appointment of a hostel superintendent. The principal and the pupils of the high school at Gobabis recently marched to the office of the Regional Director of Education and submitted a petition to reject the appointment of the new hostel superintendent. The learners handed the petition to the Director of Education in the region, Theo Kamupingene, in which they strongly oppose the appointment of the new superintendent. The learners said in the petition that they were not happy with the process under way to replace Titi Mokhatu because he had done sterling work for the school hostel. They stated that Mokhatu had always provided a safe and healthy environment for learners and their lives had never been in danger. The learners further noted that the hostel under Mokhatu had witnessed best performance with only a 5% failure rate. “Mokhatu has gone out of his way to create a safe home from home by creating a balance between recreation and studies,” the learners claim. Contacted for comment yesterday, Kamupingene said the appointment of a hostel superintendent is the prerogative of the Regional Office and not of the school board or learners. He noted that the position is an assignment by the Regional Office for someone it feels fits the position, and is not a permanent vacancy. The director said the usual procedure to appoint a superintendent is that the teachers submit applications to the principal. The principal sends the applications to the hostel committee which then forwards the applicants to the hostel inspector who recommends a candidate to the Director of Education for appointment. Kamupingene acknowledged, however, that the procedures in the appointment of the new superintendent were not followed. He could not explain why, but noted that last week on Friday his office met with the school board and resolved that the board should meet with Ankama before taking a final decision. The director added that he is optimistic that the situation will be resolved soon. He added that Mokhatu has been removed and that there is a new acting superintendent.