By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK “It is with great dismay and disappointment that we received the news of the recording and distribution of sex video clips amongst secondary school learners. We wish to convey herein both our displeasure and shock at these recent developments,” said a statement from the Secretary-General of the Namibia National Students Union (NANSO), Neville Andre. He added: “Most discouraging, however, is the lack of sensitivity shown to the 17 year old girl involved in the matter. It is saddening to see that young women today are still placed in situations where their trust may be dismissed with such wanton disregard, and their inherent dignity and right to privacy becomes forgotten or ignored through sensationalisation and national debate.” Andre described the incident as unfortunate adding that the incident would serve as the starting point of solid debates on women’s rights. “Let’s expand to comment on the broader perversions that exist in our society, where women of all ages are exploited and denigrated by men, other women, and society on a regular basis. Sexual predation is rampant across all sectors of society, including among learners. We have become so blunted to this an other types of sexual perversion that even the news of raped and molested toddlers causes little reaction in our society. Namibia, we have a crisis and we need to seriously look at ourselves,” said Andre. He extended NANSO’s hand in friendship to join hands with women’s rights organisations to pressure for the genuine empowerment of young women. “Events of the past few weeks exposing women’s continued exploitation and victimization in all aspects of their lives, add to surmounting evidence that much work needs to be done. Among other issues, we hope that the recent spat between the WAD and the NUNW shall reignite a much more profound and meaningful debate towards achieving true and genuine empowerment and de-objectification of women and girls,” the Secretary General said. He added: “It is not our wish to engage in this debate to cause greater distress to this young girl and her brave mother, but it is our view that this particular scenario is indicative of the crisis of focus and seriousness that persists among many young people. NANSO would like to acknowledge our appreciation for the real concrete action within the education sector towards educational reform.” He also urged students and learners to commit themselves to develop greater personal responsibility and respect for others. “Once again, we must reiterate that this statement is not an indictment of the persons directly involved in the recent controversy, but a recognition of a broad issue that NANSO and other youth organizations must also address. The call made by Dr Sean Whitaker for a national dialogue to investigate the underlying issues related to the prevalence of high risk sexual behaviours is valid and must not be ignored. NANSO has long held the view that more must be done in the school system to develop an effective system of support for our learners, particularly in respect to their emotional well-being. An emphasis on guidance counselling must not be left out of the equation in reforming our education system,” Andre asserted. In his opinion education is a holistic process incorporating a broad range of factors, all of which need to be present for the system to work. “Unlike the unfortunate issue of the past week, there is an issue that should be scandalised in terms of the education sector. We would like to air our disappointment to the poor IGCSE examination result for 2006. That only 3 393 students have qualified for admission at tertiary institutions in Namibia and/or South Africa is nothing to celebrate, particularly when compared to the 27 000 full-time and part-time candidates who sat the IGCSE examinations last year,” Andre said. “With all due respect to those students who did pass, clearly this is not a time for our country to be proud. We must continue to strive for an educational system that provides all students with equal chances for quality education, equal access to the necessary courses, equipment, and supports, and equal treatment as valuable future leaders of our society. We however congratulate the Ministry for at last introducing the Namibian Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate, from which we hope to see a true Namibian system of education be established,” he concluded.