The principal of A. Shipena Secondary School, Moses Haufiku, says the drastically improved academic performance is because of strict discipline and cooperation from parents.

Haufiku told New Era last week in an interview conducted at the school, since 2015, when he joined the school as principal, the school has been rated among the top 10 high schools in the Khomas region.

“Since 2015 our school was at position 16 in the region, 2017 the school improved to be in the top 10, 2018 it came into position eight, 2019 it came in position five while 2020 it came in sixth position,” he said.

Haufiku said the discipline at school is good and they do not experience disciplinary issues with students.  

“We have a policy in place and we are also strict as we take learners to task and call the parents to get involved and if it is beyond our control we suspend the learners. That has worked for the past years and last year you could not believe that no learner was suspended at the school for disciplinary issues,” he explained.

He said last year the school fully implemented the code of conduct. The principal added the understanding and the support of the parents have contributed massively to the improved discipline among learners.

He said in 2020 six learners were suspended after they were found in possession of whisky. 

“We suspended those learners for a week. We, together with the parents as well as the police, investigated the matter and found out the source was a shop near the location close to the school. The decision was taken collectively and the shop was ordered to close down,” he explained.

Another factor that contributed to the good academic performance of the school is the resources. He said the Khomas Regional Council always supports the school with equipment for the laboratory meant for the Advanced Subsidiary curriculum.

He said, following the good performance for the past few years at the school, it is now faced with a problem of placement as there is high demand for grade 8 places.

“We are receiving a high number of applications for grade 8s and we are the only high school in the John Pandeni constituency. We always try to encourage our parents to apply on time to enable us to plan properly,” he said. 

He said, most parents do not apply for placement on time, which creates a burden on the school and the region at large. 

- ljason@nepc.com.na