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Happy beginning for marginalised teacher

2022-01-07  Emmency Nuukala

Happy beginning for marginalised teacher

For at least one graduate, the year 2022 starts on a high note as a permanently employed teacher in his home village. 

“Hello, ma’am do you remember me? I got my qualification, I am having my qualification now” were the elated words of Kudumo Hausiku after contacting this New Era reporter, who had penned the story of his plight in August in an article titled ‘Marginalised graduate in limbo… tuition fees not paid’.

“I gave my qualification to HR, they are finalising my appointment letter”, the soft-spoken Hausiku narrates with pride and excitement in his voice.

He explains that the letter will be ready sometime in January, and he will be on probation this year before he becomes a permanent employee of the Omatako Primary School in the Tsumkwe constituency. 

The young San teacher started the academic year like all teachers around the country yesterday. 

“I started with a high spirit, and we are trying to settle in for the year,” said Hausiku with a chuckle. 

Throughout his ordeal, his colleagues have fought for him, they assisted him, encouraged him and now that it has come to a positive end, they are delighted for him. 

“We are all proud and happy for him,” said Muhona Ngurare, the principal at Omatako Primary School.

Hausiku’s story came to light last year in August, and the day he was interviewed by this reporter, he was fortunate enough to have explained his situation to Anna Nghipondoka, Minister of Education, Arts and Culture. 

“After I spoke to the minister and the newspaper, all the outstanding fees at Unam were paid, and on 5 November I got my qualification,” he said. The minister’s PA assisted him, and “ran around Windhoek” for him. 

“He was the one helping me and asking about the invoices and my qualification there in Windhoek,” Hausiku adds.

Feeling joyful, he explains how he now more than ever wants to inspire other San children. His community is close to his heart, and he wants them to look up to him. He furthermore wants them to believe that they too can send their children to school, that education is possible, and that it is important.

“The community and the children know I went to Unam, and if I’m unemployed, the parents and children will ask: what is the use? They will finish and come back and sit at home,” he reasoned last year. 

Other teachers at the school were touched by his story, and feared that he would be further disadvantaged if he lost his only source of income. 

Hausiku has still not been able to tell his parents about the great news because they live on a farm that has poor network. 

“I know when I tell them they will be very happy. Very, very happy that I have my qualification, and that I still have my work,” he says as he beamed with pride.

Lapses in the administration of a programme that was supposed to uplift marginalised students left Hausiku, a supposed beneficiary, in limbo and on the verge of losing his job.

The young San man hails from the dusty settlement of Omatako.

He was in danger of losing his temporary teaching job as the programme, which sponsored him and other marginalised students, failed to pay the University of Namibia, which withheld his results. 

He knocked on every door, searching for opportunities and brainstorming on how to come up with the N$54 000 that Unam wanted before they could release his papers so that he could try and pay it off himself. 

Without his qualification, the school would have had to advertise his position, and without a qualification, he would have missed the opportunity to reapply.

He was desperate then, as time was running out.

Growing up in a poor family, and a marginalised community at that, he realised early on that his dream of becoming a pilot or an accountant would be difficult to achieve. Having finished Grade 12 in 2015 at the Rooiduin Secondary School in Aranos, he returned to the area to look for opportunities, and did odd jobs.

In 2017, an opportunity arose under the Office of the Prime Minister’s programme to assist marginalised communities. Hausiku became a recipient of the programme, and was able to pursue a diploma in junior primary education at Unam. 

The programme was later moved from the Prime Minister’s Office to a division in the ministry of poverty eradication.

Upon enquiry by this newspaper back in August 2021, the ministry assured the students that their predicament would be resolved. 

While most of Namibia’s almost 60 000 unemployed graduates start 2022 in limbo and uncertainty, Hausiku is grateful that he is now gainfully employed and could be a positive role model for his community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


2022-01-07  Emmency Nuukala

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