RUNDU - A school principal who stands accused of abuse of learners and is said to have been ruling the school through fear, is set for a disciplinary hearing next year.
The directorate of education in Kavango West were earlier this year called to the Satotwa Junior Primary (Satotwa JP) school in the Katjinakatji education circuit to remedy the broken relationship between the school and community after over 140 learners boycotted the school as their way of petitioning the alleged abuse from the principal.
The directorate - in order to bring back the learners to school as per the community’s demands - then temporarily removed the principal and his staff who were accused of abusing learners to another duty station, and immediately instituted an investigation into the allegations.
“The staff members are still temporarily placed at the circuit office and at a different school, pending the outcome of the investigations. At this stage, the reports are with the office of the executive director. Thank you,’’ said Kavango West director of education, Pontianus Musore.
Education executive director Sanet Steenkamp told New Era that Satowa JP principal Sadrag Ihemba, along with one of his staff members, are still indeed temporarily removed from the school over the abuse allegations.
“The case of misconduct for Ihemba and his staff member is indeed with us, but we have returned it to the region for the rephrasing of the charges,” she noted.
“The charges will continue, as the alleged offences are very serious against the staff members. We are unable to attend to the charge of misconduct due to technical issues in specific timeframes now, as we never attend to misconduct cases in November and December. So, they will be dealt with next year in 2024, but the file has been sent to the region for the redrafting of the correct charges,’’. Steenkamp added.
The principal is said to have perennial conflicts with his learners’ parents due to his alleged continuous abusive and arrogant behaviour. In 2018, Ihemba was accused of severely assaulting a parent of one of his pupils, breaking his jaw, days after the parent had complained of the principal’s regular absence at parents’ meetings.
-jmuyamba@nepc.com.na