ONGWEDIVA – The majority of the 300 learners who were left without school following the temporal closure of the Bin Six Vocational Training School outside Ongwediva have been placed in schools within and beyond Oshana Region.

They have since resumed school. The Director of Education in Oshana Region Hileni Amukana said placement was done last week. Children who have not been placed yet are advised to visit the various circuits’ offices so that they can also be placed.

“We will wait for the reports from the circuits offices to see if there are still learners who have not been placed before we can plan for the next step,” said Amukana.

If there are learners still seeking for admission, the region is prepared to make use of unused classrooms at schools within the region in order to accommodate the learners.

According to the director, many of the learners returned at their previous schools, while those who came from outside the region returned to their home region.

The Bin Six Vocational Training School was earlier this month temporarily closed as it was not registered with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.

The region at the closure meeting informed that the directorate has no objection to reopen the school if it complies with the set regulations and have it registered.

However, the director emphasised that registration of a school cannot take place while a school is operational because there are certain standards that needs to be conformed to before a school can operate.
The director also responded to social media critics which questioned why the region is only targeting Bin Six.’
She said it is not the first school that the region is closing in the region.

She further said she has a mandate to ensure that children receives the best education, hence the closure of schools that do not meet the prescribed standards.

On the issue of learners going back to repeat classes attended at Bin Six, Amukana said the implication in that regard is not so big. She said only a small fraction of the learners will be required to repeat as there were a minimal number of learners in many grades, according to the school’s September statistics.

At the meeting, parents were informed that certificates obtained at Bin Six will not be considered and parents would need to use the last reports from registered schools when seeking for admission.
To avoid similar situations in future, the region will host radio talk shows to create awareness.