Education chaos Government makes frantic efforts to stop strike Examinations scheduled for yesterday and today were cancelled as a national teachers’ strike took effect, but the government is confident that classes will resume on Monday. JEMIMA BEUKES>
Hundreds of schools have been forced to close by a teachers’ strike that started yesterday in a long-running dispute with the government over salary increases.
The teachers are demanding 8% increases, while the government said it could only offer 5% because of a weak economy.
The massive disruption affected grade 10 and 12 examinations scheduled for yesterday and today. Government and private schools alike are affected.
The Ministry of Education announced early yesterday that the examination papers scheduled for yesterday and today had been postponed until further notice. Grade 12 learners were due to write mathematics and entrepreneurship exams, while grade 10 learners were to write integrated performing arts and life science.
“All examinations for the remaining subjects will proceed as scheduled from Monday, 17 October 2016,” the ministry said in a statement.
Permanent secretary Sanet Steenkamp explained that if only ten schools wrote exams it would put the credibility of the Namibian examinations at risk. Namibian examinations, although locally set, are evaluated and accredited by the Cambridge University Examination department in London.
In fact, the ministry was forced to recall a visiting Cambridge assessor currently in the country from Rundu because no examination centres were available for him to assess. This was confirmed by the ministry’s director for examinations, Calvin Nyambe.
“What can he do if schools are closed? We cannot keep him in the country; we have an obligation to keep him safe. He might have to go back and come back at a later stage,” said Nyambe.
When asked whether there was a chance of Namibia’s losing its Cambridge accreditation, Steenkamp said, “No, these are local exams and it is in government’s power to postpone it, but there may be additional costs involved.”
State commitment
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila yesterday issued a statement saying that the government remained engaged with the teachers’ union to find a solution to the impasse as early as next week.
“The disruption and discomfort the prevailing situation has caused, especially on the learners that are currently writing examinations, are regretted,” the premier said.
“May I, again, emphasise that government is committed to have this matter resolved as soon as possible, and the outcome of the ongoing engagement will be communicated once a conclusion is reached.”
However, the Namibia National Teachers’ Union’s Khomas regional chairperson, Kevin Kahungi, yesterday said the teachers would be on strike for a month if need be. According to him, teachers will not return to their classrooms until the government has agreed to give them a 8% salary increase.
Ghost house
Milton Ya Otto, the inspector of education in Khomas, yesterday visited schools in the region to inform them that schools would resume on Monday.
However, Ya Otto found only skeleton staff at some schools and absolutely no one at the Immanuel Shifidi Secondary School.
“The fact that there is no one at the school demonstrates the seriousness of the strike and how it will affect learners. This thing has far-reaching consequences,” he said.
When asked how learners would be informed about the resumption of school if the notice could not be delivered, Ya Otto said he hoped that a broadcast by Minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa would reach everyone.
Impact
Meanwhile, Helena Eises, a mother of a grade 10 learner in Windhoek, said she has no hope, because grade 10 itself is a doomed grade.
“I can only see how my child will end up on the street; we all know that they are not allowed to repeat grade 10. What will now happen to them?” she asked.
Duncan Towe, a grade 12 learner at Jan Jonker Afrikaner Secondary School, said he hopes the government plans to pay the university fees of this year’s grade 12 learners.
He has applied for a NamPower bursary and needs to submit his final year’s exam results.
“There is simply no way that my family can pay for me. Will government pay for me? My whole family is just general workers and we do not even break even every month financially, so there is no way that my parents can pay for me,” he said.