Parents angry about Andimba School hostel
Some parents are accusing the Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Senior Secondary School at Ondangwa of denying grade 12 learners hostel accommodation.
They complained to Namibian Sun that the school authorities waited until the beginning of the new school year to send their children packing, instead of warning them in advance.
They said they had to find alternative accommodation at short notice and some learners therefore could not go to school for the first week of the term.
“When the school started my child went to school on Monday to report for hostel. To my shock he came back home claiming that they were told there was no place for them in the hostel as the school accommodated many grade 10 and 11 learners,” said one parent. “I thought the child was not telling the truth, or perhaps he had misbehaved. I went to school myself and I was told that the school had decided to take out some of the grade 12 learners to make space for grade 10 and 11 learners.”
Another parent said the school should have informed them of the problem at the end of last year so that they could have made alternative arrangements.
“I am from Onamutai village and I could not find anybody to accommodate my child in Ondangwa.
Every day the child is forced to spend N$84 on a taxi to and from school. She has to pay N$12 from Onamutai to Adolfi, and N$18 from Adofi to Ondangwa, where she is charged an extra N$12 because there is no taxi rank at the school,” said the parent.
She said the process was frustrating learners and parents and was very costly.
Andimba School principal Walde Shapaka denied the allegations.
“The only learners we removed from the hostel were those that live within the town of Ondangwa.
Last year we made a mistake by accommodating learners from Ondangwa in the hostel at the expense of those that come from far places.
“It is our wish to have all the grade 12 learners in the hostel but we cannot afford it. Our school has over 1 000 learners but the hostel capacity is only 560, meaning over 400 learners have to stay outside. Therefore those who come first get preference to stay in the hostel,” Shapaka said.
ILENI NANDJATO
They complained to Namibian Sun that the school authorities waited until the beginning of the new school year to send their children packing, instead of warning them in advance.
They said they had to find alternative accommodation at short notice and some learners therefore could not go to school for the first week of the term.
“When the school started my child went to school on Monday to report for hostel. To my shock he came back home claiming that they were told there was no place for them in the hostel as the school accommodated many grade 10 and 11 learners,” said one parent. “I thought the child was not telling the truth, or perhaps he had misbehaved. I went to school myself and I was told that the school had decided to take out some of the grade 12 learners to make space for grade 10 and 11 learners.”
Another parent said the school should have informed them of the problem at the end of last year so that they could have made alternative arrangements.
“I am from Onamutai village and I could not find anybody to accommodate my child in Ondangwa.
Every day the child is forced to spend N$84 on a taxi to and from school. She has to pay N$12 from Onamutai to Adolfi, and N$18 from Adofi to Ondangwa, where she is charged an extra N$12 because there is no taxi rank at the school,” said the parent.
She said the process was frustrating learners and parents and was very costly.
Andimba School principal Walde Shapaka denied the allegations.
“The only learners we removed from the hostel were those that live within the town of Ondangwa.
Last year we made a mistake by accommodating learners from Ondangwa in the hostel at the expense of those that come from far places.
“It is our wish to have all the grade 12 learners in the hostel but we cannot afford it. Our school has over 1 000 learners but the hostel capacity is only 560, meaning over 400 learners have to stay outside. Therefore those who come first get preference to stay in the hostel,” Shapaka said.
ILENI NANDJATO
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