Africa-Press – Namibia. CORNELL Oorlam, a single mother of three children, was yesterday allegedly turned away from Khomastura High School in Windhoek where she went to register her children due to outstanding fees.
Oorlam lost her job early in 2021 and was unemployed until November, and was unable to pay voluntary school fees as a result. Oorlam says she visited the principal to inform her that although she was willing to pay, she was unable to. She says the principal assured her that she understood and accepted an agreement that Oorlam pay the voluntary fees in January 2022.
The single mother yesterday went to the school to enrol her children for the academic year – two in Grade 8, and one in Grade 10, when she was informed she must first pay the registration fees and outstanding voluntary fees in order to have her children accepted.
Furthermore, Oorlam claims Rachel Amunwe, the principal at Khomastura High School, denied knowing her and having made the agreement. The three children, two in Grade 8, and one in Grade 10, have been turned away from school and have outstanding fees of N$1 700 collectively.
Oorlam is considering taking the children out of school for the year and registering them next year. Amunwe yesterday declined to comment. Another parent, Chalo Manze, was turned away from Concordia College in Windhoek when he went to register his child for Grade 11.
The school informed Manze he should pay N$500 as a voluntary school fee before he could enrol his child. Manze, however, managed to pay the required fee.
“I didn’t budget for it, really. It’s only that the child must be registered,” he said. Mary Uanguta, the principal at Concordia College, yesterday denied the allegations.
“If a parent is not able to do so (pay voluntary fees), we take recognition of that, but there should be a de-claration that the parent is not able to do so,” she said.
Speaking to The Namibian, Edda Bohn, the deputy executive director of education, arts and culture, said: “In principle, it is against the Education Act. We should not discriminate on the grounds of financial capabilities. But, we understand that the schools have to make ends meet.”
She, however, encouraged parents who are turned away from schools to report the schools to the ministry. Meanwhile in the Kunene region, Rosa Garises (42), an unemployed mother of two at Kamanjab Combined School said she was told to pay outstanding monies.
“I can only afford to pay for my Grade 10 child, so the other one will stay at home as I cannot afford it for two children. It’s hard. Education is not free at all,” a concerned Garises said.
Garises and her husband make a living from fetching firewood they sell. “One needs to also have a ream of photo paper, then only can the child attend (school),” Garises said.
Of the outstanding monies, some is for a project for construction of the school gate. “Education is not free. I bought 21 books, the cost of education is high. It’s hard as an unemployed parent,” Garises said.
Christa Bosman (39), who makes a living from doing housekeeping and laundry, said her children were told to go to school on Thursday as the school was busy registering pupils and collecting outstanding fees.
“Lots of parents were there who say they don’t have a cent,” Bosman said.
Lourence //Hoëseb, acting director of education for the Kunene region, said it is impossible to say something about issues at Kamanjab Combined School without meeting the Outjo circuit inspector and the principal.
“If parents are unable to have anything, one cannot be sent back. The government does not allow that,” //Hoëseb said.
//Hoëseb said the regional education office finance department is denying the reduced usage of the budget.
“Last year the monies were divided between schools based on the number of pupils. Practical kits were bought, and government stores were paid their outstanding debt too,” //Hoëseb said.
He said the Kunene region’s education department’s finance office also disputes the figures given by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture since they used N$3 million last year.
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