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Fees still keeping some children out of schools

Posted on Thu, 15 Sep, 2011 National NewsAuthor: Selma Ikela

THERE are still children who have never sat in a classroom in an Independent Namibia because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees. Under the Namibian Constitution, primary education “shall be compulsory and the State shall provide reasonable facilities to render effective this right for every resident within Namibia by establishing and maintaining State schools at which primary education will be provided free of charge”..

Namibiansun learnt about a group of 15 children from the Tobias Hainyeko constituency, Moses Garoeb constituency and Samora Machel Constituency who are of school-going age but are still wandering around on the streets. One such child is Jeremia Hangula, a 10-year-old from the Ombili settlement, who can only count up to 20, can at least write his name and say the alphabet up to D.

“I want to go to school but my mother can’t pay school fees for me”, said Hangula

“It breaks my heart when my children are at home while their friends are at school. I can not afford school fees and can’t even afford to put enough food on the table”, said Mwetufa. She added that her nine-year-old son wants to become a nurse when he grows up and that her son Matheus Matheus can speak English that he learnt from his peers while playing in the street.

Another parent is Secilie Sheende, whose six-year-old daughter is to start school next year but is not attending pre-primary school. “I teach her at home so that she does not forget what she was taught in kindergarten”, said Sheende. Tobias Hainyeko Councillor Zulu Shitongeni said it would help if the Ministry of Education built a special school to cater for children who cannot afford to pay school fees. .

Shitongeni said his office has tried to help parents who cannot afford to pay school fees, by putting children in schools, but some children still ended up dropping out. He said some of the children he has put in school were visiting the Kupferberg Dumpsite. He added that his office is ready to assist parents who cannot afford to pay school fees for their children by getting them enrolled at school. These parents said they are not aware of the Ministry of Education’s campaign to register all street-children around the country and to put them into learning institutions. Hence they call on the Minister of Education to help them.