Nantu condemns eviction of teachers

NANTU secretary general Basilius Haingura has condemned the education ministry over the eviction of teachers from hostels, saying they had not been provided with alternative housing.

Haingura told a press conference last week that teachers facing eviction are those staying in hostels while they are not supervisors.

The union does not believe that teachers staying in hostels should pay rent.

“It is disappointing to note that teachers are being evicted while accommodation spaces are available in the hostels of their respective schools,” he said, adding that if there is space, it should be allocated to these teachers.

Investigations done by the union this year revealed that teachers are evicted in dubious ways.

“We found out that cleaners are recruited to stay in the hostels while teachers are being evicted,” Haingura stated.

The union has so far discovered that teachers from the Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions had been removed from the hostels at their schools.

The Namibian reported this year that four teachers from the Epako High School at Gobabis were being ejected from the hostel.

One of the teachers, Kutuuouua Tjatindi, had been transferred from Windhoek’s Augustineum Secondary School in 2013, and claimed that she had been promised accommodation for an indefinite period.

The teachers told The Namibian that they were staying in the hostels because they could not find accommodation elsewhere, and could not afford to buy their own houses.

Haingura said the union would not support any malpractices aimed at frustrating teachers not to focus on their core duties.

The union also welcomed last month’s labour court ruling in Nantu’s favour that qualified teachers stationed in remote areas of Namibia should receive incentive payments, as well as remoteness allowances from government.

The government was given six months from the date of the judgement to pay the outstanding incentives.

“We call upon the affected teachers to exercise patience,” he said, adding that Nantu will not accept any delay from the government.

Efforts to get comment from the spokesperson of the ministry of education, Absalom Absalom, were fruitless because he did not respond to quetions sent to him.