Principal irked by textbook shortage

KEETMANSHOOP Junior Secondary School principal Stanley Ui-nuseb says the ministry of education was not taking the issue of the textbook shortages seriously, despite calls to address the matter.

Fed up with the situation, Ui-nuseb on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that there is a “serious shortage (of textbooks), “ and predicted that this may result in a “high failure rate at the end of this (academic) year”.

“Remember, the whistle-blower doctor on the coronavirus was [told to] shut up, he got sick and died. Instead of looking at the reality, we hate critics until it is too late. And you know what? Before being critics, we try to use avenues to warn and inform, but we are not taken seriously,” he wrote on his Facebook post.

According to him, the school’s Grade 11 pupils will be hardest hit by the textbook shortage as many of them do not have mathematics and accounting textbooks.

“We should brace ourselves for a high failure rate in Grade 11 because out of the six subjects 80% or more are to fail mathematics. This means they should get, at least C symbols in the remaining five subjects for which there are also shortages,” he said.

Grades 8 and 9 pupils are also affected by the textbook shortage as the school was last supplied these textbooks about five years back.

The principal blamed the textbook shortage on the sharp rise in school enrolment over the past years.

The principal also highlighted lack of desks and chairs as a challenge his school faces.

“Even now this (speaking about textbook shortages) will be held against me, but all I am doing is begging for textbooks to be made available to avoid a serious volcanic eruption,” he remarked.

When contacted, Ui-nuseb confirmed being the author of the post, saying he had turned to social media following unsuccessful lobbying of the education directorate.

//Kharas education director Johannes |Awabahe ||Hoëseb on Tuesday countered the principal’s assertion on social media as “most unprofessional,” while labelling his frustration as “unfounded”.

The regional director dismissed as untrue the principal’s claim, implying that schools in the //Kharas region were battling textbooks shortages.

“Textbooks for all schools were procured, any school facing textbooks shortages just has to place an order with the regional education authority,” he stressed.

“The principal has access to a computer, and the education authority office is just a stone’s throw [away] from his school…why has he not come here to voice his concern instead of going public tarnishing the government’s image?” he said.

||Hoëseb further hit back at Ui-Nuseb’s contention that education officials who dare to speak out on education issues are victimised.

“We are living in a constitutional democracy ruled by laws…it’s a failed assertion,” he countered.