By Staff Reporter |

The Board and Management of Jan Mohr High School have condemned the incident of which a teacher at the Windhoek-based school allegedly sodomised a learner at the said school last week.

In a media statement issued yesterday, the chairperson of the school’s board and the school’s principal offered an apology to the public for the incident and further stated that such kind of an incident will never happen again in future.

“The Jan Mohr High School Board, Management, Staff and learners have learnt with dismay about the unfortunate incident of rape/sodomy at the school during official hours and on the school premises,” the statement issued by Jan Mohr’s School Board Chairperson Mr Kenneth Uirab and School Principal Mr Lukas Hashiti said.

“The incident has sent shock waves not only across the entire school community but the general public, and the school board herewith wish to respond as follows:

* We regrettably acknowledge the unfortunate incident, which no matter the circumstances, cannot be justified in any manner as any school premises should be a place of safety for learners. We therefore condemn this incident with the contempt it deserves.

* It is worth noting that as soon as the matter came to the knowledge of our Management, it was reported to the relevant authorities. The school also took it upon itself to take the affected learner to a medical facility to conduct relevant tests and the results of these tests will be forwarded to the Namibian Police to assist with their investigation into the matter.

* The school Board, Management and Staff wish to assure our learners, parents and all stakeholders, including the general public that it will do everything humanly possible to avoid and or prevent the re-occurrence of a similar despicable incident in future.

* The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and a case was opened against the suspected teacher.

* The suspected teacher has been arrested on Saturday, 6 February 2021 and will appear in court in due course to answer to the charges. The suspected teacher tendered his resignation on Saturday, 6 February 2021, prior to his arrest.

* We therefore appeal for calm and to allow the Namibian Police as the competent authority to duly investigate the matter and ensure that the suspect faces the full wrath of the law, if found guilty.

* It has come to the knowledge of the school Board and Management that similar incidents took place previously but were not reported. We, therefore, encourage those learners and or anyone with credible information, in this regard, to contact the school Principal and or the Namibian Police to report these matters so that appropriate action can be taken against the culprit(s).

* The school Board and Management will engage the relevant authorities to enlist the services of Social Workers to provide counseling services to all the affected learners and teachers.

* Finally, we wish to appeal to all stakeholders to render the necessary support to the school to ensure that we continue to provide quality education to our learners in a safe and conducive manner and environment.”

In conclusion the school’s authorities said they are confident that they will bring back the glory days of excellent academic achievement at their school “as we continue to say, Jan Mohr – Altyd Die Beste.”