Ella du Plessis learners pledge to stop school violence

WINDHOEK, 17 MAR – Grade 11 learners of Ella Du Plessis Secondary School took a pledge here Friday to meet officials halfway by actively getting involved in putting a stop to school violence by means of forming a campaign against bullying, racism and tribalism.
The activities of the campaign kicked off on Monday and coincided with the #BreakFree anti-violence special assembly, held at the school the same day.
The #BreakFree anti-violence campaign is an initiative by the Office of the First Lady, Monica Geingos, with the special assembly recognising that violence in schools is on the increase.
Technical Advisor in the Office of the First Lady, Meunajo Tjiroze opened the assembly with an active message on bullying and how she encountered bullying in secondary school.
She encouraged perpetrators to put a stop to bullying and said youth should be taught how to exercise self-control and seek help for self-destructive behaviour.
In an interview with Nampa on Friday, Peer Educator and Grade 11 pupil, Martha Hailono said learners and teachers recently witnessed a mass tribalism fight among the learners.
She said the fight even led to the school road being blocked and shortly after, on 01 March 2018, more than 40 pupils were sent home following a police raid in which an assortment of weapons and alcohol was confiscated.
“We don’t want people to be fighting in our school anymore, we don’t want violence, we want our school to stand together as a family, we don’t want people to stand in groups according to race and tribes, we need to stand together as one Namibia, one nation,” Hailono said.
She urged the youth and other schools to work together against violence and put a stop to racism and tribalism, in turn being the role models for the generation of tomorrow.
Grade 12 learner, Vezembouua Kandorozu said the campaign enlightened her on the effects of bullying and inspired her to get involved.
Bruno Kutazo, Learner Representative Council member of the school, said they do not want to leave the issue of violence in the hands of the officials alone, but also to be the custodians of the change they want to see.
Through the one week campaign, all learners pledged to put a stop to all forms of violence by signing a pledge form.

NAMPA