Namibian students, like their counterparts in South Africa, have been playing an increasingly important role in the liberation struggle. Resistance to the South African imposed structures was manifested through education protests during March, April and May.
Widespread dissatisfaction with the black education system was revealed in student demonstrations at the Augustineum Training College in Windhoek in March.
Angered by the presence of security guards at the school, the high-handed behaviour of the white headmaster and the lack of student or parent representation in the running of the school, pupils held a demonstration at the school gate. Police from the Counter-Insurgency Unit (Koevoet) arrived in Casspir armoured personnel carriers, broke up the meeting with teargas and laid siege to the school. Three students were injured during the police attack, which apparently took place without warning. (WA 17.3.86; Nam 21.3.86)
The MPC official responsible for education, Andrew Matjila, partially defused student anger by announcing that the headmaster would be replaced. However he then unilaterally closed the school and informed pupils that when it reopened they would have to apply for readmission. Parents would be required to sign a document agreeing to abide by school regulations and the policies of the Department of Education. A meeting attended by 500 parents, teachers and students to discuss the crisis condemned the 'arbitrary expulsion' of the students and rejected the conditions for readmission. An 'action committee' was set up to campaign for the election of a representative parents' committee. (WA 17/18.3.86; Nam 21.3.86)
After further mass meetings a parents' committee was established and when the school reopened on 7 April all the pupils were readmitted. However, Matjila insisted that 19 identified 'troublemakers' would face instant expulsion if they continued their activities. He also refused to give in to demands that security guards be removed from the school premises. At the end of April three students were expelled. The Secretary for National Education, Ferdie Theron, claimed that the three had 'allowed themselves to be used by foreign powers as tools of disruption'. The expulsions were strongly condemned by NANSO, which demanded an explanation from the authorities. (WA 7/8/28/30.4.86)
Protests by students at the Khomasdal Teachers' Training College in April led to the closure of the institution. It was reopened after the resignation of the superintendent, a focus for many of the student grievances. (WA 24.4.86, 12.5.86)
On 23 May the Academy for Tertiary Education in Windhoek was also closed and all meetings banned, including one organised by NANSO and due to be addressed by SWAPO vice-chairman Daniel Tjongarero. The action by the authorities followed a day of demonstrations by students and a class boycott in support of a demand that NANSO be allowed to operate on the campus and that restrictions on the Student Representative Council be abolished. (WA 23.5.86; BBC 26.5.86)
In the north of the country, there was resistance to visits by the South African Defence Force (SADF) to schools to show films, demonstrate military vehicles and attempt to extract pledges of support. Many schools were reported to have refused the SADF access to their premises. There were protests in the Caprivi area concerning a youth movement called 'Nambweza'. It was said to be organised by the SADF and 'aimed at eliminating anti-South African government opinion among high school students'. During the school holidays the movement reportedly organised seminar for teachers headed by an SADF major. In another development, students at the Ongwdiva college were reported to be boycotting lectures in protest at being given study notes in Afrikaans. (WA 23.5.86; Nam 2.5.86)
