Education is the 'key' to development
By Asser Ntinda

Iyambo lays his roadmap on the table
No child is excluded from education

One of the biggest challenges facing Namibia is a choice between losing generations to ignorance or building worthy generations equipped with knowledge, skills and aptitude.

This was spelled out this week by Education Minister, Dr Abraham Iyambo, when he motivated his Ministry’s N$6,47 billion budget in the NationalAssembly on Wednesday.

“Undoubtedly,” he said, “our choice is knowledge. We have the political will and the right policies. What is needed is that our huge investment delivers quality education. At the same time, we need to acknowledge that no country in the world has moved up the human development ladder without consistent investment in education.”

The challenges, he said, were many, competing with limited resources. Of the total allocation to his Ministry, only just over seven percent would be used for developmental activities, which is just over N$503 million.

“It needs to be emphasized that this amount will be shared by competing demands in general education, higher education, vocational education and training,” he said.

There are 21,607 teachers and 585,500 learners in the country, and Dr Abraham was upbeat in pointing out that the money allocated to his Ministry would benefit all of them.

“We have the sacrosanct duty to ensure that, in line with the provisions of our Constitution, no Namibian child or youth is excluded from educational opportunities and access,” he said.

“To succeed, we need to make strategic investments in learners and teachers and continue to streamline our policies, laws and work practices. The ultimate measure of any education system is not how many children are enrolled in schools, but what and how well they are taught and learn. The quality of education is therefore the barometer”

The first phase of Namibia’s Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme, ETSIP, is now in its third year of implementation. ETSIP, Dr Abraham said, was a 15 years catalytic Roadmap deliberately designed to achieve strategic objectives in the education and training sector. Its main objective is to attain quality education.

ETSIP was reviewed late last month. While the review found that the majority of activities in pre-primary education, primary and secondary education, information and life-long learning, vocational education and training were on track, there was a worrying delay in tertiary education and training, early childhood development, HIV/ AIDS, knowledge, creation and innovation. This delay, the Minister said, needed to be addressed. Namibia reintroduced preprimary education into formal education to cater for five to six year old children. Currently, there are 300 schools that offer pre-primary education out of 1460 schools with grade one.

Dr Abraham said that the remaining 1160 schools qualifying for preprimary grades would be addressed progressively.

“Pre-primary education is the bedrock of any education system,” he said. “We must not and cannot falter on that. Good pre-primary education has the potency to act as a springboard for success in tertiary institutions.

“The introduction of pre-primary education is a significant move to lay the foundation for acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills. For the success of our education system, it is our conviction that great attention must be dedicated to pre-primary education.

“It underpins the success of education at primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary levels. Failing to fortify the base of education at pre-primary level will ascertain our failure in educating our people. Failure is therefore not an option.

Our challenge as a country is to train a sizable number of preprimary teachers and equip schools with teaching materials as a first step to guarantee success.”

The Minister emphasized the importance of mastering numeracy to ensure sound preparation for mathematics, sciences, accounting and law subjects, adding that it would be a national disaster if children at primary level did not know how to proficiently read, write and count.

Neglect at this level would mean inadequate preparation of learners for secondary schooling and tertiary education and training. “It makes sense,” he said, “it is right and urgent to heavily invest in infrastructure development, including libraries, laboratories, hostels and ablution facilities.”

Dr Abraham said that Information Technology, IT, would feature prominently in his turnaround strategy, adding that it was imperative to equip children with the capacity to appreciate value and use information technology.

“There is no better level to introduce this necessary skill than at primary level,” he said. “IT must then be intensified throughout the education system. It is of cardinal importance, that electrification of educational establishments both in rural and urban areas, continue to attract premier and maximum priority.

“Alternative energy deserves to be included in our effort to electrifying schools and education facilities. This cannot be delayed.

“In this new world, teachers and principals must be computer literate. Computers are the language of today and tomorrow. In this field, education must not be left behind.”