Windhoek: Erongo Governor Nathalia /Goagoses has expressed disappointment over the region's poor academic performance, despite significant investments in education infrastructure and skills development. The region was ranked ninth nationally at Ordinary Level and 11th at Advanced Subsidiary Level for the 2025 academic year out of the 14 regions, with an overall pass rate of only 33.7 per cent.
According to Namibia Press Agency, delivering her State of the Region Address in Swakopmund on Wednesday, /Goagoses emphasised that much remains to be done in this area. "Improving educational performance requires commitment from all stakeholders, and as governor, I demand that for this academic year, every player fulfils their role to improve academic performance," she said.
The governor said the disappointing results prompted the Erongo Regional Council to convene a regional education introspection conference aimed at identifying the causes of poor academic performance and developing a recovery strategy to restore the region's educational standing. The conference, held in Swakopmund on Thursday, brought together education officials, school principals, teachers, learners, community leaders and other stakeholders to assess challenges facing the sector.
Chief Regional Officer Dr Mpezeni Ntelamo said the conference was not intended to assign blame, but to confront the region's educational challenges honestly and develop practical, data-driven solutions. "The purpose of this conference is to diagnose the root causes of our region's performance in education, agree on practical solutions and renew our shared commitment to the success of every learner in Erongo," he said.
Ntelamo acknowledged that despite years of planning and interventions, educational outcomes have remained below expectations. "For too long our region has been falling short of its educational targets. We have planned with good intent over the years, yet our efforts have not consistently delivered the results our learners, teachers and communities deserve," he said.
Despite the poor regional results however, /Goagoses highlighted progress in expanding educational infrastructure, particularly in rapidly growing urban areas. She announced that two new schools are under construction in Swakopmund's DRC informal settlement at an estimated cost of N.dollars 50 million. Once completed, the schools will increase the total number of schools serving the DRC and Matutura communities to five.
On informal education, the governor reported that 1 991 adult learners and community members acquired practical income-generating skills through community learning and development centres across the region during the reporting period. The Community Learning and Development Centre in Karibib was also completed, expanding access to skills training, literacy programmes and library services.
Turning to social welfare, /Goagoses said more than N.dollars 71 million was invested during the reporting period to strengthen social protection systems, promote social inclusion and improve the quality of life of vulnerable residents. Government also invested N.dollars 2 million in Early Childhood Development programmes, which employ 86 edu-carers across the region.
The governor reported that N.dollars 36 million was disbursed through old age grants, benefiting 22 262 elderly citizens, while N.dollars 12 million was allocated to disability grants supporting 7 304 beneficiaries. A further N.dollars 11.5 million was allocated through the Integrated Social Assistance System, increasing beneficiary grants from 12 923 to 32 727. While welcoming the expansion of social assistance, /Goagoses cautioned beneficiaries against misuse of government support.