President Hage Geingob on Tuesday opened the Second National Education Conference, which is aimed at reviewing and re-aligning the Namibian education system to ensure relevance to the needs of the country.
Opening the four-day conference in a speech read on his behalf in Windhoek under the theme ‘Transforming education towards inclusion and quality in the context of global challenges’, Geingob said Government aims to have an education system that is solution-based, relevant and that is able to address the challenges faced in the modern world.
He indicated that the right to education is enshrined in the Namibian Constitution, which states, ‘all persons shall have the right to education’, stressing that education plays a large role in the Human Capital Index assessment, both in terms of enrolment and retention in school, as well as early grade literacy/numeracy.
“The national education conference is an opportunity to deliberate on the status of education in Namibia, to reflect on the impact that COVID-19 had on education and identify key levers of change to transform our education system in the short, medium and long-term,” he noted.
The president further indicated that sustainable financing of education is the engine that drives quality education transformation, noting that the government alone cannot sufficiently finance the education sector. Therefore, in order to bridge the education financing gap, it is imperative that the private sector supports education through the collaborative development of a National Framework on Corporate Social Responsibility, the president stated.
He noted that good quality, universal education is critical for the development of Namibia, saying it is a great equaliser as it opens doors and creates opportunities never thought possible.
Geingob noted that the net enrolment rate in 2010 stood at 96.9 per cent at junior primary and 49.8 per cent at senior secondary, while in 2015 these reached 100 per cent and 61.1 per cent respectively.
He also added that during the period of 1991 to 2015 reduced poverty levels were recorded from 28.7 per cent in 2009 to 2010 to 17.4 per cent in 2015 and 2016.
“The African Union’s Agenda 2063 commits us all on this beautiful continent to ensure that we have well-educated citizens and a skills revolution underpinned by science, technology and innovation. Therefore my clarion call to you is, be open to new ideas, take criticism positively and ultimately celebrate change,” Geingob urged.
The conference is attended by various ministers, members of Parliament, regional governors, diplomatic missions and school teachers, among others.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
