WINDHOEK – The Minister of Education, Dr David Namwandi, has reminded staff members in the ministry about the significance of service delivery in the public sector.
He told staff in the ministry to ensure that their offices do not become a storage room for heaps upon heaps and bundles of documents, as well as unprocessed papers. “Looking at some offices, one cannot help but wonder how the official deals with his or her work, because there are huge piles of documents on every surface. Starting today, go through all the documents systematically and ensure that they are dealt with and properly filed,” he said last Friday during a meeting with staff and education stakeholders. Namwandi threatened to embark on routine tours through the ministry’s head office throughout the year to check on staff. “I do not want to be in the shoes of the officials who have not organised and cleaned up their offices.” Namwandi together with his staff and other education stakeholders also observed “a moment of silence in memory of the late education minister, Dr Abraham Iyambo who passed away last year February in London while on official duty. The late minister’s picture accompanied by a lit-candle was prominently on display at the ministry in his honour. “2013 was a year of agony and immense sorrow, a year characterised by severe drought. It was a year when we lost a son, honourable, ‘Kakururume’ Dr Abraham Iyambo. Today, 31 January is just two days before the departure of the late minister, while in London on official duty. We remember ‘Dr Book’ and his dynamism, we miss him and we will carry on his legacy, it will live on,” Namwandi said.
On last year’s Grade 10 and 12 results Namwandi made it clear in no uncertain terms that he is not satisfied with the outcome, which he said shows no improvement. “I have a great dissatisfaction that every year, I speak to you about a number of issues. Yet, I see little or no improvement and little or no change. Maybe the time has come for us to look at challenges in a different light. If we take the same action to address the same problem, we are bound to get the same results. I realised the big question to each of us is, ‘Why am I here?’ That is very easy. You are here to serve. You are here to serve the Namibian child and all his or her interests, you are here to serve the Namibian public and you are here to serve the Namibian nation,” he said.
He warned staff to end the tendency of sending people from pillar to post and from one office to another when they require assistance. “Let us put an end to being unfriendly and unhelpful on the telephone. Let us make it a matter of pride to find the right answer and to follow-up on queries and concentrate on the flow of information, the coordination of our work, tasks and uniformity and fairness in the implementation of policies and practices,” he implored education staffers. He also reminded staff about timeliness, saying time is non-renewable and what they do not complete “today becomes a burden tomorrow.”
“If you cannot complete a task, get assistance and guidance from your supervisor and peers rather than ignoring a problem.” He also cautined against the tendency of dodging work and about late-coming and poor time-keeping. “We must spend the right hours per day, the 40 hours per week and 160 hours per month on tasks for which we are paid for. Time on task means you are at your desk, working at 08h00. By then you have greeted colleagues, read your newspapers, dealt with your personal issues and you are working. Time on task does not allow for sauntering into the building after 08h00, socialising and catching up on private lives till 09h00, ambling across to the kiosk or supermarket at 10h00 and taking lunch anywhere from 12h00,” he cautioned.
By Albertina Nakale