By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK Government and other stakeholders in education have been urged to look into interventions, which will alleviate the deplorable situation of HIV/AIDS in which affected and infected children live. This is one of seventeen motions that were adopted last week by the Children’s Parliament. The following are the rest of the adopted motions: Socio-Economic Rights: The Government was urged to provide more resources towards improving the living conditions of disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, the Children’s Parliament requested Government to translate these rights into legislation and include it in the Constitution. This particular motion also amplified the ecumenical call for the introduction of the Basic Income Grant. The English Language in our Schools: The Children’s Parliament called upon the Government to introduce English as the compulsory medium of instruction from lower primary to senior secondary schools. The current policy whereby “mother tongue” instructions at lower primary is enforced, disadvantages learners when they reach high school and has a negative effect on the learners. The disadvantage is that they must first think in their “mother tongue” and then translate it. The increasing horrific crime rate in especially the squatter camps: The Children’s Parliament urged Government to redouble its efforts by creating more employment opportunities in order to improve the living conditions of the poor and unemployed sections of our nation. The high number of Grade 10 dropouts: There was general consensus that many under-aged children are in need of a second chance to repeat Grade 10. Also under this Motion, the Children’s Parliament called upon the Government to provide more resources towards education. Crime and its impact on tourism, national reputation and social implications: The Children’s Parliament called upon the Government to ensure more police presence especially at coastal and tourist destinations and that tourist themselves must be sensitized on ways how to minimize crimes affecting them. It further called on the Government to set up more Vocational Training Centres for skills development. ICT and Hygiene in schools: The Children’s Parliament was of the view that many rural schools are unable to procure ICT equipment due to the lack of electricity. This shortcoming also causes unhygienic situations at many rural schools. The Government is urged to intensify its rural electrification programme. The Parliament also called on the Private Sector to assist the Government. The Parliament further called on school inspectors when doing inspections, not only to concentrate on the classrooms, but to also look at the hygienic part of the school as a whole, including hostels. Corporal punishment in schools: The Children’s Parliament expressed the view that corporal punishment constitutes a gross violation on human rights. It, therefore, called upon the Ministry of Education and school principals to ensure that alternative disciplinary measures be put in place. Lack of discipline in schools: The Children’s Parliament was of the view that the high dropout rate is a result of lack of discipline in schools. It encourages children nationwide to consider schooling as a privilege and to take this opportunity for learning. In this connection, the Children’s Parliament felt that parents and teachers should work hand-in-hand to ensure discipline and good order in schools. The involvement of the private sector in the education system: The Children’s Parliament agreed that Government alone cannot manage to provide for all educational needs of the children. It expressed appreciation to those businesses which are already involved in many ways, but also called upon the entire private sector to realize the importance of their interventions in order to ensure quality education for all children. The motion further called on the private sector to not only sponsor schools in the urban areas, but also those in the rural or disadvantaged areas to encourage the learners to pursue their studies. The new Senior Secondary Certificate curricula: The Children’s Parliament expressed its concern that the introduction of the new senior secondary certificate curricula may be hampered by the slow distribution of teaching materials. Further, it called upon the Ministry of Education to ensure that textbooks and other educational aids are printed and delivered on time to the schools, that editing is done prior to the printing of books as they currently include a lot of printing errors, and that the Ministry utilize the school holidays to retrain teachers in the new curricula. Gender equality, that all people are equal before the law: The Children’s Parliament affirmed that equality before the law does not apply to gender issues only, but also to disability and other forms of discrimination that violate human rights. Street children: The Children’s Parliament expressed the view that many families are destitute and cannot cater for the basic needs of their children. Children go hungry to bed and many children are forced to take recourse to the streets, either begging or stealing. The Parliament agreed to call upon the Government and its line ministries to intensify their interventions to ensure that children’s rights are protected and not violated. Malnutrition: The Children’s Parliament affirmed that malnutrition is a result of either eating too much or too little of a particular food substance. As a result, most children do not actively take part or concentrate in class activities due to the lack of energy and thus result in a high failure rate of learners. Participants appreciate the effort the Government is currently doing and call upon it to consider providing children with free vitamins and energy boosters to strengthen their immune systems which will enable them to effectively participate at school.