Windhoek
Khomas Regional Governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua says the next 15 to 17 years will be highly critical in the lives and work spheres of teachers.
During that period the education system is expected and required to produce the critical mass of skilled manpower to meet the demands and requirements of an industrialised state, she said.
A team from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is on a fact-finding mission of the country’s 14 regions. The team will review the Education Act with the aim to transform it in accordance with the latest developments and current needs of the country’s education system.
During the first community consultative meeting on the review of the Education Act, which kicked off yesterday in Windhoek, McLeod-Katjirua said the assessment “comes at an opportune time in the history of our education dispensation”.
More pressure is being exerted on schools and more is expected from both teachers and learners alike, she said.
Further, she said, education is looked at as one of the most important vehicles that must pave the way for a smooth sailing towards Vision 2030.
The amended Education Act will align educational programmes with relevant policies, legislation and national priorities such as Vision 2030, NDP4 and the Sustainable Development Goals to prepare citizens for skills which will drive the economy.
“It is now, more than ever before, that schools are expected to produce learners with knowledge, skills and aptitude that will enable them to enrol for study areas at universities, which are critical to industrialisation and development,” she noted.
Additionally, she urged all participants during consultative meetings to come up with proposals that will place the Act at the centre of both human and industrial development. Therefore, she said, the opportunity should be used optimally so that the content of the Act is not only grassroots based but also influenced by professionals in the education sector.
“The content must be constructed with deliberate intentions, vested interest, considerate thoughtfulness and eagle foresightedness. I am hopeful that your deliberations will produce inputs that will be agreeable to the politicians of both houses of parliament,” the governor said.