Windhoek
Minister of Education, Arts and Culture Katrina Hanse-Himarwa has raised concerns over some parents in the rural areas, who are reluctant to send their daughters to school far from home, saying such a situation is affecting girl-children’s education.
Hanse-Himarwa, who made the remarks on Thursday evening during the launch of the Zambezi Education Foundation, said such obstacles are serious and have to be overcome in order to promote girls’ education.
“I know that many parents in rural areas are reluctant to send their daughters to schools located in distant places, concerned about their security on the way to and from school.
“Since girls are important labourers in the household, helping their mothers do to the chores and take care of their young siblings, the time that going to and from school requires seems too much to waste for the parents,” she noted.
Hanse-Himarwa said in places where communities are indifferent to girls’ education, elderly people or religious leaders, who are respected by community members can convince them to send their girls to school.
The Foundation was set up to support education efforts in the Zambezi Region in light of the slump in pass rates, especially at Grade 10 and 12 level.
Given the noble objective of the Foundation, which raised over N$1 million, secretary to Cabinet George Simataa, who is also its patron, said he volunteered to do some fundraising for the Katima Mulilo-based Cheshire Home for persons with special needs some years ago, where N$300 000 was raised in a single night.
Simataa said the resources mobilised by the new Foundation are intended to benefit the Namibian child and by no means the trustees or anyone else.
Minister Hanse-Himarwa applauded the people behind the initiative, mainly former learners of the Zambezi Region, who are now ploughing back into the community. Among others, the Foundation will provide support to students in financial need for basic necessities and extra-curricular activities, as well as issue annual student and teacher awards in specific disciplines.
“These are noble and commendable ideas that must be encouraged across the regions of our country. My ministry shares in these aspirations. I want to ensure that young people are not just leaving school with the academic skills they need to get a job, but also have the character, resilience and determination they need to succeed,” she said.
She noted that in this modern, technologically driven and competitive society there is still the issue of education among poor and uneducated people that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
She further said education is the key to solve all the social, personal and professional problems the country and its people face.