WINDHOEK – The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, whose budget allocation is nearly N$14 billion for the 2019/20 fiscal year, has requested that additional funding be availed to it during the mid-year budget review.
The ministry received the largest allocation, which at N$13 767 697 accounts for 21 per cent of the government’s budget for the current financial year.
Speaking in her budget motivation in the National Assembly on Friday, Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, appealed for additional budgetary consideration during the mid-year budget review in October in order for the ministry to meet its operational expenditure demands and to ensure the continuity of its key operations.
“The allocation for the 2019/20 financial year fully covers personnel expenditure and the universal grants to schools.
However, major cost drivers of the ministry such as government school hostel provision, the Namibia School Feeding Programme, utilities, stationery and cleaning materials are only funded by 50 per cent,” she said.
The ministry apportioned 83 per cent of its budget, N$11 453 364, to the defrayal of personnel expenditure and 5 per cent to capital expenditure for the financial period under review.
The remainder was allocated to the ministry’s other operational expenditures, with the bulk being earmarked for regional transfers.
Hanse-Himarwa said although the government is committed to providing fee-free basic education, during the 2018/19 financial period the ministry struggled with providing funding to schools and functionally well-equipped units of service delivery were declining.
“It is for [the aforementioned reasons] that it should not be deemed pre-mature for this ministry to request to be considered for additional budgetary allocation,” she said. – Nampa