By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK Seventy-two student teachers on Friday joyfully graduated from the Institute of Open Learning (IOL) in the capital. The occasion, at which a speech was read on behalf of the Minister of Education, Nangolo Mbumba, was attended by students, parents and other invited guests. “It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the role the Institute of Open Learning plays and will continue to play in the country’s human resources development. The IOL has invested heavily in teacher education, of which the graduands of today are proof,” said the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, on behalf of her minister. It is understood that the IOL, since its inception, has invested more than N$75ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million in the improvement of teacher-training. “You graduants must prepare our children in such a way that they become useful citizens of their country: that they can appreciate the value of good governance and the value of an honest day’s work; have respect for older people and their environment; cherish good ethics and moral principles and regard family life as the cornerstone of acceptable social well-being,” the minister said. According to the chairman of the Institute for Open Learning, Dr David Namwandi, the IOL is fostering healthy working relationships with other stakeholders in education in order to help improve quality of life for all Namibians. “It is an open secret that the country has a serious shortage of qualified teachers, particularly primary and secondary school teachers, both critical to any nation. At the same time, the quality of tertiary education depends heavily on a strong primary as well as secondary education foundation,” said Namwandi. He also expressed his concern about the lack of skills of teachers to properly implement curriculums in schools. “No matter how good the curriculum might look, as long as the implementers – in this case teachers who are not properly equipped – it is doubtful if the products from such education system will be of high quality. Based on this, it is encouraging to note that a good number of Namibians took upon themselves to upgrade their skills for the purpose of improving our quality of life and the quality of human capital,” the chairman said. A board member of Trustco Finance and the managing director of IOL, Nick Hearn, informed the gathering that todate his company has already financed students to the value of N$70ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million. “The mission of the ILO is to assist previously disadvantaged Namibians in their quest to obtain a quality relevant qualification in order to ensure that they are in a position to become global citizens and to be a competitive force in the local job market,” Hearn said.