EENHANA – The literacy rate in the Ohangwena Region has reached 86 percent compared to the overall literacy rate of 89 percent nationally.
Over 3 400 people have enrolled in literacy programmes being offered by the Department of Lifelong Learning in the Ministry of Education since the establishment of the National Literacy Programme in 1992. Speaking at the National Adult Learners’ Week and International Literacy Day at Oshela Secondary School at Okongo in the Ohangwena Region last Thursday, the Deputy Minister of Defence, Petrus Iilonga, said Namibia should take stock and measure the distance it has walked on the road of serving its people with adult education. He noted that literacy is essential for eradicating poverty and reducing child mortality and therefore all government departments should mobilize people, including their own staff members who qualify to enter adult literacy classes. “Adult literacy contributes to human values needed to bring about change and to guide development towards building a totally literate society in order to create prosperity and improved livelihoods for all Namibians,” he said.
The theme for this year’s event was Literacy for Engaging Livelihood Opportunities in Namibia, while the international theme was – Literacy for the 21st Century.
Iilonga said according to the 2011 Population and Housing Census the Ohangwena Region has achieved an 86 percent literacy rate compared to the nationwide literacy rate of 89 percent. The Ohangwena Region has many adult learners participating in the national literacy programme numbering 2 699 learners, while a total of 699 are participating in the Adult Upper Primary Education (AUPE) programme.
Apart from that the region boasts eight centres that provide literacy classes to the San and other less privileged communities, two centres for the deaf and one for the visually impaired and three other centres aimed at promoting workplace literacy. “There are 281 Nampol officers who are also in this progamme enrolled for Adult Upper Primary Education in 11 centres. This is a notable progress which will go a long way in the pursuit of inclusive and equitable economic growth for poverty eradication and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” said Iilonga.
The Deputy Minister of Defence also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Education, which has just won the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy. “The scooping of this award … of this international prize does not only show that the country is moving in the right direction but it also points out clearly that the leadership of this country is steering adult education in the right direction,” said the deputy defence minister.
According to him the government is in the process of extending the provision of adult upper primary education, adult skills development for self- employment and community learning and would soon offer a bridging course as well. “This will be a one year bridging course and will combine the basic competences of grades 8 and 9. The idea is for the AUPE graduates and grades 8 and 9 dropouts to seize the opportunity to continue with their education so that they can qualify to enroll in Grade 10 with Namcol. All these programmes are aimed at enlarging livelihood opportunities in Namibia, while contributing to the realization of Vision 2030,” he said.
Martha David (44), from the village of Enghandja and a beneficiary of the adult education programme said she joined the programme in 1998 and was unable to read and write before that, but she is now the secretary of the village.
“I could not write my name before, but since l graduated with my AUPE certificate, l can tell the nurse or doctor at the hospital what type of medication I need. I am therefore encouraging my fellow colleagues from various villages in Namibia to embrace this adult education programme,” she said. It is on record that the Ohangwena Region has produced a number of successful individuals who went through the adult literacy programme and many of them are even furthering their studies at institutions of higher learning such as Unam and the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN), while others have been promoted in their workplaces because of their newly acquired knowledge, skills and abilities.
However, despite the noteworthy achievements, adult literacy has been misunderstood for many years by being regarded as inferior to other avenues of obtaining an education. The event to mark the National Adult Learners’ Week and International Literacy Day was attended by councillors, government officials, teachers and members of the public, including the San.