Education executive director Sanet Steenkamp says the ministry is in talks with the August 26 company to ensure their partnership to build classrooms is realised without delay.
This follows a directive by President Hage Geingob, who last week called for the acceleration of plans to construct classrooms in partnership with the August 26 construction company as a matter of utmost urgency.
Geingob last week received a delegation of senior leaders from the education ministry, led by minister Anna Nghipondoka, who presented a report, detailing the performance of the 2022 cohort who sat for the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) and the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) levels.
The President noted that some of the challenges being experienced in the sector currently include a shortage of classrooms, emanating from the deliberate decision by the Namibian government at the cusp of independence to provide access to free, equitable and quality education to every Namibian child.
“These reforms are the hallmark of the Namibian education sector, and its success in opening up access to education for every child has resulted in an increase in enrolment figures, leading to a shortage of classrooms that are being experienced nationwide,” he pointed out.
It is in this context that Geingob called for the acceleration of plans to construct classrooms in partnership with the August 26 company as a matter of utmost urgency.
Steenkamp, therefore, said the education ministry is in discussion with public entities such as August 26 to ensure the partnership is realised and all logistics ironed out.
“August 26 is a public entity. The Procurement Act makes provision for the state to engage public entities. In the past, with Covid, we worked with public entities, such as correctional services, NIMT, NTA as well as the August 26. At this point, we are still consolidating the needs arising from the regions. We are also in discussion with the ministry of finance. We know the Bill on the national budget has not yet been appropriated. However, as soon we have consolidated all the needs and entered into all the discussions and reached solutions, then we can share information with you,” Steenkamp briefed.
August 26 Construction (Pty) Ltd is a subsidiary of the August 26 holding company Pty Ltd, which is a 100% government-owned company, incorporated under the Companies Act 2004. The defence ministry is the shareholding ministry on behalf of the Namibian government.
The presidency said the report was extensively studied, interrogated and discussed.
During the meeting, Geingob emphasised it remains the duty of all stakeholders in the education sector, including parents, teachers, learners and government to strengthen coordination for the continuous improvement of this sector towards a desirable and healthy performance outcome.
Intelligence Katire, the Students’ Union of Namibia (SUN) secretary for basic education, believes that classrooms envisaged to be constructed will answer the predicament of more teachers to be recruited, as there is a huge number of qualified graduates, mainly young people, in the streets.
SUN is hopeful that as the government constructs classrooms, new accommodation facilities for teachers and learners will be included.
- anakale@nepc.com.na