2006-02-06Staff Report 2 "By Emma Kakololo WINDHOEK Following recent attacks on the education system, allegations are rife that while Government wants public's support of the system, some Cabinet ministers are unpatriotic, as they prefer South African schools to local institutions. Reports are doing the rounds that some MPs are enrolling their children in South African schools, a development that has raised eyebrows among the public. The Education Permanent Secretary Vitalis Ankama in a previous interview with New Era stated that some government ministers were doing it because they probably lack trust in the local system. The Swapo Youth League (SPYL) yesterday alluded to the matter saying it was a serious allegation and very worrisome if it is indeed true. It challenged affected MPs to come out in public and to tell the nation that they have no trust in the system. ""If that is true, this is worrisome and it needs to be investigated,"" SPYL Secretary for Information Elijah Ngurare said when approached for comment. ""Such people must have the courage of their convictions and tell the nation publicly that because they have the resources, they are sending their children elsewhere,"" said the SPYL leader. ""We should all have a patriotic interest in what we have here. If we have doubts, we must tell the people we have doubts,"" he stressed further. He said the latter was creating a division of class whereby some are affluent and others are being condemned to poverty. ""By virtually having the money to send their children to such schools, they are creating a section in our society, with the view to come and subjugate those who have no means or access to such an education,"" he stressed. ""It used to be said that Swapo is struggling for a classless society. Is this not creating a class division?"" Ngurare said. The Cambridge Education System resulted out of the yearning to have something different from the indoctrination of colonisers such as Jan van Riebeeck.The difference between the two systems is that the Cambridge Education System is more learner-centred while the other ""you must memorise"". According to Ngurare, the Cambridge Education System is being used successfully all over the world and perhaps the problem with the Namibian case is the manner in which the system is being implemented. He said in order to root out some of the problems, the country needs to determine what indicators of success there are against what the country spent on education. ""We need to look at whether a school in the rural area has access to the same things like a rural school,"" he said. Said a concerned parent Ndambelela Petrus: ""How can we trust the system, if the ministers are sending their children to school in South Africa and ours must school here."" Aina Matias, a single mother of two, also expressed her reservations saying: ""They don't have trust in their own creation, how can they except us to trust it. ""Does this mean that the South African system is better than ours?"" she asked." 2006-02-06Staff Report 2
