2008-04-28Staff Report 2 "By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK More than 150 secondary school learners from around the country last week attended the annual Associated Schools Project Network (ASPNet) at Concordia Secondary School. The camp was held under the theme, ""Confidence with Success"", under the auspices of UNESCO. ""The camp serves as a means to translate into action one of the basic aims of UNESCO in promoting peace and international cooperation through education. Many of the Namibian member schools have over the years conducted pilot projects to strengthen commitment of young people towards international understanding, tolerance, democracy and a culture of peace and care,"" said Haaveshe Nielson on behalf of the UNESCO country representative, Dr Claudia Harvey, at the opening ceremony of the camp. Several workshops in arts, music, drama and choral singing were conducted during the camp that ended on Friday. ""The participants not only discuss UNESCO-related issues, but also get an unique opportunity to build relationships and reflect on other important issues such as employment and how to achieve success in their studies. Confident people develop a strong sense of purpose and possess a strong commitment to take responsibility rather than leave life to happen,"" Nielson moralized. She further contended that success is always a result of hard work, never an accident. ""The desire to succeed and progress in life lies within individual learners. It is therefore important to develop in young people a sense of success in all they do, and this network can play an important role in this regard. This network can also act as an empowerment tool to young people to achieve their life goals,"" she said. ""The youth of this country are the custodians of our constitutional principles and values of the inherent dignity of the individual, freedom, justice, peace, unity and integrity of the Namibian nation,"" said the under-secretary of education, Alfred Iilukena on behalf of the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo. ""Any individual or nation that fails to provide quality education for all citizens is likely to face major challenges in the globalized world. Namibian learners should be cognizant of the fact that globalization is underpinned by the narrowing of time and space, free movement of ideas and competition. Any learner not taking education seriously will not survive,"" she said. She warned that learners not making full use of opportunities to develop their full potential would stay behind. ""Young people can only achieve their potential and dreams if they make education their first priority. All other things in life have to wait until you have completed formal education, because the future is in your hands. Education is therefore the enabling tool for success in life,"" she concluded. " 2008-04-28Staff Report 2
