Education minister Anna Nghipondoka said one of the biggest hurdles in the sector right now is schools not operating on an academic cycle and reserving funds for needs at the beginning of the academic year.
Hence, they face challenges at the beginning of the academic year due to depleted funds before the financial year comes to an end in March.
“Some schools do not give financial accountability reports to parents, but instead choose to continue to demand contributions from parents without reports as to what government gave and what it was used for,” stated Nghipondoka during a Cabinet briefing yesterday.
She further said: “We should all be accountable in our work and solicit for parental intervention after we have made parents understand how we have spent the funds allocated to our schools by the government. Parental contribution/support is still very much needed, but it should be in consultation with the parents to meet the government halfway.”
The ministry has budgeted about N$88.8 million for stationeries and these funds have been transferred to regional education directorates to purchase on behalf of schools or allow schools to purchase their own materials.
“History has taught us that some regions have a chronic culture of delays in procurement, a culture which has a detrimental effect on educational outcomes and denies schools and learners opportunities owed to them to perform to the best of their abilities,” she stated.
Nghipondoka then urged the regional councils and directorates to desist from such acts because they hamper the developmental and preparedness agenda of the schools.
She said schools should be sensitive to the socio-economic spectrum of parents and greatly shorten the usually long lists of stationeries requested from parents.
“Also, stationery funds should be used to purchase strictly teaching and learning materials, and no other items like air fresheners,” said Nghipondoka.
The ministry has allocated N$40 million for the purchasing of textbooks and such funds were transferred to regions, as of July.
“The ministry recognises the challenges with textbooks development, especially, African languages, due to lack of financial gain by publishers. Also, the ministry continues to commit itself towards the attainment of the 1:1 learner-to-textbook ratio,” she said.
- psiririka@nepc.com.na