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Nothing to Boast About

2008-02-29  Staff Report 2

Nothing to Boast About
"Mr Kashuupulwa's opinion piece in the New Era of Friday, 15 February 2008 is a typical example of saying one thing and doing the other. As a respected leader and a gentleman as he appears to be, one wonders why he should stoop so low to the level of the Kapias and the likes to spit venom in the newspaper the way he did. I as a Namibian youth, I expected of him to show restraint and understanding as befitting a public figure. Hatred begets hatred. On the reason for my writing: The education system in Namibia is truly not working. I am writing this from experience because I just managed to exit it recently. All the statistics he quoted and the admission that there were challenges is enough proof that the right side (negative) of the accounting sheet is weighing heavier than the left (positive). Imagine, 15 330 out of 31 961 Grade 10 exam takers in 2007 passed. Even worse, only 3 256 out of 31 243 grade 12 graduates qualify for university admission. What is there to defend? Is the venomous rambling because it came from the wrong source in the person of Diescho? How many fellow comrades expressed the same observation without being lashed so venomously? It is laughable that Mr Kashuupulwa is using the word ""many people"". Has he conducted a survey in the nation to come to the conclusion that 'many people are happy that the government has done much above 60% in the development process of education'? And what exactly do you mean by 60%? It is a pity you choose to ignore the fact that those you claim to have graduated in thousands from the university, polytechnic, vocational centres and colleges are mostly children of you, the leaders, and a few lucky ones who schooled in well resourced urban schools. We (in our thousands and thousands) who are products of rural schools are still weathering in our parents' homesteads. Why is it that when you mess up, you insist on the people to do their part? But when you develop policies, you boast of having full mandate from the people. Just as you are fully mandated by the people to develop policies, so should you clean up when policies fail as they often do. You don't like positive criticism when it is due, but when things turn ugly as in the case of education, floods, aids, crime, etc., you come running to the people. I personally understand that it's all typical of a person in the leadership position and politics in general to try to 'sugar coat' his policies and the resultant performance. But suffering people are not ignorant. They are just poor but see and understand the whole game. The statement that, ""The nation has always been fed with misinformation and propaganda for reasons only known by some ... with hidden agendas"" is applicable both ways, if it is looked at from a perspective of a materially poor, mis-educated and futureless youth in rural Namibia. The SWAPO government has contributed to the development of this country, as an obligation. There is nothing less to expect from a government which is collecting taxes from citizens. I see nothing to continuously boast about. What is being said and I repeat it once more, is that the effort of our government falls short of the expectation of the poor people. Institutional corruption, misadministration, skewed allocation of resources, the list is long, is denting the achievement of the government. Rethink and look around the next time you write. Sakaria Kodhi Oshakati "
2008-02-29  Staff Report 2

Tags: Khomas
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