2008-03-04Staff Report 2 "By John Ekongo WINDHOEK A week-long education workshop for mathematics, science and physics teachers is currently under way in Windhoek. This initiative is a joint partnership hosted by the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Brandenburg in Germany. The workshop focuses on the inadequate numbers of school leavers who take up these subjects as a field for further studies. Moreover, the Namibian learners who qualify for science-related subjects are few and not up to scratch. The German university has availed its crop of top-notch mathematicians and physics scientists to share their skills with Namibian science teachers from all over the country in this refresher course workshop. Dr Tjama Tjivikua, guest speaker and rector of PoN, said that the workshop is staged to cultivate a science culture and to refine the knowledge and skills of those that teach these subjects at their respective schools throughout the country. Namibia is not renowned for its mathematical or science related careers with more people still opting for conventional careers in the arts, humanities or social science fields. Thus, according to Tjivikua, is the perception created that mathematics, physics, sciences and related fields are seen as difficult subjects and only a domain for a few gifted people. Namibia is an aspiring model country that wants to attain a healthy living standard, but should invest more in the sciences of mathematics, physics, engineering and technology, if it is serious about attaining the goals of Vision 2030. ""The right combination of these factors is a definition of development. Science and technology are key ingredients of sustainable development and hence science and mathematics have to be taught not as stand alone subjects; they must be integrated into the entire educational system and socio-economic setting,"" he said. Various partners such as the Ministry of Education, R??????'??" 2008-03-04Staff Report 2
