Reagan Malumo
7 October 2008
Katima Mulilo — The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, has expressed concern about the standard of education in the country and urged teachers to give their best and change the lives of students.
In a speech delivered on her behalf by Caprivi Regional Governor, Leonard Mwilima, at the World Teachers' Day celebrations at Katima Mulilo last Friday, Ndjoze-Ojo urged teachers to improve the quality of education and to strike a balance between education and production.
"Namibia needs to add quality to quantity. After independence, the shortages of schools prompted us to initially only concentrate on the building of schools and employ enough teachers for the children. It did not matter to us whether these teachers were qualified or not. However, somewhere along the line, we realised that the quality of our education system is not up to standard," read Ndjoze-Ojo's statement.
She stressed that the role of teachers is highly recognised and that despite the tremendous technical advances in communication technology as a tool of learning, nothing can replace human contact.
She emphasised that professionally trained teachers should ensure all-round development of the human personality that takes into account the spiritual, moral, and social aspects.
Ndjoze-Ojo said teachers should inculcate and provoke dialogue in teaching learners to express their thoughts as well as listen to each other.
She stressed that the ambitious teaching and educational plan set up by the ministry cannot be implemented or activated unless it is accompanied by an anticipated high standard preparation of teachers who would be entrusted with applying those plans and studies.
She said based on teachers' roles and responsibilities, the ministry reiterates the importance of upgrading first and above all, the level of teachers and those who would be entrusted with accomplishing it, starting with kindergartens to universities or their equivalents.
Meanwhile, the Namibia National Teachers' Union (Nantu) president, Simeon Kavila, outlined major challenges faced by teachers in the country some of which range from rising cost of living, very low income levels, limited accommodation and teaching facilities and the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
He said these challenges impact adversely on the performance of teachers in classrooms and social mobility of teachers. He said despite these challenges, teachers are not appreciated for the role they play in society.
"All that I regularly hear is: teachers do not teach properly and they are a lazy bunch that is why children fail, they must be fired", complained Kavila, stating that these adverse statements are usually common especially after the release of Grade 10 and 12 results and that they do not help at all.
Kavila called on the Government to speed up the processes of providing textbooks to learners, invest resources to make the learning and teaching environment conducive.
He demanded the construction of buildings and the equipment of school science laboratories, stocking of libraries with teaching and learning resources, provision of in-service training and upgrading courses for teachers through distance education or workshops.
He said the ministry should do regular advisory visits to schools in order to provide guidance and support to school managers and teachers. The ministry should provide market-related salary packages to the teaching fraternity for being the only evident and direct contributors to the national human resources development.
Kavila demanded that the Government should not lose focus on the teachers that are currently infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. He requested for all necessary policy frameworks to be instituted to assist these teachers.
The event was attended by more then 500 teachers, the Director of Education in the Caprivi Region, Lovemore Lupalezwi, Katima Mulilo Deputy Mayor, Nsala Mapenzi, and representatives from UNESCO, USAIDS, IOL.
The theme for this year's World Teachers' Day was 'Teachers Matter'.
Copyright © 2008 New Era. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Read comments. Write your own.
