Divundu — Kavango East governor Hamunyera Hambyuka has issued a stern call to stakeholders to stop playing the blame game and instead take collective ownership of the crisis-ridden education sector.
Speaking at the Kavango East regional stakeholders conference convened by the directorate of education, innovation, youth, sports, arts and culture in Divundu on Tuesday, Hambyuka stressed that transforming education requires a drastic shift away from finger-pointing toward joint societal responsibility.
"We must move away from a culture of complaint, criticism and blame, rather shifting towards a culture of collective ownership and solution-driven engagement," Hambyuka told delegates.
The conference, which brought together government institutions, traditional authorities, churches, the private sector and civil society, comes at a time when many public schools in the region are battling severe infrastructure backlogs, including a lack of classrooms, hostels, proper fencing and adequate sanitation facilities. Hambyuka made it clear that the State cannot single-handedly fix these issues.
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"The transformation of education cannot be achieved by government alone," the governor maintained, emphasising that investing in children goes beyond monetary contributions.
"It includes investing our time, expertise, leadership, mentorship, facilities and other resources that can support learning," he added.
The governor then challenged traditional leaders, business owners and parents to act as active stewards and protectors of educational institutions within their communities, noting that true development requires immediate, unified action.
"When educational challenges arise, our focus should not be on identifying who is responsible for the problem, but rather on determining how we can collectively contribute towards a solution," Hambyuka stated.
Meanwhile, Fumu Erwin Munika Mbambo of the Hambukushu Traditional Authority, during the official opening, told the conference that in order to solve the problems in education, officials should not only convene with other stakeholders but should also involve learners because they also can contribute, but for as long as they are sidelined, problems may persist.
"I have said it before in this conference that we bring the problem children with their parents and teachers to the palace so that I can engage with them and interrogate the situation and see what leads to this poor behaviour and performance," Mbambo said.
Additionally, Kavango East education director Christine Shilima stressed that the academic performance of learners in Grades 1, 2 and 3 is a cause for concern, saying the region is not doing well when it comes to literacy and numeracy.
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"Samples taken in 2025 show that our grade 1, 2 and 3 learners performed below 30%. They can't read and write properly and fluently. It's a concern, and the repetition rate at junior primary, as well as grade 8 and 10 is worrisome. That is why we are here today," she said.
