The Ministry of Education's budgetary allocation was the topic of discussion in the National Council this week, and several councillors referred to problems in this sector, including the shortage of textbooks, the sorry state of classrooms, the need for information technology systems and poor accommodation for teachers.

This sort of debate echoes what has been discussed in the National Assembly, where, more often than not, politicians make speeches about what is wrong without recognising that they, as the legislative arm of Government, are in fact directly responsible when there is either a lack of direction or specific problems to be addressed in some or other aspect of socio-economic development.

Education is one of the most vital, and there is a widespread recognition of this fact.

But the litany of complaints from Government officials cannot be taken up by anyone other than themselves.

It is therefore important that their contributions in debate reflect this fact.

They are the very ones who must insist on certain priorities in education, among others, and take responsibility if these are not carried out.

More importantly, they must also initiate solutions.

The starting point, surely, for the discussion on priorities in education, remains the drawing up of the budget for this Ministry.

Who determines the priorities and how? And if salaries and remuneration take up the bulk of the money, then how is the remainder allocated? And the question remains whether this happens in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Proper advance planning, therefore, is the key.

We have said it before, and in some ways this sentiment has been echoed by Prime Minister Nahas Angula, at various fora in the past: that money is not everything.

It is obviously important, but in the absence of unlimited funds, we shall have to think of creative solutions, including volunteerism, to assist in getting education onto a better level.

Members of the National Council condemn the schoolrooms under trees.

Obviously it is preferable for all school-going children to have access to well-furbished classrooms with adequate books, well-trained teachers, libraries and Internet access if possible.

But this cannot always be the case.

If the desire to learn is there on the part of pupils, and if there are those committed teachers who want to impart knowledge, learning and education will become more accessible to all.

Government should ensure that the budget for the Ministry in question is well spent.

And if this is the case, and everyone knows this to be true, there would probably be those good Samaritans, retired teachers among others, who would come forward to offer their services to those children without the advantages of a formal and well-supplied classroom environment.

And if the pupils, in turn, have a desire to better educate themselves, they will surely manage to do this even without a formal classroom environment.

But all we tend to see, rather than innovation and entrepreneurship in regard to education as well as other areas of life in Namibia, is the tendency to throw our hands in the air and say 'there's no money'.

Education in this country does demand of our entire society an unselfish and creative approach in order to more fairly distribute resource as far as learning is concerned.

It also requires of us that we brainstorm across the various sectors to arrive at solutions.

Better-equipped schools, whether they be private or public, for example, could be twinned with less fortunate schools in other areas, and help with resources, such as used textbooks, among others.

We may not be able to perfect our educational system, but we can certainly go a long way towards making learning more accessible to all.

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