Another Blow For Education

ON the surface of things, it may appear to be a minor issue that schools delayed their starting times this term because of the plethora of public holidays, but it should be a major concern in Namibia given the state of education as a whole.

This week a Ministry of Education official confirmed that Government schools would only reopen on May 28 (instead of May 22) because of Africa Day next Friday, which is a public holiday in Namibia. The official seemed unconcerned at the fact that pupils would lose two days of work, adding that the school calendar usually has 195 days a year, and that the missing days would “be squeezed in somewhere else”.There appeared to be little or no public outrage, let alone any reaction at all, to this news.Neither did we hear any of the teachers’ unions vocalise on this matter.On an annual basis the school results for the year are bemoaned by all and sundry, from the highest political ranks in the country to the pupils themselves.People seek answers in changes to the education system and various other areas, but no one mentions the number of days per year that pupils are actually at school.One would think this, in itself, is of cardinal importance, particularly to average or below-average pupils.There is little hope or chance of improving said results if children don’t go to school even for the minimum required days per year.We have requested before that our lawmakers give consideration to the many public holidays in this country.Not only does it have a serious detrimental effect on the economy, but it is now also having a negative effect on our school-going population.The month of May, as we have stated, is one of the worst, being a virtual ‘non-month’ in terms of national productivity.Again we would welcome some research into this subject, as we are certain that it would back up our insistence that the economy must suffer immensely as a result of this.In short, the delay in school commencement this term is another blow for education, and in light of this, would appear to make the prospect of a review of our public holidays even more urgent.The High Cost Of Tourism THERE has been negative public reaction to the announcement this week of huge price hikes in Namibia’s tourism industry.Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) has announced almost unaffordable increases for resorts belonging to the Government, including the popular Etosha National Park.While NWR must be commended for finally taking initiative on the upgrading of some of the resorts which had fallen into disrepair or were otherwise in a bad state, this nevertheless doesn’t justify the huge price hikes, which will certainly hamper tourism at a national level.It can be argued that tourists from abroad can afford the higher-priced and usually private resorts, most of which are not accessible to a majority of Namibians.In such cases people are paying for exclusivity and are happy enough to cough up what is required.But even on this score, Namibia must be cautious about making tourism, even for well-heeled foreign visitors, unaffordable.Namibia is not an easy or accessible country to reach, requiring several flights at times, and if local prices skyrocket further, international tourists will look further afield for destinations to visit.But Namibians need to have access as well and it is important that the NWR and private companies keep this in mind.For if prices are more affordable Namibians would perhaps visit these resorts in off-peak seasons when they are not full anyway.This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Etosha National Park, and it would be wonderful to make this resort and all it offers more accessible, and therefore more known, to people in this country, many of whom have never seen the wonderful wildlife and open vistas which foreign visitors often travel thousands of kilometres to visit.We would call on NWR to review these prices and look at a new price structure for locals.The official seemed unconcerned at the fact that pupils would lose two days of work, adding that the school calendar usually has 195 days a year, and that the missing days would “be squeezed in somewhere else”.There appeared to be little or no public outrage, let alone any reaction at all, to this news.Neither did we hear any of the teachers’ unions vocalise on this matter.On an annual basis the school results for the year are bemoaned by all and sundry, from the highest political ranks in the country to the pupils themselves.People seek answers in changes to the education system and various other areas, but no one mentions the number of days per year that pupils are actually at school.One would think this, in itself, is of cardinal importance, particularly to average or below-average pupils.There is little hope or chance of improving said results if children don’t go to school even for the minimum required days per year.We have requested before that our lawmakers give consideration to the many public holidays in this country.Not only does it have a serious detrimental effect on the economy, but it is now also having a negative effect on our school-going population.The month of May, as we have stated, is one of the worst, being a virtual ‘non-month’ in terms of national productivity.Again we would welcome some research into this subject, as we are certain that it would back up our insistence that the economy must suffer immensely as a result of this.In short, the delay in school commencement this term is another blow for education, and in light of this, would appear to make the prospect of a review of our public holidays even more urgent.The High Cost Of Tourism THERE has been negative public reaction to the announcement this week of huge price hikes in Namibia’s tourism industry.Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) has announced almost unaffordable increases for resorts belonging to the Government, including the popular Etosha National Park.While NWR must be commended for finally taking initiative on the upgrading of some of the resorts which had fallen into disrepair or were otherwise in a bad state, this nevertheless doesn’t justify the huge price hikes, which will certainly hamper tourism at a national level.It can be argued that tourists from abroad can afford the higher-priced and usually private resorts, most of which are not accessible to a majority of Namibians.In such cases people are paying for exclusivity and are happy enough to cough up what is required.But even on this score, Namibia must be cautious about making tourism, even for well-heeled foreign visitors, unaffordable.Namibia is not an easy or accessible country to reach, requiring several flights at times, and if local prices skyrocket further, international tourists will look further afield for destinations to visit.But Namibians need to have access as well and it is important that the NWR and private companies keep this in mind.For if prices are more affordable Namibians would perhaps visit these resorts in off-peak seasons when they are not full anyway.This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Etosha National Park, and it would be wonderful to make this resort and all it offers more accessible, and therefore more known, to people in this country, many of whom have never seen the wonderful wildlife and open vistas which foreign visitors often travel thousands of kilometres to visit.We would call on NWR to review these prices and look at a new price structure for locals.