Education week focuses on girls

ANY men impregnating students and pupils should be prosecuted, and not only male teachers, Minister of Education Dr Abraham Iyambo has proposed.

‘[We] must extend the penalty to any man who commits such atrocities,’ said the minister in an address made at Eenhana when he launched the nationwide ‘Education For All’ (EFA) week. ‘Education for all’ is a pledge made by 180 countries to provide school to all children by 2015, the year in which the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets are to be attained. This year’s EFA focus is on girls, with emphasis on the MDG and EFA goals in which Government committed to offer non-discriminatory and equal education for all, and to include those who have been denied the right to education. Women and girls experience special obstacles to access education, and while Namibia has virtually reached gender parity in enrolment at primary and secondary levels, regional disparities remain in favour of girls at primary level. But Namibia is not anywhere near the MDG targets. Girl dropout rates are generally ascribed to early pregnancies, dealing with the HIV-AIDS scourge at household level, child labour, child marriages in some cultures, and other socio-economic impediments. Access is especially limited among the San, Ovahimba and Ovatue communities, those with disabilities, and girls heading households in the absence of adults. This year alone, one school at Eenhana had 32 to 34 girls falling pregnant or giving birth, but Iyambo commended the interventions of the school, which kept a close register of these cases. The school similarly followed the guidelines of the education sector policy on the prevention and management of pupil pregnancy, and offered support to learners and parents. Today, more than two-thirds of these students are back at school, and are given counselling on a regular basis. Iyambo urged girls to concentrate on their education and maximise on the opportunities afforded to them. Iyambo said retention still remains a challenge especially at the transition of different levels. School dropouts, especially after Grade 10, are still cause for concern. Between 2009/10 this figure stood at 30,6 per cent. A high repetition rate was also observed in Grades 5 and 8, and dropout rates for Grades 8 and 9 are high for boys and girls alike.’This is not what we want as a nation. I wish to see every boy and girl child to complete his or her education career,’ emphasised Iyambo.