Politicising And De-politicising The Education Sector In Namibia

SOME recent developments have prompted me to take a look at what appear to be two contradictory trends emerging. First let’s take a look at these screaming newspaper headlines: ‘Hidipo’s school donation angers Swapo supporters’.

And another says: ‘Uproar over Hamutenya honour’. The other is when our loose-cannon Deputy Minister of Education, David Namwandi, pronounced himself on what the proper role of teachers in politics ought to be.The Hamutenya saga is, in my view, the most outrageous but, of course, not surprising given Swapo’s misplaced view that they basically own the country and that they can do anything they wish to. This has led to a culture of intolerance and un-democratic behaviour on the part of many Swapo cadres. The President of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) Hidipo Hamutenya, a stalwart of the struggle, is the patron of the impoverished Haihambo Primary School in the Ohangwena Region. Thus like so many other impoverished schools in the country; a donation consisting of building materials, a water storage tank and some cash injection must have been like someone’s prayers had been answered.But all this didn’t go down well with a group of rogue Swapo supporters in the area. And as if they were preparing for ‘war’ the supporters gave an ultimatum: either the school principal decline the donation or risk dismissal. One wonders who the appointing authority is: is it the Ministry of Education or Swapo? In any case, such behaviour amounted to a kind of kindergarten politics that is prevalent among many in the Swapo political hierarchy. How can one politicise an issue at such a low level? That’s pure political hooliganism.While the Swapo-Party in Ohangwena Region was busy politicising what appears to be a minor issue of a school receiving a donation from its patron; Minister Namwandi was telling the school teachers around the country to stay out of politics. Remember that last year our teachers were the targets of humiliation when they were told that most of them were not proficient in the use of the ‘Queen’s Language’. Most teachers, of course, didn’t take kindly to that.They are also not impressed about their non-participation in politics. This issue clearly needs to be contextualised and clarified because it is at the very heart of our founding document – the Constitution. The right of assembly, association and free speech are all quarantined under our Constitution but these are the very rights that are brought into disrepute by these instances. Why should people be up in arms when an institution is associated with a legitimate opposition in democratic country? And again, I don’t think that teachers have time to engage in party political activities during their working hours but that doesn’t mean they have no right to do so outside class-time.The problem with many of our people is that they would utter one thing today and then an entirely different thing months later because most of the time they either don’t understand or believe in what they say. Let me remind Dr Namwandi what he said on the issue of linkages between institutions and politics back in 2009. He said unlike other institutions which discourage their staff members from taking part in active politics, ‘my involvement in active politics is in line with the business of IUM, and there is no conflict of interest between me as the Vice-Chancellor of the university and me as a politician’.He went on to say that politics should not be the preserve of certain people, but rather everyone who has something to offer the public should participate. He added it was also not fair that because someone was associated with a university, that person should not partake in active politics. On this score Namwandi was at variance with his counterparts at Unam.Where is Namwandi’s next frontier of attack? Is it the Polytechnic of Namibia where the institution’s budget for this year has been drastically reduced by almost 30 per cent instead of increasing it given the growing student population and the concomitant need for the expansion of the physical infrastructure? Or is it Unam where plans for the new hostels have been stalled because those who were given the tender didn’t secure the millions they promised to see that massive project through?Dr Namwandi, you have proved the point with those surprise visits to schools, the testing of teachers for their proficiency in English and your advice in their involvement or not in active politics. But these are not educational reforms, otherwise there was no need for that costly National Conference on Education of June 2011. It is now time for your Ministry to prove that it can implement the recommendations of that Conference. Short of that, they will likely become archive materials fit only for future educational researchers.