President wants Grade 10 system to be reconsidered

RUNDU – President Hifikepunye Pohamba has expressed concern about the state of the education system, which does not allow children who fail Grade 10 to re-enrol in a public school.

Addressing a public rally at the Rundu sport stadium at the weekend, the President said he had directed Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba to reconsider the situation. He said the Namibia College for Open Learning (Namcol) offered a good programme, but said many school dropouts found it difficult to attend classes at Namcol because of the great distances they had to travel.As a result, many young people had lost hope of acquiring an education and had joined the “army of unemployed people” on the streets of Windhoek, the President said.He said it was because of this problem that his Government had created a Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture led by John Mutorwa to deal directly with the problems of young people across the country.Pohamba also assured people in the Kavango Region that the Government would do all it could to upgrade the Rundu-Nkurenkuru road, adding that N$80 million had been set aside for that project.He said he had travelled the road several times and knew that it was very dangerous.- NampaHe said the Namibia College for Open Learning (Namcol) offered a good programme, but said many school dropouts found it difficult to attend classes at Namcol because of the great distances they had to travel.As a result, many young people had lost hope of acquiring an education and had joined the “army of unemployed people” on the streets of Windhoek, the President said.He said it was because of this problem that his Government had created a Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture led by John Mutorwa to deal directly with the problems of young people across the country.Pohamba also assured people in the Kavango Region that the Government would do all it could to upgrade the Rundu-Nkurenkuru road, adding that N$80 million had been set aside for that project.He said he had travelled the road several times and knew that it was very dangerous.- Nampa