EDUCATION Minister Abraham Iyambo has called on the private sector to assist public education with the necessary infrastructure.
Although the education sector annually receives the biggest chunk of the national budget (the last being N$6,5 billion), besides the ’emergency package’ of N$84,6 million allocated by Cabinet earlier this year, these funds will be quickly used up, according to Iyambo. Most of the funds go towards operational costs, while only a small percentage is used for the capital budget. Nearly half a billion of the budget goes into tertiary education.There are approximately 700 000 pupils in the country, who are accommodated in 1 600 schools staffed by 23 000 teachers.’The budget is strained, and that is why we are also calling on the private sector to assist where they can,’ Iyambo told a small group of business representatives from the coast. The Swakopmund branch of the NCCI was also present at the meeting.Iyambo said the Erongo Region had a ‘serious, serious’ problem when it came to the availability of classrooms. Other regions that are struggling with the same problem are Khomas, Ohangwena and Kavango.He said Erongo’s problem was aggravated by the influx of jobseekers attracted by the mining and fishing industries.Twenty-two classrooms are already under construction in Erongo and it is hoped that they will be completed by the time schools open next year.’But overcrowding will still be a problem. Some classes could have up to 50 learners, while the norm should be about 30 to 35. We are already planning for 1 000 more classrooms for Namibia in context of the next financial year, but the demand may be greater than the supply. ‘We are doing what we can, but we need our businesses to help; even if it means by also building some classrooms, or providing the material to do so,’ Iyambo said’At the rate we are going, we will only be able to accommodate all adequately within the next 20 years.’He said a lot of the emergency budget is also going towards the acquisition of desks and chairs, but there is also a dire need for hostel beds and mattresses.
