SMS Of The day : Thursday

* IT is nonsense about HIV in the Namibia Defence Force being caused by living away from loved ones. If you love someone you should be faithful and the Ministry of Health and Social Services gives away condoms for free.

Food For Thought * WHAT does a Zimbabwean do with 600 billion Zim dollars? Diamonds? Oil? No, he or she buys a tray with 24 eggs! The day before it was ‘only’ about 300 billion. That’s incredible inflation. African leaders and African, particularly Zimbabwean, people do something and protest against a regime that ruins a country like that. As a European I can understand that pressure from the European Union and USA is unpopular and, I admit, at times a bit hypocritical, but you, the people should realise yourselves what your government does and take matters in your own hands! Without you, leaders will not learn. Every one of you, as an individual, is a potential mosaic stone to complete a huge picture of human strength and triumph against oppression and injustice. Have courage and endurance and the people’s humanity will win over injustice!* NAMIBIA should be careful not to be caught offguard like South Africa by xenophobic actions. After Independence a great number of people from other countries came to Namibia. Some as technical advisors, others as investors, spouses or even just to retire here. I believe most of these people are legally in the country, so it is the GRN who allowed them. Thus it is their duty to explain why they allowed these people to be here by educating Namibians about the benefits. Any hostility toward them will be the fault and embarrassment of the people who allowed them in.General* AS a frequent flyer I have noticed how the air hostesses have declined in Air Namibia. Many are arrogant, not groomed and certainly don’t look or act like safety officers. Your article yesterday [Tuesday’s newspaper] does not surprise me. Who appoints and trains them? Shocking, let’s hope for once management does something and employs more suitable staff.* PARLIAMENTARIANS must sometimes wear their party colours during sessions to promote a culture of tolerance and one nation.* I THINK it’s unnecessary to arrest Government workers who transport their families to school and to work, especially if they travel in the same direction as the transporter. There are people being killed and much more serious cases to focus on than arresting an innocent man or woman who is just trying to make life in this expensive Namibia a little cheaper for him and his family. – Diana Onesmus* ON NamPol. If I heard and understood well what a former cop said happened to him at Swakopmund Police station, prisoners dictate as to how he should work and the station commander agrees. It is just beyond my comprehension.Sporting* WHY did the NFA discriminate against the 1st Division and the Women’s Football League with regard to the prize money and the awards?* PLEASE NFA, why can’t the names of the three Brave Warriors players who dragged the country’s name through the mud be brought into the open? We want to see who they are.* NFA be real. Why is ‘The Supporter of the Season’ dropped all of a sudden? Makalan has been there through thick and thin for Pirates and the national team. What more should he do. Give credit where it’s due. Practise what you preach. – Rhuuksie, Pirates No 1 supporter in Mariental.Bouquets And Brickbats* (HEALTH) Minister (Richard) Kamwi don’t bother – know that you are doing a good job and we appreciate your visits. Keep it up and may God continue to bless and guide you.* THE Supreme Court Library is a very valuable resource. Currently there is no librarian. Those responsible do something, most students are suffering.* CONGRATS Telecom for increasing your workers’ transport allowance by N$300. Please advise the Ministry of Education how to do it and think of our cleaners and those who do not deal in the car schemes! Justice please.* THANK you Walvis Bay Municipality for changing the old hostel in Kuisebmond into decent accommodation. Mother town Luederitz, what are you waiting for!!Education* MINISTER of Education, please do something about Immanuel Shifidi High School. There is no hope and good living conditions. The school is dirty and no renovations are done but you keep on building developed schools. What’s wrong here? – School learner* HIGHER institutions in Namibia must respond to our applications early to allow for us to try other places or to be prepared! Their admission or rejection is delaying. – Fess Joss* SCIENCE exhibition committee, how long do you take to issue well-deserved certificates? The children worked for it. If teachers are disorganised, what do expect from the children? – Concerned Parent* I’M very sick and tired of IOL’s money-making business. I wrote the April/May exam and up to now I haven’t got my results, neither for the assignments. I need my marks soon.* LECTURERS at colleges of education stand together and fight your salary case. We support you and thanks for assisting first-year students with additional English classes!* SCHOOL board members should also be paid for their services.* CAN the Institute of Open Learning give us our diplomas? We completed our HED during February 2008 but up to now, we did not receive our diplomas, nor our transcripts. We need our results now to apply for posts. The GRN posts circular is out. Please we need a feedback on this issue as soon as possible.* CAN someone out there please tell me, what is wrong with the Education Ministry? How can a Japanese teach any subject in Namibia, if they can hardly speak English? Come on (Education Minister) Mr (Nangolo) Mbumba, most of our learners can’t express themselves in English already and giving them a teacher with the same problem, is creating more Grade 10 and 12 failures! I’m one of those people with university degrees in education and unemployed. So why give jobs to Nigerians and Japanese when you have a lot of graduates starving in the streets?In And From the Regions* ACC help – here in Grootfontein electricity is very expensive, while at Oshakati, Rundu and Otjiwarongo is cheap.* WHAT is the Topnaar Traditional Authority doing for their community? Let me answer that question. They are doing nothing, the Government is paying these people while they are not working for the community. Government please intervene and please Topnaar community let’s replace this authority.* GRN bring development to Hoachanas. Why can’t some development initiatives start with us? We have waited too long. Why must we be treated like this?* REHOBOTH is burning down. Help please! [Swapo SG] Pendukeni [Iivula-Ithana], what are you waiting for? GRN, intervene please. ACC investigate and put an end to this waste. Mr President [Hifikepunye Pohamba], help us, we are going down. – Rehoboth ResidentGoing Postal* THE acting CEO of NamPost at least makes a difference by appointing all the poor people who are working on contract. Until when will they be contract workers? It’s unfair.* THE service at NamPost Tsumeb has dropped. It’s very poor. What’s going on? Postmaster do something before it is too late.Service Please* STANDARD Bank promised customers that their accounts will be linked to cellphones in early August. We are hungry for that service. We remind you!Health Matters* MATRON of Tsandi Hospital, please do something about Ongulumbashe clinic. We from Ongulumbashe suffer because of only one nurse there. Please do something.Ministry of Education respondsTHE Ministry of Education has taken time out to respond to a number of the complaints about the Education Sector, which have been SMSed to The Namibian:* The Ministry of Education’s HIV awareness programme in schools is disastrous. We hear in Rundu and other parts of kids as young as eight years being exposed to condom use and other unpalatable materials. This is absurd. Can the Minister do something?- The Ministry of Education’s position is ‘Abstinence’. The Ministry’s ‘Window of Hope’ and ‘My Future is My Choice’ programmes for primary and secondary schools respectively, teach learners to respect their bodies, be assertive and learn to say NO, and to abstain from sex. However, the Ministry acknowledges that some learners do not abstain and therefore we place condoms at various places on secondary school premises ONLY.* Ministry of Education what happened to the maths and science posts? There are only a few posts. We spend the whole year on the streets with our diplomas.- The Ministry of Education cannot create posts if the need does not exist.* Okalongo Secondary School, what is the importance of having a computer lab if our kids do not use them. Is it for decoration? What happened to Mr Shikomba our qualified ICT teacher? Please do something, other kids are enjoying the world of technology.- This information was already shared with the parents at a parents’ meeting. If you have any further enquiries, please contact the Acting Principal of the school.* Is the Ministry of Education aware that appointment of principals is made without the Permanent Secretary’s consent in Otjozondjupa region?- This is impossible.If you have any information, you are welcome to contact the Public Relations Office at (061)2933358 / 66.* We want more secondary schools here in the Outapi district. We only have one and it is too old. Please the government must look at all sides of development.- There a procedures to be followed when establishing a secondary school or any other school for that matter, in order to avoid building ‘white elephants’ (when an asset’s cost exceeds its usefulness). Firstly, such a request should come from the Regional Development Coordinating Committee and forwarded to the Ministry. Secondly, the need for such a school should be there based on the Ministry’s norms and guidelines. One of these for example, is that there should at least be 7 to 10 feeder schools in a specific area of a specific size in order to establish a new secondary school. Yours in Education Public Relations Office* WHAT does a Zimbabwean do with 600 billion Zim dollars? Diamonds? Oil? No, he or she buys a tray with 24 eggs! The day before it was ‘only’ about 300 billion. That’s incredible inflation. African leaders and African, particularly Zimbabwean, people do something and protest against a regime that ruins a country like that. As a European I can understand that pressure from the European Union and USA is unpopular and, I admit, at times a bit hypocritical, but you, the people should realise yourselves what your government does and take matters in your own hands! Without you, leaders will not learn. Every one of you, as an individual, is a potential mosaic stone to complete a huge picture of human strength and triumph against oppression and injustice. Have courage and endurance and the people’s humanity will win over injustice! * NAMIBIA should be careful not to be caught offguard like South Africa by xenophobic actions. After Independence a great number of people from other countries came to Namibia. Some as technical advisors, others as investors, spouses or even just to retire here. I believe most of these people are legally in the country, so it is the GRN who allowed them. Thus it is their duty to explain why they allowed these people to be here by educating Namibians about the benefits. Any hostility toward them will be the fault and embarrassment of the people who allowed them in.General * AS a frequent flyer I have noticed how the air hostesses have declined in Air Namibia. Many are arrogant, not groomed and certainly don’t look or act like safety officers. Your article yesterday [Tuesday’s newspaper] does not surprise me. Who appoints and trains them? Shocking, let’s hope for once management does something and employs more suitable staff.* PARLIAMENTARIANS must sometimes wear their party colours during sessions to promote a culture of tolerance and one nation. * I THINK it’s unnecessary to arrest Government workers who transport their families to school and to work, especially if they travel in the same direction as the transporter. There are people being killed and much more serious cases to focus on than arresting an innocent man or woman who is just trying to make life in this expensive Namibia a little cheaper for him and his family. – Diana Onesmus * ON NamPol. If I heard and understood well what a former cop said happened to him at Swakopmund Police station, prisoners dictate as to how he should work and the station commander agrees. It is just beyond my comprehension.Sporting * WHY did the NFA discriminate against the 1st Division and the Women’s Football League with regard to the prize money and the awards? * PLEASE NFA, why can’t the names of the three Brave Warriors players who dragged the country’s name through the mud be brought into the open? We want to see who they are. * NFA be real. Why is ‘The Supporter of the Season’ dropped all of a sudden? Makalan has been there through thick and thin for Pirates and the national team. What more should he do. Give credit where it’s due. Practise what you preach. – Rhuuksie, Pirates No 1 supporter in Mariental.Bouquets And Brickbats * (HEALTH) Minister (Richard) Kamwi don’t bother – know that you are doing a good job and we appreciate your visits. Keep it up and may God continue to bless and guide you. * THE Supreme Court Library is a very valuable resource. Currently there is no librarian. Those responsible do something, most students are suffering.* CONGRATS Telecom for increasing your workers’ transport allowance by N$300. Please advise the Ministry of Education how to do it and think of our cleaners and those who do not deal in the car schemes! Justice please.* THANK you Walvis Bay Municipality for changing the old hostel in Kuisebmond into decent accommodation. Mother town Luederitz, what are you waiting for!! Education * MINISTER of Education, please do something about Immanuel Shifidi High School. There is no hope and good living conditions. The school is dirty and no renovations are done but you keep on building developed schools. What’s wrong here? – School learner * HIGHER institutions in Namibia must respond to our applications early to allow for us to try other places or to be prepared! Their admission or rejection is delaying. – Fess Joss * SCIENCE exhibition committee, how long do you take to issue well-deserved certificates? The children worked for it. If teachers are disorganised, what do expect from the children? – Concerned Parent * I’M very sick and tired of IOL’s money-making business. I wrote the April/May exam and up to now I haven’t got my results, neither for the assignments. I need my marks soon.* LECTURERS at colleges of education stand together and fight your salary case. We support you and thanks for assisting first-year students with additional English classes! * SCHOOL board members should also be paid for their services.* CAN the Institute of Open Learning give us our diplomas? We completed our HED during February 2008 but up to now, we did not receive our diplomas, nor our transcripts. We need our results now to apply for posts. The GRN posts circular is out. Please we need a feedback on this issue as soon as possible.* CAN someone out there please tell me, what is wrong with the Education Ministry? How can a Japanese teach any subject in Namibia, if they can hardly speak English? Come on (Education Minister) Mr (Nangolo) Mbumba, most of our learners can’t express themselves in English already and giving them a teacher with the same problem, is creating more Grade 10 and 12 failures! I’m one of those people with university degrees in education and unemployed. So why give jobs to Nigerians and Japanese when you have a lot of graduates starving in the streets? In And From the Regions * ACC help – here in Grootfontein electricity is very expensive, while at Oshakati, Rundu and Otjiwarongo is cheap.* WHAT is the Topnaar Traditional Authority doing for their community? Let me answer that question. They are doing nothing, the Government is paying these people while they are not working for the community. Government please intervene and please Topnaar community let’s replace this authority.* GRN bring development to Hoachanas. Why can’t some development initiatives start with us? We have waited too long. Why must we be treated like this? * REHOBOTH is burning down. Help please! [Swapo SG] Pendukeni [Iivula-Ithana], what are you waiting for? GRN, intervene please. ACC investigate and put an end to this waste. Mr President [Hifikepunye Pohamba], help us, we are going down. – Rehoboth Resident Going Postal * THE acting CEO of NamPost at least makes a difference by appointing all the poor people who are working on contract. Until when will they be contract workers? It’s unfair.* THE service at NamPost Tsumeb has dropped. It’s very poor. What’s going on? Postmaster do something before it is too late.Service Please * STANDARD Bank promised customers that their accounts will be linked to cellphones in early August. We are hungry for that service. We remind you! Health Matters * MATRON of Tsandi Hospital, please do something about Ongulumbashe clinic. We from Ongulumbashe suffer because of only one nurse there. Please do something.Ministry of Education responds THE Ministry of Education has taken time out to respond to a number of the complaints about the Education Sector, which have been SMSed to The Namibian: * The Ministry of Education’s HIV awareness programme in schools is disastrous. We hear in Rundu and other parts of kids as young as eight years being exposed to condom use and other unpalatable materials. This is absurd. Can the Minister do something? – The Ministry of Education’s position is ‘Abstinence’. The Ministry’s ‘Window of Hope’ and ‘My Future is My Choice’ programmes for primary and secondary schools respectively, teach learners to respect their bodies, be assertive and learn to say NO, and to abstain from sex. However, the Ministry acknowledges that some learners do not abstain and therefore we place condoms at various places on secondary school premises ONLY.* Ministry of Education what happened to the maths and science posts? There are only a few posts. We spend the whole year on the streets with our diplomas.- The Ministry of Education cannot create posts if the need does not exist.* Okalongo Secondary School, what is the importance of having a computer lab if our kids do not use them. Is it for decoration? What happened to Mr Shikomba our qualified ICT teacher? Please do something, other kids are enjoying the world of technology.- This information was already shared with the parents at a parents’ meeting. If you have any further enquiries, please contact the Acting Principal of the school. * Is the Ministry of Education aware that appointment of principals is made without the Permanent Secretary’s consent in Otjozondjupa region? – This is impossible.If you have any information, you are welcome to contact the Public Relations Office at (061)2933358 / 66.* We want more secondary schools here in the Outapi district. We only have one and it is too old. Please the government must look at all sides of development. – There a procedures to be followed when establishing a secondary school or any other school for that matter, in order to avoid building ‘white elephants’ (when an asset’s cost exceeds its usefulness). Firstly, such a request should come from the Regional Development Coordinating Committee and forwarded to the Ministry. Secondly, the need for such a school should be there based on the Ministry’s norms and guidelines. One of these for example, is that there should at least be 7 to 10 feeder schools in a specific area of a specific size in order to establish a new secondary school. Yours in Education Public Relations Office

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