Tackling Poverty Through Jobs, Grants and Goals

I have a few suggestions for our leaders: We should not rush, but rather pursue these as long-term goals. If our budget allows, the following steps could help reduce unemployment in Namibia:

Education: We have many qualified but unemployed teachers. Why not adapt our education system to ensure every subject has a dedicated teacher? For example, one teacher could focus only on arts, another only on physical education, another on information and communication, and another on religious and moral education. Even at junior primary level, we could employ teachers who specialise in specific subjects such as physical education, environmental education, first language, second language, and religious and moral education.

Each school could also have a deputy principal and subject heads. All subjects offered should be compulsory at all levels. Regular evaluation of teachers should be implemented to ensure quality teaching. This approach would not only create more teaching jobs, but also strengthen our education system by allowing teachers to focus on their areas of expertise.

Sport: Each region should have sport officers dedicated to specific codes. For example, one officer could be responsible only for basketball, another for football, another for athletics, rugby, boxing, karate, and so on. This would promote sport development across all regions.

Crime: The government could recruit at least two people from each village to work with the police. Their presence would help deter illegal activities and reduce crime, as people would be aware of nearby law enforcement. Members of village development committees could also be given a monthly stipend of N$500. This would engage more youth in lawful activities and community development.

Social support: Every Namibian over the age of 18 who has national documents – whether employed or not – could receive a monthly grant of N$600. This could replace the drought-relief programme. It would also encourage citizens to obtain national documents to access these benefits.

Children under 18 who attend school and have national documents could receive a monthly grant of N$500. This would replace the Harambee grants and the school feeding programme. Such a system would help keep pupils in school by providing a direct financial incentive.

• John Likoro

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