ID :
66079
Tue, 06/16/2009 - 18:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/66079
The shortlink copeid
NAMIBIA: ECONOMIC CRISIS SHOULD NOT CUT INTO EDUCATION BUDGETS
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister of Namibia Nahas A. Angula
Tuesday echoed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's call for Commonwealth
governments to rally against cutting education budgets in the face of the
current economic downturn.
Calling on Commonwealth governments "not to be tempted to impose or increase
school fees", he also urged them to address the plight of school dropouts and
unemployed youths by placing them in youth skills development programmes.
"This is to prevent the unemployed and out-of-school youths from becoming a
destabilising force in our countries," he said in his keynote address at the
17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre here, Tuesday.
Sharing the Namibian experience with Commonwealth member countries, he said
the Namibian government spent 25 per cent of its annual budget on education only
to discover that the outcome of the investment did not commensurate with the
spending.
Namibia then developed a 15-year programme called the Education and Training
Sector Improvement Programme which produced tangible contribution in improving
the quality of education.
The programme involved redesigning the Namibian education curriculum,
teaching methodology, textbook development and examination and assessment.
Angula said that innovations had addressed the different needs of students
and underlined the importance of relevant and diversified curriculum.
Teaching methods addressed different paces of learning, he said, adding that
reforms in the examination and assessment techniques were ongoing.
He said the different needs of the learning populations suggested that the
Commonwealth family should learn from one another's experiences.
"The global uncertainties require us to face them as a community with common
destiny.
"We should work together to promote education and training as the basis for
social development, economic growth, peace and stability in the Commonwealth
family," he said.
-- BERNAMA
Tuesday echoed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's call for Commonwealth
governments to rally against cutting education budgets in the face of the
current economic downturn.
Calling on Commonwealth governments "not to be tempted to impose or increase
school fees", he also urged them to address the plight of school dropouts and
unemployed youths by placing them in youth skills development programmes.
"This is to prevent the unemployed and out-of-school youths from becoming a
destabilising force in our countries," he said in his keynote address at the
17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre here, Tuesday.
Sharing the Namibian experience with Commonwealth member countries, he said
the Namibian government spent 25 per cent of its annual budget on education only
to discover that the outcome of the investment did not commensurate with the
spending.
Namibia then developed a 15-year programme called the Education and Training
Sector Improvement Programme which produced tangible contribution in improving
the quality of education.
The programme involved redesigning the Namibian education curriculum,
teaching methodology, textbook development and examination and assessment.
Angula said that innovations had addressed the different needs of students
and underlined the importance of relevant and diversified curriculum.
Teaching methods addressed different paces of learning, he said, adding that
reforms in the examination and assessment techniques were ongoing.
He said the different needs of the learning populations suggested that the
Commonwealth family should learn from one another's experiences.
"The global uncertainties require us to face them as a community with common
destiny.
"We should work together to promote education and training as the basis for
social development, economic growth, peace and stability in the Commonwealth
family," he said.
-- BERNAMA
