The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC) said the overall recruitment into the public service of teachers is at the discretion of the Prime Minister as the employer, on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission (PSC).

This was said by Acting Executive Director (ED) in the MoEAC, Knox Otto Imbuwa in response to demands by unemployed teachers in the Kavango West and East regions, for mass recruitment with immediate effect.

The unemployed teachers in a media statement further demanded for interviews to be abolished and for the ministry to build more classrooms before the end of this financial year while threatening to close down regional education offices if issues are not addressed in 14 days.

Imbuwa said: “While we respect and appreciate your views with regard to employment opportunities within the public service, the challenge of employment is a nationwide predicament that the Government of Namibia is fully aware of and thus is not peculiar to the education ministry.”

He said the ministry is obliged to recruit its personnel in accordance with applicable laws and policies, noting that the majority of teaching students are graduating in fields of specialisation that are already saturated, creating an oversupply of teachers in certain fields of study.

The acting ED further refuted allegations by the unemployed teachers, that there are over 2 000 children under the age of 16 without spaces in schools and that 70 to 80 per cent of schools across the country are understaffed.

The ministry, he explained is unaware of learners who could not be placed in Government schools for the 2023 academic year due to a lack of space, and called on the affected parents to approach the ministry’s offices in the various regions to seek assistance.

The ministry, he further explained “is however aware of five unregistered community schools in Kavango East with a total of 654 learners and has attended to this matter by advising and referring the parents and their learners to nearby Government schools for their registration and absorption”.

Funding for the emergency construction of 14 classrooms at Ndama south, was also allocated.

Kavango East has 45 schools with 40 to 80 learners in a class, he indicated.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency