First Lady Monica Geingos emphasised the need for increased investment and participation in the primary phases of education, which lay the groundwork for the systems from which many children fall.
Geingos pointed out that the current educational system is structured in a pyramid shape and that the majority of children who enter the system do not advance further in their education as they filter out over the years.
“When you start to look at this pyramid, what starts to happen is that from Pre-Primary to grade 6, attrition starts happening and narrows deeper when we get to grade 11, and narrows even deeper at the top cylinder where we put the most investment, at tertiary level,” she said during her keynote address at the FirstRand Foundation ceremony held on Tuesday.
Geingos stressed the importance of early childhood development in reducing attrition rates and called for greater investment in this area.
She questioned: “What can be done to reduce the attrition?” And answered that good early childhood development is the solution.
The FirstRand Foundation, which committed an investment of N$2.8 million to over 10 organisations that work with less fortunate youth, has invested N$2.8 million in early childhood development initiatives, as well as primary and secondary school development initiatives, across the 14 regions of Namibia over the past six months, according to the Foundation’s Chairperson Clara Bohitile.
Bohitile added that support to individual schools and tertiary facilities remains one of their main focus areas.
“One of our main priorities is to promote the provision of high-quality education for all children, especially those from disadvantaged homes, in order to ensure that Namibia develops into a globally competitive and capable nation. We believe that healthy development in the early years of a child’s life provides the building blocks necessary for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation,” she said.
Revonia Job, the Group Strategic Marketing and Communications Manager, called upon the private sector to take up the responsibility of investing in the education of youth. “The purpose of this event is to create awareness and to encourage and invite new sponsors to come on board. We call on all other players in the private sector to join us in delivering even more inspiration to learners and teachers across our beautiful Namibia,” she said.
Overall, the speakers at the FirstRand Foundation ceremony emphasised the importance of early childhood development and investment in the primary phases of education in reducing attrition rates and ensuring that all children, especially those from disadvantaged homes, have access to high-quality education from the onset.
