The Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, has called for stronger educational cooperation with China.
Dr. Steenkamp, is currently in China as part of the official delegation accompanying President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on a state visit.
Speaking at the China-Namibia Education and Innovation Cooperation Seminar, Steenkamp said Namibia remains committed to providing inclusive, equitable and quality education for every child.
This includes expanding access to early childhood development and modernising school infrastructure.
She pointed out the government's Educational Infrastructure Project Charter, which aims to mobilise investment for new classrooms, laboratories, digital infrastructure, teacher accommodation and climate-resilient learning facilities.
Dr. Steenkamp also identified pre-vocational education, youth empowerment and innovation as national priorities under the NDP6, saying these will help equip young people with practical skills for the changing labour market.
Steenkamp further called for greater cooperation in higher education, including support for nuclear science programmes at the University of Namibia, the planned Innovation Valley, grassroots sports development, entrepreneurship and the creative industries.
"Our goal is realising the transformative potential of digital education, including blended learning, virtual libraries, and AI-assisted teaching as well as data-informed personalisation, and therefore Namibia seeks a developmental leap in education. The pilot digital school project was initiated to integrate technology across all aspects of learning and improve teacher training, with findings informing a national strategy for education using digital tools, and success will depend on sufficient technical capacity and systematic knowledge transfer."
She said stronger partnerships between Namibia and China will help drive research, technology, investment, job creation and sustainable economic growth while building a more inclusive and prosperous future.