First Gentleman Epaphras Ndaitwah has urged learners to remain committed to education, saying their present circumstances should not determine their future.

Ndaitwah made the call during the final engagement of his four-day "Plight of the Boy Child" seminar in Kunene, held at Outjo Primary School. 

Using his own experience, he showed learners that challenges can be overcome when one remains determined to pursue education.

"I was the eldest boy in my family; being the eldest boy, obviously Daddy must be happy to say I have a boy who will take care of the livestock. I was sent to the cattle post at a very young age. At one time something came into my mind and said, 'Do I only deserve to be a cattle herder, or do I need some sort of help?' because I have been seeing some of my peer groups passing here going to something called school."

That determination, however, did not make the journey easy. He had to divide his time between school and herding cattle, which affected his performance.

"I approached my father and said, 'My dad, can you help me please to join the rest?' and he said, 'On one condition: one day you go to school, and the next you take cattle to the water point. That happened at the time of the examination."

Despite later interruptions to his education, Ndaitwah returned to school while serving in the Namibian Defence Force, proving that it is never too late to continue learning.

"After Independence, being one of the officers, I asked myself why I didn't complete my study. Knowing well that I was not stupid, I was not dumb, and I was not a failure, but why didn't I finish school? I started enrolling in grade 10 and then grade 12 and started to climb the ladder in education. Today I am a proud general with a master's degree."