The Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture (MEIYSAC), Sanet Steenkamp, paid a courtesy call on ||Kharas Governor Aletha Frederick as part of her familiarisation visit to the region.
The purpose of Minister Steenkamp's visit was to engage with schools and visit youth centres and sporting facilities, as well as higher and vocational institutions in the region.
Governor Frederick highlighted some challenges, among others, the absence of ablution facilities at the Gainachas Community Hostel.
She also noted the under-utilisation of the |Ganigobes Youth Centre and the lack of school hostels and a youth centre at Lüderitz.
The governor expressed concern over the results of the 2024 Grade 11 and AS Level examinations and a shortage of qualified teachers for Khoekhoegowab and Afrikaans language subjects.
The governor said her office invests in sports through its annual hosting of the Governor's Soccer Cup Tournament, with rugby and volleyball codes recently added.
"There is a relationship between UNAM Southern Campus and the office of the governor, and of course, there is also a relationship, a very strong one, between myself, my office, and the office of the Ministry of Education. I have been involved in almost all activities related to education.
Minister Steenkamp acknowledged the concerns raised and stated that the underutilisation of educational infrastructure is unacceptable.
"We are here. Honourable governor, to engage with you and the various teams on the ground and to see how we can use the infrastructure that we have. What is required in terms of budget, and what is required in terms of human resources and manpower? What decisions do we need to make in terms of prioritising? We talk about free education. Free education will be linked to priority areas. Free education will be linked to the needs and demands of our sector within the country. So it is not a given that free education will be open, where we just train without taking note of the key priority needs that our country has and needs to focus on."
Steenkamp squarely blamed the region's poor academic performance in 2023 on teacher absenteeism, saying the practice led to incomplete teaching of syllabi.
Minister Steenkamp also visited relevant institutions in the Hardap Region.