The Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, has emphasised the importance of leadership, highlighting the responsibility of those in positions of influence to be responsive to the needs of society.

Speaking during the Namibia National Commission for UNESCO's Annual General Assembly, Steenkamp said students, learners and innovators often come up with creative ideas but rarely have the opportunity to explore or develop these.

Leadership requires qualities, she said, that address inequalities and that foster the creativity to design systems responsive to the identified needs of all learners.

The Minister highlighted the importance of using authority responsibly—not to misuse one's power, but to empower others.

"Let's do a pilot project and focus on 17 schools, where you can easily access and learn the lessons from there, and then we'll make a decision on how to move forward. What prevents us from doing that? Then we talk about the voices of the learners, the voices of the students, but with everything, they struggle to get appointments in our offices, with our directors, with our deputy directors, with our executive directors, with the deputy minister and the minister. So when we talk about local leadership and empowerment, it starts with those who come up with ideas."

Steenkamp emphasised the need for collaboration to strengthen teacher development, invest in research and innovation, and ensure that young people are well-prepared to meet the demands of a rapidly changing society. 

Eunice Smith, a representative of UNESCO, shared how the public can make use of their services. If you are not satisfied with a proposal, write back to UNESCO and say, 'We provide guidance on the following points.' When you work on this, please come back to us, and we can continue the discussion. It's the same for those who write books."

The event also reflected on the 2024/2025 Global Education Monitoring Report, titled 'Education leadership: Lead for learning'.