The Mayor of Swakopmund, Dina Namubes, is disappointed by the poor attendance of parents at meetings on education.

Namubes and other leaders said the poor attendance shows a lack of parental involvement in their children's education.

Half of the seats in the multipurpose hall of Mondesa Swakopmund were empty because parents did not show up in numbers at a parent's education conference.

The conference is an initiative of the Swakopmund municipality, and it was aimed at boosting collaboration with parents on the education of children.

"I really wanted to prove the research wrong, the research was that parental involvement is lacking at schools, and indeed it has been proven today. We are about 80,000 residents of Swakopmund, and I was expecting at least 30,000 parents. I will confirm with my records on my phone that parents are calling me even at midnight complaining about how their child doesn't have a school and was not placed, but when you are creating a platform for the parents to come together with relevant stakeholders to try and pave the way forward, then we are still not there," said Namubes.

"We are equally responsible for the education of our children. We are asking, 'What is it that we are not doing that is contributing to this state of affairs in Swakopmund?' We are also asking what we can do to contribute to the successful education of our children. I believe this conference is a reach; it's a first step," added Alfeus Benjamin, the CEO of the Swakopmund municipality.

The Education Director in the Erongo Region, Ehrenfriede Stephanus, observed that there were more mothers than fathers among the parents in attendance.

"Fathers are the heads of households. You are the one who needs to discipline, guide, and be responsible for bringing up these kids in this society and community. Mothers are carrying these kids for nine months, and they are always there. We need your support as fathers."

The leaders invited all parents to attend future platforms created by the municipality.