NAMIBIA

Minutes for Promulgation and Transparency

Minutes of Meeting at Embassy of the Republic of Namibia to the Kingdoms of Belgium and the Netherlands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as well as Switzerland and Mission to the European Union between Jens Peter PROTHMANN, Minister-Counsellor and H.E. Irving LEVANCE of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU.

Matters discussed:

EDU mission to promote international education and understanding explained.

EDU Accreditation system based on legality and competency to operate explained.

www.edu.int website.

Education is No 1 budget priority for Namibia because country needs to recover educational backlog.

Democratization was applied to education as well during first 15-20 years which resulted in quality being sacrificed due to stretched resources.

Namibia is now concentrating on improving quality in primary and secondary levels, which is a big challenge.

Language skills, especially English is required. The current lingua franca is Afrikaans. Efforts to encourage English, already being the official language, as lingua franca being a neutral and international language.

A high priority is recruiting of university level teaching staff in Information Technology and Engineering.

Health and Education account for about 35% of national budget.

Literacy rate is 90%.

Attendance at primary and secondary education is obligatory.

National Institute for Educational Development is listed as an EDU Recognized Body.

Jens Peter PROTHMANN undertook to alert education authorities in Namibia of EDU with a view to possible future cooperation and initial consideration for participation.

Education affirmed as one of Namibia's top priorities.

Jens Peter PROTHMANN shared non-papers pursuing recruitment of university professors and lecturers.

H.E. Irving LEVANCE described the meeting as professional and informative and thanked Jens Peter PROTHMANN for receiving him and for the generous gift of his time.

END

EDU.INT

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

NAMIBIA