National Conference on Education in Namibia breaks new ground for lifelong learning

On June 27 the President of Namibia, Hifiken Pohamba, opened a five-day national conference on education with nearly 1,000 participants. Members of Parliament, Ministry of Education staff from 13 regions, officials of other Ministries (including the Ministries of Finance, Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Information Communication and Technology), university staff, representatives of the private sector, civil society, learners and development agencies will examine the education system in Namibia and devise new strategies to improve the sector. The Minister of Education, Abraham Iyambo, emphasised that this gathering would guide the work of the Ministry so that it could “deliver, deliver, deliver”.

Namibia is one of the few countries who has an explicit lifelong learning component in their educational system and the government is in the process of finalizing their lifelong learning policy. Expecting to contribute to this process, the Institute’s Deputy Director, Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo, spoke in the  plenary on the first day where she  highlighted the critical role of lifelong learning in achieving educational goals and sustainable development and the importance of addressing persistent inequalities.