Sanet Steenkamp

Vetting of learners before admission to state schools is discriminatory

Vetting of learners before admission to state schools is discriminatory

Niël Terblanché The practice of vetting learners before admission to state schools is extremely discriminatory in nature and denies some children access to the schools of their choice. The Executive Director of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp said the Ministry’s rules of admission for children have not changed since 2010. Steenkamp said this in a circular issued last week on the admission of learners in state schools to guide Education Regional Directors, Inspectors of Education, School Principals and parents to plan and administer the admission process. “It has come to our attention that some schools are…
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School curriculum does not promote homosexuality

School curriculum does not promote homosexuality

Niël Terblanché The current zealotry surrounding the issue of Same-sex marriages in Namibia has led to scathing attacks on the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture’s curriculum which provides learners with the basic knowledge of sexual reproductive health and rights. Sanet Steenkamp, the Executive Director of the education ministry, in an effort to quell the rabid attacks on the current curriculum, clarified what is actually being taught in Namibian schools. “The ministry has been inundated with questions related to the current topical issue of same-sex relationships in Namibia. These questions are linked to statements made mainly by representatives of faith-based…
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Education Ministry revises budgetary allocations to mitigate education quality

Education Ministry revises budgetary allocations to mitigate education quality

Tujoromajo Kasuto Sanet Steenkamp, executive director of the Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture, states In terms of what can be done to improve the quality of public schools, the Ministry has resolved to introduce targeted funding for the monitoring, evaluation, rehabilitation and construction of appropriate and adequate education physical facilities, including funding for temporal structures. Furthermore, to increase budgetary allocation for the procurement of teaching and learning resources physical and human. “With the support from Institutions of Higher Learning and other stakeholders, the Ministry will introduce targeted funding for continuous professional development for teachers’ in-service, as well as targeted…
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Part time legacy learners offered second opportunity for AS level

Part time legacy learners offered second opportunity for AS level

Martin Endjala The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture have announced that candidates who improved their marks through part-time tuition centers at NSSCO level and qualified to enter AS level for the first time on a full-time basis, will now be allowed to do so, provided they are 21 years or younger by 31 December 2022. The Executive Director of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture Sanet Steenkamp today confirmed this in a media statement. Full-time admission of part-time candidates to the Namibia senior secondary certificate advanced subsidiary (NSSCAS) and repetition for Namibia senior secondary certificate ordinary level (NSSCO)…
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Exam delays cause no implications on first-year registration

Exam delays cause no implications on first-year registration

Tujoromajo Kasuto With universities starting with registration the same time as learners rewriting their exams, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture ((MOEAC), through the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, has engaged the institutions of higher learning on this matter and arrangements are in place for the affected learners to register upon the release of their examination results. MOEAC Executive Director (ED), Sanet Steenkamp, says that the examination results for the full time National Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinarily Level (NSSCO) and Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS level), New Curriculum, will be released mid February. Whilst the results of part-time…
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Back to school woes  As parents scramble for school placement

Back to school woes As parents scramble for school placement

Eba Kandovazu THE EXECUTIVE Director in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, says parents who only apply for school placement when schools reopen present the ministry with a challenge. This is every year’s challenge in January, despite rigorous campaigns by the ministry to sensitise parents and encourage them to apply on time. "These parents come to regional offices to look for placement. This means that although the regions may have finalised their placements, and all the children that applied in good time were placed, additional places now have to be found for the unplaced learners,” Steenkamp says.…
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LPM calls on learners to seek remedy in courts over exams suspension

Eba Kandovazu THE Landless People’s Movement (LPM) says it is prepared to support parents and guardians of Grade 11 and 12 learners who intend to legally challenge the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture. This about this ministry’s decision to cancel examinations and have them re-written next year after question papers were leaked in the Oshana region. Yesterday the ministry announced that three police cases have been opened and ten suspects subsequently arrested. Executive Director (ED) in the ministry, Sanet Steenkamp, says eight of the suspects were released on bail while two, foreigners, are still in police custody. Only visually…
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Examinations suspended amidst question papers leakage controversy

Examinations suspended amidst question papers leakage controversy

Eba Kandovazu THOUSANDS of learners will have to re-write Grade 11 (new curriculum) and Grade 12 (old curriculum) examinations early next year, following the leakage of question papers and memorandums. Ten suspects have since been arrested, Education, Sport and Culture Ministry (MESC), Executive Director, Sanet Steenkamp, says. According to Steenkamp, eight of the suspects were released on bail while two who are foreign nationals are still in police custody. Three criminal cases have been opened, she says. Two cases have been opened at Ongwediva police station while another one was opened at Ondangwa. Steenkamp, who has also announced that examinations…
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No COVID-19 vaccines for learners

No COVID-19 vaccines for learners

Kandjemuni Kamuiiri Learners will not be able to get the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the country, as they are below the prescribed age limit. Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) Executive Director, Ben Nangombe, revealed that only persons above the age of 18 are in the criteria of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine jabs (Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Covishield) . The revelation comes as Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture recently fingered boarding and high schools as the main spreaders of COVID-19 among learners in the country. Latest figures from the Ministry of Health shows that over the month of…
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Education ministry faces 5124 classroom backlog

Education ministry faces 5124 classroom backlog

Maria Hamutenya The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture Executive Director (ED), Sanet Steenkamp, says the continued growth in the student population has resulted in a classroom backlog of 5 124 classrooms nationally. According to the ministry’s figures, as of 2019, the 14 regions had a total of 26, 090 classrooms, of which 22, 461 are permanent classrooms, 1 426 prefabricated classrooms from non-conventional material, and 2003 traditional structures constructed by the parents or by the school and 200 higher classrooms all together. “The backlog is also considering the growth in the learner population of at least three percent per…
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