Mariental: The Hardap Region recorded significant gains in education performance during the 2025/26 financial year, while health authorities have raised concern over declining vaccination coverage and tuberculosis treatment outcomes.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Hardap Region Governor Riaan McNab revealed the developments while delivering the State of the Region Address (SORA) in Mariental on Monday. McNab said the region achieved one of its strongest performances in national examinations, with AS-Level (Grade 12) results improving from 12th to second place nationally. 'This is indeed a great achievement for the Hardap Region as a whole,' he said.
The governor noted that Dr Lemmer High School recorded the highest AS-Level performance in the region, improving from 32.9 per cent in 2024 to 46.6 per cent in 2025. Learner enrolment increased from 30,166 in 2025 to 31,569 in 2026, while the region currently employs 1,192 teachers, of whom 75.1 per cent are women. The region's early childhood development (ECD) sector comprises 80 centres, with 61 receiving government subsidies. A total of 1,183 children are enrolled in ECD programmes, and all centres benefit from the school feeding programme.
McNab further reported that N.dollars 14.8 million was invested in education infrastructure, including classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and administration blocks at several schools across the region. In vocational education, Johanna Jacobs Vocational Training Centre in Gibeon and the African Institute of Management Sciences (AIMS) in Stampriet admitted a combined 48 students under the Youth for Green Hydrogen scholarship programme.
On healthcare, McNab said all clients who tested positive for HIV were placed on treatment, while the region achieved a viral load suppression rate of 92 per cent. Tuberculosis treatment success for new and relapse cases stood at 87 per cent, down from 90 per cent recorded during the previous reporting period. 'This calls for renewed efforts in ensuring that our people diagnosed with TB adhere to their treatment,' he said.
The governor also expressed concern over drug resistant tuberculosis, which recorded a treatment success rate of 71.4 per cent and a death rate of 7.1 per cent among patients receiving treatment. Meanwhile, measles and rubella vaccination coverage declined to 68 per cent, a drop of 10 percentage points compared to the previous financial year. 'This is a source of concern, so I would like to plead with all the mothers to bring their children for vaccination to the health centres,' McNab said.
To strengthen healthcare delivery, St Mary's Hospital at Rehoboth received a new digital X-ray machine, while three ambulances were procured and distributed across the region's health districts.