GOBABIS: The relatively low literacy rate, large number of out-of-school youths and the fact that more than half of the region’s inhabitants are confined to the rural areas in the Omaheke region, appears to put tremendous strain on development objectives of the Omaheke Regional Council.

These are the odds that the local regional council here has to overcome in a region where only 66 per cent of a total population of 68 039 people are literate, making Omaheke the region with the lowest literacy rate in the country.

The Parliamentary Standing committee on Economics, Natural Resources and Public Aministration, which is currently touring the region,on Monday got to hear first-hand of these statistics.

The comitee comprises of Ben Amathila of Swapo, the Unity Democratic Front (UDF)’ Samson Tjongarero and Jesaja Nyamu of the official opposition – Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).

Expressing concern with the region’s low literacy rate, the parliamentarians wanted to know what programmes the regional council has in place to reverse the situation.

Pedereus Tjihoreko, the Chief Regional Officer of the Omaheke Regional Council said although the regional council has, through various structures, attempted to create opportunities for especially adults to gain literacy skills, such initiatives are yet to deliver the preferred results.

“We have realised that adults, especialy males are reluctant to join literacy initiatives and are as such often left out by such programmes,” he said.

According to the latest figures contained in the 2011 National Housing and Population Census, about 51 per cent of children had dropped out of school, while 33 per cent never attended school.

This only leaves less than 12 per cent of children of school-going age currently attending school.
For a region where males (35 554) outnumber females (32 484), and where more than half of the households are headed by males; the unwillingness of males to support literacy initiatives could be a stumbling block for the regional council.

Owing to the fact that Gobabis is the region’s only town and economic centre, a large number of the region’s inhabitants prefer to live in the rural areas, where they largely survive on subsistence farming.
The census places the number of those in urban centres at a mere 28 per cent, while the bulk of the region’s inhabitants (72 per cent) reside in the rural areas.

Other regions similarly rocking the same boat are Otjozondjupa with a literacy rate of 67 per cent and Kavango which has 70 per cent of its population literate. The Khomas region tops the literacy rate per region quota, with 98 per cent literate inhabitants.

(edited)GOBABIS, 24 JUL (NAMPA) – The relatively low literacy rate and large numbers of out-of-school youths in the Omaheke Region are just some of the factors seemingly placing strain on the development objectives of the Omaheke Regional Council.

Another factor is the fact that more than half of the region’s inhabitants are confined to the rural areas.
These are the odds that the local regional council here has to overcome in a region where only 66 per cent of a total population of 68 039 people are literate, making Omaheke the region with the lowest literacy rate in the country.

The Parliamentary Standing committee on Economics, Natural Resources and Public Aministration, which is currently touring the region, on Monday got to hear first-hand of these statistics.
The committee comprises Swapo-Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ben Amathila, the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s Samson Tjongarero and Jesaja Nyamu of the official opposition – the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).

Expressing concern with the region’s low literacy rate, the parliamentarians wanted to know what programmes the regional council has in place to reverse the situation. Pedereus Tjihoreko, the Chief Regional Officer of the Omaheke Regional Council, said although the regional council has, through various structures, attempted to create opportunities for especially adults to gain literacy skills, such initiatives are yet to deliver the preferred results.

“We have realised that adults, especially males, are reluctant to join literacy initiatives and are as such often left out by such programmes,” he said.

According to the latest figures contained in the 2011 National Housing and Population Census, about 51 per cent of children had dropped out of school, while 33 per cent never attended school.
This means less than 12 per cent of children of school-going age in the region are currently attending school.

For a region where males (35 554) outnumber females (32 484), and where more than half of the households are headed by males; the unwillingness of males to support literacy initiatives could be a stumbling block for the regional council.

Owing to the fact that Gobabis is the region’s only town and economic centre, a large number of the region’s inhabitants prefer to live in the rural areas, where they largely survive on subsistence farming.
The census places the number of those in urban centres at a mere 28 per cent, while the bulk of the region’s inhabitants (72 per cent) reside in rural areas.

Other regions in the same boat are Otjozondjupa with a literacy rate of 67 per cent, and Kavango, where 70 per cent of the population is literate. The Khomas Region tops the literacy rate per region quota, with 98 per cent of inhabitants found to be literate.