Windhoek: Executive Director (ED) in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, Mbumba Erastus Haitengela stated that unemployment among graduate teachers remains a persistent challenge for the ministry.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the ED’s remarks were made following a nationwide protest on Tuesday. The protest highlighted the lack of job opportunities for graduate teachers who find themselves struggling to secure employment years after completing their education.
Haitengela, in a media statement on Tuesday, acknowledged the issue, attributing it to several factors, with the primary reason being the imbalance between teacher demand and supply. He explained that more teachers are being produced than the system can absorb in terms of employment provision.
During the protest in Windhoek, a group of approximately 100 unemployed graduate teachers voiced concerns about what they perceived as an unfair recruitment process in the public sector. They alleged that the process favors certain individuals over others.
The protesters expressed deep concern over what they termed high levels of corruption and nepotism in the recruitment of qualified teachers. They demanded the abolition of interviews, claiming that the current system acts as a barrier to employment for many qualified teachers.
Joyce Liswaniso, the national chairperson of unemployed teachers, read the petition on behalf of the group. The petition was handed over to Gerard Vries, the deputy executive director in the ministry.