The Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, said the Education Development Fund does not have a financial reporting framework in place yet.
She said the fund had an approved three-year budget plan from 2021 to 2023, which makes provision for an amount of N$3 million per annum to cater to predetermined fund projects and activities.
However, no expenses were reported for the year-end of 2022, and consequently, the fund was dormant in 2022.
Dr. Steenkamp was replying to a question by Popular Democratic Party (PDM) MP Winnie Moongo on the government's progress around the Education Development Fund.
"The ministry has since adopted the International Public Sector Accounting Standards, and our staff members received training, and the financial statements for the year ending March 2023 and March 2024 have been prepared in line with the IPSAS framework. Regarding the reasons for the sharp decline, I would like to clarify that under our new grant policy, the ministry annually transfers education grants to schools through the implementation of this school grant policy. This grant is $300 per learner for primary, $400 per learner for secondary, and five times the amount for learners with special needs at resource schools."
Steenkamp also clarified that the National Youth Service within the ministry implements its mandate through three structured independent phases.
Firstly, a six-month national service training course that focuses strictly on discipline, patriotism, and civic responsibility. The second is voluntary service deployment.
And then number three: we offer accredited technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes up to levels four and five, registered with the National Training Authority and accredited by the Namibia Qualifications Authority."
The Minister was also asked to clarify why the first to fifteenth intakes have not been employed since 2008. Dr. Steenkamp responded, stating, "Since 2008, 8,083 youths from all 14 regions and 121 constituencies have been trained. Of these 8,083 recruits and graduates, 3,018 have secured employment in the Namibian Defence Force, the Namibian Police Force, the Namibian Correctional Service, and other government offices, ministries, and agencies. Additionally, from the recently completed sixteenth intake, 600 recruits are currently undergoing recruitment processes with the Namibian Defence Force."
She was responding to a question by Body of Christ party leader Thomas Festus about the mandate, performance, and employment pathways of the National Youth Service.