Maria David
INHABITANTS of Oshikoto Region have called on the Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture to construct an education directorate office in the region as travelling to Ondangwa in the Oshana Region is costly for them.
Some parents indicated that Oshikoto serves a large population in a remote area, therefore they are unable to go back and forth to Ondangwa to access the directorate office, which is outside of their territory.
They questioned the entire situation, asking why, in comparison to other regions, it is so difficult for the government to build a directorate office in the area.
Mother of three, Selma Hangula, said that having to travel to Ondangwa to submit the necessary paperwork at the directorate office might be difficult. “We don’t mean to be negative, but we require our own office in the area to assist us in cutting costs,” she said.
She added that every ministry gets a budget, so they should consider renting a building in Omuthiya, as the Ohangwena Regional Directorate is doing while they are building, just to boost them to work on the construction.
Education Executive Director Sanet Steenkamp acknowledged that their Oshikoto directorate still operates from Oshana Region.
Steenkamp said the regional directorates entity has always been accessible; they can be reached, and the community’s problems can always be listened to. They know that it will be ideal for Oshikoto Regional offices to operate from Omuthiya and that is the goal for the future. However, it is not visible at this moment.
According to Steenkamp, this is historic because years ago, the regions were divided into Ondangwa West and Ondangwa East, where Ondangwa East covered Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions.
“Then with time, Ohangwena Region moved to Eenhana where we were renting the office space. Thereafter, with the prioritization of the budget, we got started with the construction of the offices which are soon to be completed, and then we will move to Oshikoto Region,” she said.
She added that feasibility studies were already done in 2016, and the plans are in place.
However, Steenkamp indicated that there has been a moratorium on the construction of office blocks, and on that basis, they will first finalize Ohangwena Region, which is nearly completed, and then they will move to the construction of the Oshikoto Regional offices in Omuthiya.
She added that in Omuthiya, they have a museum, library resource centre, and the inspector’s office, which is the nearest point of entry under the regional council for education in Omuthiya.
