Staff Reporter
THE Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Dino Ballotti, has said that the majority of budgeted projects for the 2025/26 financial year are advancing as planned and that education infrastructure remains satisfactory, albeit not where the education ministry intends it to be.
Ballotti shared these sentiments in Parliament, where he said that works at Oshikunde Combined School, Otjomuise Primary School, and Kamanjab Resource School are progressing at a satisfactory speed and remain on schedule for near completion.
“Construction of new pre-primary classrooms, classrooms and other education facilities at existing schools remains on track, with most projects expected to be completed by June 2026,” Ballotti said.
However, he said that they are experiencing slow progress with three capital projects, which has raised concern.
These are the Mix Primary School in the Khomas Region, Tubusis Primary School in the Daures Constituency, as well as new hostel facilities at the Onkumbula Combined School in the Oshikoto Region.
“We can share that targeted monitoring and corrective measures are being applied to address the delays or non-performance of the contractors. With regard to community hostels and learning and development centres, I am pleased to report that substantial progress has been recorded where the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) and the Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) have been contracted. Most sites are at advanced construction stages and are expected to reach practical completion by May 2026. There are, however, a few exceptions, namely at the Marmer and Oranjemund sites in the Hardap and //Karas regions respectively, where outstanding land-related matters between the Directorate of Education and the respective local authorities are delaying progress,” Ballotti said.
The deputy education minister further said, for the record, that it is inconceivable that in 2026, nearly 36 years post-independence, the education ministry is still negotiating with various local authorities for land to build public schools.
“This cannot be accepted, and I will personally name and shame any local authority which is demanding a fee for land where the intention is to build schools to cater for their very own youth constituents,” Ballotti warned.
Photo: Ministry of Education Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture
