Category: Education

The minister of higher education has ordered a temporal suspension of selections into the PhD programmes at the University of Dschang, West region, for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo urged the rector of the institute of higher learning to file a detailed report on the ability of training of PhD candidates in each school and training unit within the University, money disbursed during each jury gathering for PhD defence for the 2020-2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years.

This ministerial decision is in line with a prime ministerial order to see into financial services deployed during PhD training and condemning the pre-financing of defence of June 19, 2023.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation (MHETI) has inaugurated the interim council members for the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).

In statement issued on Thursday, Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi, announced that the selected individuals were appointed on Wednesday and will serve until a substantive board is inaugurated.

The ministry’s public relation officer, Selma Ngola, stated that the individuals selected to be chairperson and deputy chairperson are; Leake Hangala and Nora Ndopu.

The board includes; Uazuva Kaumbi, Norah Ndopu, Leake Hangala, Emilia Ngikembua, Shafishuna Nujoma, Stanley Shanapinda, Detlof Oertzen, Rachel Kalipi, Kadiva Hamutumwa, Alfred van Kent and Flora Gaes, Ngola said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has said that it has not pursued the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi, regarding any reimbursement of the Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA).

This comes after Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda, earlier this week accused the minister of improperly profiting from three State institutions within the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation.

According to various reports, Amupanda accused the minister of unduly gaining about N.dollars 1.5 million in travel expenses from three State institutions under the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation.

The institutions are the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the University of Namibia (UNAM).

Amupanda further alleged that the minister claimed money from Unesco.

“Unesco wishes to take this opportunity to clarify the role and function of the Unesco Office in Namibia, and that of the Namibia National Commission for Unesco,” it said in a media statement issued on Wednesday.

It stated that while working together, the Unesco Office and Namibia National Commission for Unesco are two independent bodies.

“The Unesco Office in Namibia (located at the United Nations House, Klein Windhoek) is part of the Unesco Secretariat, an intergovernmental organisation of 194 Member States, with its Headquarters in Paris (France),” it said.

The Namibia National Commission for Unesco is established by the Government of Namibia. It is a national entity which operates under national regulations, and located at the Government Office Park in Windhoek, it stated.

Source: NAMPA

The government should intensify measures on enhancing production and productivity to reduce the prevailing inflation, scholars said.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told members of the parliament that the government is undertaking various measures to reduce inflation such as subsidizing fertilizer and fuel.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Senior Economist and President of African Chamber of Commerce Kibur Gena said that the government should give due attention to reduce the internally generated inflation through increasing production and productivity.

“One of the area or entity that has pushed the inflation rate higher are also banks which tend to lend actually to companies like real estate or those that focus on consumption; which makes it difficult for the manufacturing or agriculture sector to increase its production and make it available on the market. So there are combinations of government and banks that have role in creating inflation but at this moment we see both the banking institutions and the government trying hard to restrict the circulation of money in Ethiopia,” he elaborated.

In the advent of limiting cash circulation to lower inflation, financial institutions should be cautious of its essentiality, Kibur pointed out.

The senior economist emphasized the need to ensure sustainable peace and create business enabling environment in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) thereby ascertaining the desired economic growth.

However, the senior economist noted that economic growth would be difficult unless the government devises means to increase its foreign currency revenue by minimizing foreign exchange black-market.

Africa Humanitarian Action Vice President and Senior Economist, Costantinos Berhe on his part said that new tools are needed to be able to contain the inflation and reduce it to single digit. Inflation is a precipitation of a whole lot of economic policies, he stated, and added that those policies need to come in together to redeem this problem.

“The government for example, has huge capital projects that it is developing. Therefore, how can some of these capital projects be done at latter date and then we go into saving the economy, subsidizing the consumers,” he noted.

He hoped that the monetary measures would bring about an impact in reducing the inflation.

Limiting the circulation of cash in the economy can contribute to minimizing inflation; however, it is pivotal to once again look into the banks interest rate, he elaborated.

Broader consultations with different pertinent stakeholders and research based solutions are essential to contain and minimize the inflation, Costantinos pointed out.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Headspring Investments has availed N.dollars 1.8 million for the construction of a school hall and full-service kitchen at the Naosanabus Primary School in the Omaheke Region.

The investment includes N.dollars 405 000 in feeding scheme support.

Headspring Investments is a subsidiary of Uranium One, which is a subsidiary of the Russian State-owned nuclear enterprise Rosatom.

In an interview on Thursday, Uranium One Deputy Director for Strategic Communications and Reputation Management, Riaan van Rooyen told Nampa the firm has spent over N.dollars 3.8 million on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to date.

He stated that for years, the school used a corrugated shanty to make meals for its learners, but that it had collapsed and was no longer fit to prepare food in a clean and healthy environment.

“We are looking at social upliftment in the Leonardville community with the goal of addressing the people’s actual and real needs. We were able to recognise the need and assist with this initiative through talking with community people,” he said.

Construction started two weeks and will be completed by the end of September 2023.

Meanwhile, Petra Witbooi, Chairperson of the Leonardville Village Council, stated that the village council relies significantly on rates and taxes to fund developmental activities in the hopes that these programmes will be continued to the point of generating more income for the village.

Witbooi said the village council leadership appreciates such private sector initiatives and can only hope that similar investments would be made accessible to the village that will benefit its people.

“We invite stakeholders with business ideas to come knock on our doors. We have enough land to build more infrastructure and enterprises,” she added.

Witbooi said the governor’s recent State of the Region Address emphasised the potential for many developmental efforts in the village, and the council is therefore pleased to note that Leonardville is keeping up with the rest of the region.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A national education campaign which intends to improve standards of schools is parts of the endeavors to build a competitive nation which all citizens should participate, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has officially launched the Education for Generations national campaign today. On the occasion, the premier pointed out that the campaign to improve the standards of schools in Ethiopia largely needs the participation of communities and former students.

The national campaign is parts of the efforts to building a competitive country and thus requires the strong cooperation and participation of all citizens, he added.

The campaign intends to improve the standards of more than 50,000 schools across Ethiopia. It also aims to mobilize ideas, resources and energy to revitalize school systems.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Organization of Educational Cooperation (OEC) has chosen Addis Ababa as its headquarters due to its status as a global diplomatic hub, the organization’s Secretary-General told Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).

Secretary-General of the OEC, Sheikh Mansour bin Musallam told ENA that Addis Ababa is the third largest center of diplomacy in the world and a gateway to Africa. This makes it an ideal location for an international organization like OEC, which aims to promote educational cooperation among countries from all over the world.

“Addis Ababa is a city that is accustomed to hosting international organizations,” Musallam said.

He further said that Ethiopia has the expertise to support our work.

It is to be recalled that while addressing the first General Assembly of the OEC in Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “I am grateful that the EOC has chosen Ethiopia to host the headquarters and this historical gathering. From the inception, Ethiopia has been supportive of the vision and will continue to support the secretariat by creating conditions to enable it to fulfill its mandate.”

OEC was established in January 2020 by 21 countries from Africa, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Arab world. The organization’s mission is to promote educational cooperation and development through a balanced and comprehensive education system.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency