• Education

Afrox Leadership Academy launched

Tunohole Mungoba

Launched by deputy permanent secretary of the ministry of education, Charles Kabajani; Afrox Namibia commissioned research to identify the best possible methods for their intervention in skills development and poverty eradication. “Today, we launch a first of its kind leadership academy that is geared at providing fantastic opportunities to our youth and seeks to contribute to the development of our nation,” he said.

Kabajani applauded Afrox for the initiative as “the importance of education cannot be over-­emphasised as it is the greatest equaliser.” The ministry recognised the collaborative and mindful efforts by all stakeholders in the battle to bring about improvement in education. “We remain focused on increasing qualifying points of learners, upgrading teacher qualifications, strengthening learner support programmes and the monitoring and evaluation of school performance through our inspectorate,” he said.

Eckhardt Vorster, the managing director of Afrox Namibia, said: "We are passionate about making a meaningful contribution to the well-being of not only our employees and their benefactors but also the communities in which we operate”.

The team has a desire to play their part in the realisation of their national development goals, and Afrox believes this initiative will act as a catalyst to address poverty eradication and skills development at a grass-root level.

Although the academy has aspirations to select learners from all regions in Namibia; the first year will run on a smaller scale as a pilot programme. Lessons learnt from the first year will form the backbone for future national implementation.

In 2018, the target schools for the academy are the top three academically performing, public schools in the Khomas Region namely; Delta Secondary School, Eldorado Secondary School and Hage Geingob Secondary School.

The leadership academy will host 16 grade 10 learners chosen from these schools and will run over a six month period. The programme will cover a one-week leadership training camp, followed by active engagement in community projects for which they will receive mentorship and assistance to help them operationalize the project.

The academy will select students who achieved at least a 60% grade average for the previous academic year. In addition, these learners should be involved in extra-mural activities, be proficient in English, commit to working on a community project and are recommended by their teachers.

The Africa Leadership Institute will facilitate the programme at Rock Lodge, just outside Okahandja. The training will cover a range of topics such as career guidance, performance and results, service delivery, basic etiquette, project management.

The curriculum has been structured to inspire and encourage the learners just pass at the end of the academic year, but also to advance themselves and contribute to the welfare of their communities in the future.