• Education

Parliament visit highlights importance of voting

Alexandra Kelly

On Tuesday, 16 July 2019, the grade 11 civics class together with their teacher, Miss Wojcik, made their way over to visit the Namibian parliament. Seeing as this was only the second time Miss Wojcik was doing this with a class, she wanted them to be prepared for any questions they might throw at the students, so they had to do background research and present it to each other.

On that day a library worker gave them a tour of the place. They were shown around the National Assembly and the National Council.

During the first stop, he showed the National Assembly and explained the intricate processes that happen in there, who sits where and what responsibilities these people have. He also explained about the room’s history and how it was renovated. Then he revealed a few flaws the renovations had and their plans to improve it. Much to the students’ pleasure, they were allowed to roam around, sit in the judge’s chair and even play with the gavel.

In the National Council not as much freedom was allowed, as an important meeting was taking place. The students sat amongst many journalists and other spectators, as on that day a German politician, Daniel Günther, visited the Council to address the German-Namibian history, and, in particular, the Herero war. The actual people, who worked there, the Namibian ministers, sat in a lower section in the centre of the room. The meeting began with ritual and a prayer. Unfortunately, the students had to return to school for classes and were unable to listen to the entire speech.

The visit highlighted just how important each individual voice is and convinced most of the students to go vote as soon as they are old enough, as they are Namibia’s future and voting is the first step towards a brighter future.