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United States Peace Corps Programs in Namibia
United States Peace Corps Programs in Namibia
Primary Education Teacher Training Project
The Primary Education and Teacher Training Project was developed in 1991 to assist the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture to promote the capacity building objectives under the Ministry’s "Basic Education Reform Program". To help meet these objectives, Peace Corps provides assistance to strengthen Namibia’s human resource base by assisting the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture in improving the quality of primary education in Namibia by implementing new methods and initiatives in the pre-service and in-service training of primary school teachers and by developing Teachers Resource Centres to serve teachers.
Secondary Education Teacher Project
The purpose of Secondary Education Teacher Project is to strengthen Namibia’s human resource base by improving skills of secondary students in English, mathematics and the sciences, promoting environmental education across the curriculum, strengthening the skills of secondary teachers, encouraging female achievement and improving the resources of schools by developing or improving libraries and laboratories. In 1991 a survey conducted by the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture determined that staffing inadequacies existed in most educational regions: of the 11,000 secondary teachers in Namibia only 5,000 were qualified. The majority of those qualified lacked a sufficient command of English to use it as a medium of instruction. There was also a shortage of qualified science and mathematics teachers. Peace Corps volunteer teachers are assigned to teach the sciences, mathematics and English as a second language in rural, remote schools in all seven educational regions.
Youth and Sport
The Ministry of Youth and Sport was created to build new structures and coordinate services for the youth of Namibia. Addressing the needs of youth has been identified as a high priority by the government. Peace Corps is assisting the Ministry in the development of resources and in the formulation of operational policies, administrative procedures, and in organizing the coordination and delivery of Youth services. Volunteers work to identify and mobilize out-of-school and unemployed youth aged 15-30 years, to identify vocational training, self-employment or formal sector employment opportunities for marginalized youth, and to organize and provide life skills education. Volunteers serve as regional youth officers, directors of youth centers and as program officers.