Scholarships to address a shortage of qualified and experienced German educators up for grabs
The German Embassy has revealed that it has made available a grant of 7250 euros (about N$145,000) to fund teacher training with an emphasis on German.
According to the Embassy, Namibia has a shortage of “qualified and experienced” German teachers since the profession is underpaid and hence has little social status.
“As a result, many no longer aspire to become teachers, while others quit for personal or financial reasons to pursue more lucrative work. In addition, many teachers who entered the profession before 1980 are retiring. Thus, vacancies at the Curriculum Planning Department and the University of Namibia can no longer be filled by German-speaking or indigenous professionals,” the German Embassy noted.
Meanwhile, they said that the Association of German School Societies in Namibia (AGDS) has been actively recruiting school graduates for the teaching profession for a long time. “To this end, it awards scholarships to student teachers every year.”
“The AGDS pays the registration and tuition fees of the scholarship recipients, in addition to a N$9,000 living allowance every half year. Moreover, applicants may be enrolled at the University of Namibia or South African universities. The AGDS enters into a contract with each applicant, and the sponsored scholarship holder thereby commits to teaching at a school affiliated with the AGDS through its school association for at least the duration the applicant was on a scholarship,” the Embassy said.
According to the Embassy, they fund three of these scholarships and intend to promote the German language, including the teaching profession in Namibia. AGDS has been in Namibia since 1956 and has supported teacher trainees financially since 1988.
Furthermore, the AGDS said that it would like to assist the Namibian education system and the Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture through this initiative, as well as contribute to the preservation of the German language and culture.
The AGDS is Namibia’s umbrella organisation for German school associations. It is responsible for eleven schools governed or co-administered by its member associations, as well as about 50 schools that are not associated with the AGDS but teach German as a foreign language.
