The compulsory parental financial contributions towards the School Development Fund (SDF) at both primary and secondary schools was abolished following the introduction of the Universal Primary Education Grant (UPEG) and the Universal Secondary Education Grant (USEG) in 2013 and 2016, respectively. This amongst others remains as one of the notable achievement by the Government of the Republic of Namibia.

Therefore, with the introduction of the above grants, no school should compel any parent to make any financial contributions towards the admission of learners to schools. It must be highlighted however that this privilege does not usurp the moral obligation of Parents/Guardians towards the education of their children. This means that Parents/guardians are still at liberty and thus encouraged to make voluntary financial contributions to schools of their engagement for the purpose to assist with the upkeep, maintenance and improvement of infrastructure and other amenities of such schools.

With the ever-increasing cost of education, parents are strongly urged and encouraged to assist the schools in whatever form possible in order to enable our schools to meet the education needs of the leaners. This should however not be construed to mean that parents  are in  any way compelled to do so and as such, no school should demand payment from any parent for the placement of any leaner(s) in such schools.

Schools are nevertheless encouraged to come up with fund raising initiatives for their schools but such initiatives should not be used to circumvent government’s stance on the abolishment of compulsory parental financial contributions. The Ministry therefore hereby cautions all schools and their management to ensure that any fundraising initiative introduced at their various schools are VOLUNTARY and notMANDATORYand should only be introduced in consultation with parents/guardians, School Boards and the school community at large.

It is government’s resolve to ensure that universal access to education is granted to all people and that all children are given an equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, gender or ethnic background. Given this imperative, the ministry hereby informs and directs all schools, whilst reassuring parents that no learner(s) should be denied progress to the next grade or continued placement at the school due to non-payment of any fee(s).  We therefore urge parents, to contact the Inspectors of Education and the respective Directorates of Education, Arts and Culture in the region to report such cases if any.

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