Ester-Anna-Liisa Shiwomwenyo Nghipondoka (born 13 June 1957) is a Namibian politician and member of SWAPO. She was appointed the Minister of Education, Arts and Culture in March 2020 after having worked as deputy minister with the same portfolio since 2015.In 2021 under her ministry they have implemented a new education curriculum called Advanced Subsidiary(AS). She further stated in 2022 that the new curriculum is not a bad. Nghipondoka also encouraged the teachers to embrace the new curriculum despise the challenges it has.

Early life and education

Nghipondoka was born on 13 June 1957 in a village called Ohakweenyanga, near

Ongwediva Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sch ...

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

(today

Oshana Region Oshana is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Oshakati. The towns of Oshakati, Ongwediva and Ondangwa, all situated with this region, form an urban cluster with the second largest population concentration in Namibia after the c ...

). Nghipondoka was educated under the

Bantu Education Act The Bantu Education Act 1953 (Act No. 47 of 1953; later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953) was a South African segregation law that legislated for several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major provision enforced racially-separated educati ...

, becoming one of a few qualified black students who could go on to non-white universities, teacher or technical training institutions in the Republic of South Africa, as there were no universities in Namibia. She obtained a Masters of Education (specialising in

inclusive education Inclusion in education refers to all students being able to access and gain equal opportunities to education and learning. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the ...

) from the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

, a Bachelor of Education (specialising in

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

needs), a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

, and a Junior Secondary Teacher Certificate.

Career

Prior to entering politics, Nghipondoka was a teacher, school principal and director of education for

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

and thereafter

Omusati Region Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , ...

followed by a stint as acting CEO for the Namibia Training Authority (2013-2014). Education minister Anna Nghipondoka became a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in 2015 and was appointed as the deputy Minister of Education, Arts and Culture. In 2020 she was promoted to minister by president

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...

Qualifications

Anna Nghipondoka has Masters of Education, where she specialised in inclusive education, a Bachelor of education pecialised in special education needs the Bachelor of Arts in which her major is Psychology as well as the Junior Secondary Teacher Certificate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nghipondoka, Anna 1957 births Living people People from Oshana Region SWAPO politicians Namibian educators 21st-century Namibian women politicians 21st-century Namibian politicians Education ministers of Namibia Women government ministers of Namibia Women members of the National Assembly (Namibia) Members of the National Assembly (Namibia) University of Fort Hare alumni University of the Western Cape alumni Government ministers of Namibia