With only two members of staff, and a country manager based in Johannesburg, the British Council Namibia is one of the smallest British Council offices in Africa.

But it still has an important role in English teaching, skills and leadership training and school partnerships.

The British Council in Namibia met education officials and professionals on 22 May 2008 to discuss ways to strengthen English language learning in Namibia. The seminar was also an introduction to products available to teachers and learners of English, such as the British Council website TeachingEnglish.

The website provides resources for teachers in the form of website audio, printed material, group forums and discussions on topics relevant to education.

Guests at the seminar included representatives from the Namibian Ministry of Education, the University of Namibia, the Polytechnic of Namibia, the Namibian Teachers’ Association and the Namibian Institute for Education Development.

The British Council South Africa has been helping the Namibian office and marketing and communications manager for the British Council South Africa and Namibia, Janine Raftopoulos attended the seminar and reported on the event.

There are at least 28 languages spoken in Namibia, and although English is the official language, many schools continue to teach in a language other than English.

This has led to a decline in the standards of spoken English. The British Council in Namibia is looking at ways to improve English language teaching and learning by providing resources and training.

Paul Woods, regional manager for English in Southern Africa, reports that the office in Namibia is looking into making online products – such as the TeachingEnglish website – more accessible for Namibian teachers through newspaper segments, CD-ROMs, or printed copies of the comprehensive online resources.

Acting country director Julian Baker says the goal of future work in Namibia is to get involved in projects that manage to be effective and efficient, despite limited resources.

The office identified English language training as one of its key products. ‘English language products are one of the things we excel in, so it made sense to pursue that as a focused product. We need to offer something that is of high value and impact – something valuable to the Namibian government and the people.’

The office will also be recruiting a country manager who will spend time delivering teacher training and language improvement courses and facilitating other initiatives in partnership with local institutions.

Raftopoulos writes, ‘For the Namibian staff in Windhoek, the new emphasis on English and education presents an exciting challenge. There is an opportunity to make a real impact on a clearly defined audience whose skills are vital to the future of the country.’

Raftopoulos also reports that the British Council schools partnerships projects Dreams + Teams and Connecting Classrooms are doing well in Namibia.

English language and education programmes manager Agnes Chitambo, who is based in the Windhoek office, is enthusiastic about the strength of these projects in Namibia.

Dreams + Teams has established several links and exchanges between education authorities in Namibia and the UK. ‘The success of the Dreams + Teams partnership has in part been due to the community involvement and support extended to the schools in both Namibia and the UK,’ says Chitambo.

‘During the coming months, activity will centre on training of local tutors and youth leaders, which will culminate in a sports festival. Two clubs from schools in Rehoboth are mobilising resources to establish an eco-friendly community playground.’

The schools partnerships initiative Connecting Classrooms has also been a huge success in Namibia. Local schools have been connected with Nigerian, Ethiopian and Zimbabwean schools as well as schools from Leeds, Liverpool and Huntley (Scotland) in the UK.

Chitambo says that watching the growth of this initiative has made her immensely proud. ‘I get a sense of achievement from just observing the bonds of camaraderie that have developed among the teachers in the different partnerships on the one hand, and the excitement about projects and testimonies of the learners on the other.’

She is excited about the future growth of Connecting Classrooms initiatives. ‘Projects to create awareness of climate change, such as the Billion Trees Campaign, also involve learners and teachers from schools outside the partnerships. More schools are keen to take part in partnership projects, and expressions of interest have been received from teachers all over the country.’

The office will also look to work in the area of climate security, which a strategic priority and key area of the British Council’s work across the world. One initiative that they are looking into is the hosting of a climate change photographic exhibition, which would be launched with a guest speaker in Windhoek.

With all these projects and initiatives lined up, the Namibian office truly embodies the idiom that dynamite can come in small packages!

To learn more about events happening in British Council offices around Africa, visit our events calendar. Learn more about the resources we have to support teachers and learners of English, as well as the English exams that we host. We also support the development of African professionals, and run a highly successful leadership programme called InterAction. The British Council works in 23 countries across Africa. Find out where your closest British Council office is.