AGDS NETWORKS
The AGDS offers schools that teach German as a mother tongue, a platform for exchange and networking. Our aim is to connect schools, teachers and parents in order to jointly develop educational projects, exchange best practices and strengthen the quality of mother-tongue German lessons.
The Kindergarten Network was founded in 2020 in Windhoek by Kathrin Schmid, Heide Zirzow and Kathleen Romeis. The idea was born when Kathrin Schmid (B.A. Education and Social Management, state-certified educator and social pedagogue) took over the DHPS kindergarten management in 2019, in March 2020 the Corona pandemic posed great challenges to kindergartens and we noticed that many kindergartens had to cope with the same questions and problems. With Heide Zirzow, as a German-born Namibian with 30 years of professional experience, and Kathleen Romeis, a state-certified educator who emigrated to Namibia in 2015, the founding team of the network was born.
How can we support and network with each other? Who is where and what are the names of the others? Where do parents get information about educational institutions in Windhoek and what can we offer to compensate for the shortage of skilled educators? These questions have been the basis for the creation of the network. After the first meeting in October 2020, we found out that there is a need for networking/cooperation and a desire for training and further education among all the directors. We were impressed by the variety of pedagogical concepts, ideas and the number of institutions in Windhoek
This is how we set ourselves the common goals of the network, which are now written down in the rules and regulations and read as follows:
- We promote exchange and cooperation among the institutions.
- We are committed to promoting and assuring quality in the early childhood sector, e.g. further training opportunities.
- We represent the interests of all German-speaking educational institutions in a communal sense.
- We stand for equal opportunities for all institutions.
In 2023, the AGDS offered the opportunity for all German-speaking kindergartens in Namibia to participate in the Dieter Esslinger Conference in Otjiwarongo. Here we exchanged ideas with colleagues from all regions of Namibia – cooperation was established nationwide.
NETZWERK DEUTSCH
The promotion of German as a foreign language is a cornerstone of the cultural relations and social policy of the Federal Foreign Office. With the PASCH partner school initiative, a particularly sustainable measure was launched in 2008 to promote German as a foreign language in schools in an even more targeted manner.
Nevertheless, our activities must be subject to constant review in order to advance new approaches, such as in the area of digitisation, to meet current challenges, including in the area of teaching staff, and to prioritise more strongly. For this reason, the German Embassy convenes a Netzwerk Deutsch meeting two to three times a year, inviting the different actors active in the field of German. This makes it possible to exchange information and coordinate measures in order to achieve an even better impact in the field of German language promotion in Namibia.
For further information, please contact the Cultural Department of the German Embassy.
UNIVERSITY
The University of Namibia (UNAM) is Namibia’s largest university, with campuses at 12 locations across the country. The university comprises four faculties and 16 so-called schools, where 2,200 lecturers and staff work.
In addition to the fine arts and history, the Language Sections of the Humanities and Arts Department offer courses in 10 Namibian and European languages, including the German Section. While students who have learnt German as a first or foreign language up to school-leaving level study literature, linguistics, applied linguistics, intercultural communication and Namibian-German perspectives in the German Studies programme, the German as Applied and Business Language programme focuses on German as a business and economic language. In addition, the German Department also provides methodological and didactic training for student teachers.
The German Department is currently staffed by an emerita professor, two lecturers and a DAAD teaching assistant. The team includes Dr. Gerda Wittmann (Section Head; teaching and research focus: Teacher training and further education and DaF), Ms Sylvia Schlettwein (teaching and research focus: modern German literature and creative writing), Prof. Marianne Zappen-Thomson (professor emerita; teaching and research focus: intercultural communication and German in Namibia), and, as well as Viviane Jochum (teaching assistant).
