‘Cultural knowledge empowers young people’

Cultural heritage not only connects children to the past, but also fosters respect for diversity.

This is according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Namibia’s national commissioner, Gernot Piepmeyer.

Unesco started rolling out a pilot programme to Namibian primary schools to integrate sustainable ways of conserving cultural heritage in 2023.

Piepmeyer says the programme’s main aim is to integrate educational and sustainable ways of conserving cultural heritage.

“Safeguarding cultural heritage is not just a connection to our past, we are integrating pupils to appreciate the intangible cultural heritage and traditions that foster respect and honour diversity,” he says.

Piepmeyer was speaking at a Unesco event in Windhoek yesterday.

The programme is a joint collaboration between Unesco, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the government of Flanders, Belgium.

Piepmeyer said the programme aims to promote lifelong learning that values cultural diversity and building a resilient society that defies social fragmentation.

“The Unesco initiative aims to preserve a rich identity through education, and the legacy of our cultural heritage depends on the actions we take today,” he said.

Deputy executive of lifelong learning, arts and culture Gerard Vries emphasised the importance of using community members to integrate cultural heritage in basic education.

Vries said the programme has been piloted in schools in the //Kharas, Kunene, Omaheke, and Zambezi regions.

“The gap is slowly but surely making a contribution to the implementation of the link between culture and education that supports both staff and pupils,” he said.

Vries said the initiative aligns with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture’s mission to develop a national curriculum for basic education that will integrate indigenous knowledge as a teaching resource for better education.

Unesco representative to Namibia Eunice Smith said incorporating indigenous cultural heritage in the curriculum will make it relevant.

“Using culture in education can help empower young people with opportunities for economic growth in the cultural and creative industries,” she said.

“Indigenous cultures and cultural knowledge are important to bring knowledge to the education curriculum to deal with climate problems too,” she said.

Smith said Unesco’s aim is to promote the value of evolving heritage and traditional knowledge.