Ester-Anna-Liisa Shiwomwenyo Nghipondoka (born 13 June 1957) is a Namibian politician and member of

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

. She served as a Minister of Education, Arts and Culture from March 2020 to 21 March 2025 after having worked as deputy minister with the same portfolio since 2015. In 2021 under her ministry a new education curriculum, called Advanced Subsidiary (AS), was implemented. She further stated in 2022 that "the new curriculum is not bad". Nghipondoka also encouraged the teachers to embrace the new curriculum despite 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 Constituency, Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 33,777 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven ...

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

(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 ( Blacks ) 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-separ ...

, 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, as there were no universities in Namibia. She obtained a Master of Education (specialising in

inclusive education Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an in ...

) from the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

, a Bachelor of Education (specialising in

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

needs), a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology from the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, 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 ...

, 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. Further major settlements in the region are Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and Oniipa. , Oshikoto had 112,170 registered voters. Ge ...

and thereafter

Omusati Region Omusati (the Oshindonga word for Mopane, 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 ...

followed by a stint as acting CEO for the Namibia Training Authority (2013-2014).

Education minister An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

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 repr ...

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

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nghipondoka, Anna 1957 births Living people Politicians 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