In the first cabinet session of the year on Tuesday, he was speaking about education and told his ministers that he had witnessed the phenomenon himself: "The other thing I saw which is now prominent is children being taught under the trees. As I said, I was travelling this country and I had never seen this before. Under the trees."

The president questioned why teachers could not construct makeshift structures to shield the children from the rain and other weather elements instead of helplessly waiting on the government to construct classrooms.

“Teachers are not doing their best with their hands,” he said.

He cited an example in the past of when he had given advice to a staff member at a school that did not have a kitchen: "Yes, while you are waiting for the government, why don't you put one pole here, one pole there, one pole here and one there, and put blikkies [tins] on top?

"At the very least, you'll be cooking, and it won't be wet while you wait for the government."

The Namibian Sun shared a video of his remarks:

https://twitter.com/namibiansun/status/1622896519849431040?s=20&t=H6FXn-SlXRNpiDR_s2J9vA

But his comments have drawn ire from some who say the 81-year-old president is divorced from the hardships many face in Namibia.

According to the private The Namibian newspaper, leader of the official opposition McHenry Venaani described the president as "clueless".

It also reported a teachers' union official pointing out that teachers were already under pressure and infrastructure was falling apart.

“The budgets of the schools apparently do not allow paying a teacher - not even a relief teacher,” Mahongora Kavihuha, general secretary of the Teachers Union of Namibia, is quoted as saying.