WINDHOEK – About 80 percent of all teachers in Namibian schools teaching at the lower primary level currently are unqualified, a situation that Dr David Namwandi, the Minister of Education says needs immediate redress.
“This seems to have an adverse ripple [effect] on our learners’ achievements at all levels. It is quite clear that if the … foundation upon which learning is to be built is not [strong], efficient subsequent learning will not happen,” he said. Namwandi made the remarks yesterday during a three-day University of Namibia (Unam) annual education conference. Analysis of the education sector from various reports and national assessments indicate that the challenge related to quality comes from the limited access most children have to early childhood development (ECD) services and education.
“Our NDP4 reports that there are no government-owned ECD centres in the country. There are no legal regulations for ECD centres; there are few qualified teachers or educators trained in ECD and there is severe undervaluation of ECD trained individuals – leading to underpayment and limited incentives to work in this field,” the minister indicated. As a result children who enter the formal school system are not ready to cope with the demands of primary school learning. “All of these issues will certainly place an increased demand on the supply of teachers in the ECD and pre- and lower-primary phases. It also increases the demand for better qualified teachers who are able to ensure that these children are not just ready to cope with the formal school system, but that they are able to effectively acquire the literacy and numeracy skills needed for quality achievement at all levels,” Namwandi elaborated.
According to him the government is addressing the current state of affairs by transitioning ECD to the Ministry of Education and also by improving the curriculum for ECD. Moreover, he said, efforts are underway to improve training and performance standards for ECD teachers and centres, as well as to introduce pre-primary classes in a pro-poor fashion in all regions of the country. He also noted that government introduced universal primary education across the country to ensure more equitable access to quality education.
In addition, he highlighted the fact that teacher education is one of the most important cornerstones for the country’s ability to improve the quality of the education system and to attain Vision 2030.
Another activity the ministry is engaged in currently is basic education reform where there are proposals to restructure all grade levels, curriculum reform as well as the introduction of vocational education in schools. Namwandi said such efforts would have implications for teacher education, particularly the training of vocational teachers for schools.
“Our national Institute for Educational Development is working with stakeholders and partners in the education sector to develop curriculums for vocational subjects and to ensure that infrastructure at schools and training institutions will be in place when the programmes are rolled out,” he said. The conference which started on Tuesday ends today.
Albertina Nakale