One morning a week back, I was watching television and listening to the Inspector General of the Namibian Police Joseph Shikongo talking about the police’s Back to School Road Safety Awareness campaign on Good Morning Namibia, which was impressive. 

This article expresses similar sentiments regarding the admission of learners in schools. 

Hopefully, all learners are back to school for the second semester, and all parents seeking admission for their children for next year are ready to submit application forms to the schools of their choice. 

The guidelines about the admission procedures are indicated in the Circular form ED: 05/2025: Admission of learners in schools in 2026, which the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture (MEIYSAC) released to schools in May 2025. 

The circular advocates and creates awareness among the stakeholders, parents and guardians of school-going children in particular, to go to schools, collect application forms for admission and submit them back on the specified dates as per individual schools. 

Hence, it becomes a concern that although the circular stipulates all processes involved in the admission of learners in all State schools, it becomes a habit that some parents are waiting for schools to reopen the following year to go and ask schools to admit their children. 

It is also a concern that information does not reach people as planned. 

In many cases, parents from the outskirts of towns and other areas countrywide do not get information about the application period, especially those who live in informal settlements and remote areas. 

The issue of admission of learners in schools is always a big challenge to schools, especially schools in urban areas, where long queues are observed at the beginning of every academic year.

This delays the teaching and learning process that is supposed to start at that time. 

This problem is more experienced at entry levels, such as grades 1, 8 and 10.

In the past months, when schools announced that the applications for admission were open, the news about parents overnighting at prestigious and well-performing schools was heard from region to region. 

Parents were observed sleeping at the gates of schools the day before the issuing of the application forms. 

It was also alleged that some principals were kind enough to provide a classroom or a hall to protect those parents from the cold weather. 

As mentioned earlier, and since parents have the right to decide where their children can attend school, preference in school selection is a contributing factor in the admission of learners in schools. 

In the Khomas region, for instance, parents from other suburbs prefer their children to attend town schools, while parents from other regions prefer their children to attend Windhoek schools, regardless of which school, except for those who are familiar with specific Windhoek schools or have relatives in Windhoek to help them. 

Also, parents are moving their children from local schools to elsewhere with the belief that their children will receive a better education at those schools. 

This shows that these parents have little confidence in schools in their surroundings, even though the teachers may be graduates from the same institutions. 

As a result, schools in urban areas deal with extremely overcrowded classrooms, insufficient resources, as well as absenteeism and late coming due to transport issues. 

They establish platoon sessions (afternoon sessions), where learners are already exhausted from playing around in the streets in the morning.

Additionally, sometimes learners are being moved or transferred from schools without notice to the teachers and management of the schools of origin. 

This issue has implications for school statistics, since the learners who are moved from one school to another without proper communication between the two schools will be recorded twice at the school level and possibly at the national level. 

This can impact school resources negatively. 

In addition, the uncommunicated transfer of learners can affect young children, especially girls. 

Their relatives or guardians, who are supposed to take care of them, can use this opportunity to make them perform domestic work. 

The girls may become sexually abused by the people they look up to for assistance. 

Therefore, parents should fulfil their parental obligations to apply for admission of their children to avoid disappointment when schools reopen the following year. 

This is to ensure the safety of their children at all times and to be responsible for their well-being. 

MEIYSAC, the head office in particular, should ensure that the admission of learners in schools is done accordingly. 

The matter should not be left in the hands of the regional directorates alone. 

It must be treated as a national concern that needs the hands of all stakeholders to bring ideas together and assist the overwhelmed regions and schools to overcome the predicament of learner admissions.

*Hilya Nuunyango holds a Master of Education in Educational Management, Leadership and Policy from IUM. This article is written in her personal capacity as an educator. – mbendekan@gmail.com