WINDHOEK – The Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol) has dispelled public perceptions that it has failed to improve Grade 12 learners’ results and that it worsens the jobless crisis by dumping out-of-school youth onto the streets by their thousands.
Namcol critics are concerned that Namcol which is mandated by government to provide educational opportunities for adults and out-of-school youths is not meeting its obligation to improve results as many learners at such centres are not progressing in their subjects. In an interview with New Era Namcol Director, Heroldt Murangi on Friday dismissed such allegations saying their students are in fact improving their results. “People must not just talk without analysis. They must get hold of students who come straight from school and see their results after they register with Namcol. Namcol is not the one failing these students, it is the schools. My Grade 12 learners performed well last year compared to 2012,” he said. Murangi based his argument of the results of the Grade 12 part-time candidates of 2013 compared to 2012, which showed a definite improvement. He said in 2012 alone, Namcol graded 81.7 percent of learners, which improved to 82.1 percent last year. “I had my Grade 12 D grade and above of 19.6 percent in 2012 and it moved up to 21.3 percent, which is an improvement.
With the C grade, we had 7.9 percent in 2012 and it improved to 8.2 percent last year. So if you compare Grade 12 part-time candidates for 2012 to 2013, there is improvement compared to the full-time candidates. I believe schools should perform better than Namcol, they have better teaching materials such as laboratories. I am personally happy with our Grade 10 and 12 results,” he said. A total of 42 861 full- and part-time candidates were registered last year at 171 full-time and 117 part-time examination centres. This number comprised of 19 501 full-time and 23 360 part-time candidates. More than two thirds (21 407) of the part-time candidates were registered with Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol), while a total of 1 953 were registered with other private education providers approved and recognised by the education ministry. Further, he said since more than 12 000 full-time students did not make it for tertiary admission, Namcol is expected to enrol close to 25 000 countrywide, including those out-of-school-youth and adults who already sat for Namcol examinations last year, but did not improve their subjects. “People must take into consideration that this figure of the expected 25 000 candidates is huge, which will complicate our task,” he said.
Namcol enrolment starts today nationally. In a related development the Minister of Education, Dr David Namwandi has implored all the 2013 Grade 12 candidates who did not qualify for admission to tertiary institutions not to give up hope as there are other alternative routes to pursue their studies. Namcol is a state-funded educational institution established by Act of Parliament (Act 1 Of 1997). Namcol’s core business has traditionally been its programme of Alternative Secondary Education (ASE), which enables those who cannot or do not wish to attend formal schools to study for either the Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC or Grade 10 or the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), currently called the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) or Grade 12.
By Albertina Nakale