Edward Mumbuu Jnr
Former education ministers are on a warpath about the conundrum created by the new education curriculum, which has seen thousands of learners dumped on the streets, and their academic futures in disarray.
Nahas Angula says his successors tampered with the sacred industry when it was not necessary.
Opposing is Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, the erstwhile Cabinet minister who presided over the education portfolio when the curriculum review was in its infancy.
She inherited the ministry from David Namwandi.
Genesis
In 2011, then education mister, the late Abraham Iyambo, hosted an education indaba to, among others, review the curriculum.
“Now we have spoken. Let it be action. Action. And action,” is an Iyambo catchphrase that echoes.
His then lieutenant Namwandi served briefly in the role, following Iyambo’s death in 2013.
The conference cost taxpayers N$7 million.
Rrevelations
A decade down the line, the implemented education curriculum leaves much to be desired.
This year alone, about 80% of the grade 11s did not meet the requirements to advance to grade 12, also known as Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level. They have been pushed to the streets after not meeting entry requirements for local universities, and have been encouraged to pursue technical fields.
Some are between a rock and a hard place as they are unable to repeat the grade on a full-time basis due to age.
‘Godfather’
Angula laid the bedrock for Namibia’s education. He transformed the sector from what was inherited from apartheid South Africa, overseeing the country’s first curriculum review and its subsequent implementation.
“Unfortunately, every new minister wants to change things all the time for whatever reasons,” he said.
After leaving the portfolio, he always cautioned his successors to handle education with special care, he added.
“During the education conference the late Dr Iyambo organised, I made a formal statement, cautioning that there is nothing wrong with the structure of the education system. What needs to be done is to focus on how to improve quality,” he said.
This depends on a range of issues: improving the learning environment, equitable supply of educational materials, sufficient budgetary allocation, decent school management and teacher competency.
His plea fell on deaf ears, he said, defending the previous curriculum and stating that it was benchmarked with other Commonwealth jurisdictions.
“That’s why we switched to Cambridge from the Cape matric system, which only catered for those with resources. We were keen on mass education. Not the elite route,” he reiterated.
While Angula attempts to vindicate himself from the current educational quagmire, things began falling apart under his reign, it is held.
A mass exodus of Grade 10 dropouts ensued, with the subsequent introduction of the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) in 1997 recording limited success. Many casualties, now in their late 40s, are without jobs or education, critics note.
Still, more people highlight that the investment in education, including Namcol, leaves much to be desired when juxtaposed against resources invested over the years.
Beyond reproach
For its chief implementer, the curriculum is near- perfect.
“It’s a very good review because it has upscaled the standards of education,” Hanse-Himarwa contended.
The outspoken politician is perplexed by the fuss around the curriculum.
“This is the fifth time it is being reviewed,” she said, noting that education must continuously evolve.
At independence, the new government made a profound mistake, she said. “We threw away the baby with the bathwater. Maybe we were fed-up with the South African apartheid regime and thought everything they did was to be thrown away… but as we moved on, we realised that we made a mistake.”
Government turned a blind eye to technical and vocational education, and schools that were equipped to transmit the same.
“At that education conference, it was strongly [recommended] that technical subjects must be re-introduced. It became a resolution that a review of the curriculum is needed. Another outcry was the general standard of education,” she said.
Angula agreed.
Hanse-Himarwa downplayed assertions that the implementation of the new curriculum was rushed, saying it was done phase by phase.
Catch-22
With the abolishment of the grade 10 certificate came mayhem, Angula said, as it was the highest grade at all combined schools.
“This pressurised the ministry to add grade 11 to combined schools,” Angula pointed out.
The scenario resulted in another dilemma: “Teachers at combined schools were trained to teach up to grade 10, not up to Grade 11. This means the quality of teaching dropped.”
“They are saying people should go to Namcol, but that institution was not structured for that [grade 11 failures]. Namcol was structured to cater for those who do not perform well at junior secondary certificate level.”
AS level dilemma
The introduction of the AS level has caused a stir in education circles. Some say it is a waste of resources and time, while others say it is discriminatory.
For Hanse-Himarwa, who is a teacher by training, grade 11 is the new matric.
“Grade 11 is now an exit grade for those learners who are taking ordinary level subjects at formal schooling level, and can be accepted at any university,” she stated.
She added: “I would term grade 11 as the former grade 12 O-level because at ordinary level grade 12, you can exit there. I want to term the AS, advanced subsidiary, the higher level.”
She shrugged off the discriminatory tag: “[AS] may be the gifted learners or the hard workers who want to go into specific professional fields,” she said.
Budget-specific
The former Hardap governor pointed to two major stumbling blocks to the curriculum’s implementation: inadequate resources and a lack of information.
To address this, the government must avail a budget specifically for the curriculum’s roll-out. With the new curriculum came the need for specialised teachers, materials, additional classrooms and technical facilities.
On the information front, she proposed another conference, where all education stakeholders will converge to place everyone on an equal pedestal.
Economic squeeze
The economic downturn was further worsened by the advent of Covid-19, adding strain to the government’s limited resources and making it difficult for it to honour its financial obligations.
This year, the ministry received N$14 billion from treasury. About 80% of this goes into salaries.
Education minister Anna Nghipondoka has had to bear the brunt and criticism of opposition politicians.
Her counterpart, higher education minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi, has not been spared either.
Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi recently chastised the two ministers in Parliament.
“They are forever sleeping or absent… These two ministers have no clue. Let’s go back to the drawing board and fix this mess that you created.”
Kandjii-Murangi did not take this lightly.
“You are incompetent yourself. Don’t think you know everything. Who do you think you are? Shut up!” she retorted.
Incumbent Anna Nghipondoka, who has come under fire in recent times, has put up a brave face, as if to say everything’s under control.
“They (learners) still qualify with C or B in English and enrol at other higher institutions… the children are not thrown onto the streets and they are not failing. Those not meeting requirements have other options.”
– Nampa