The results from the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary and Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary exams were the worst in history, where more than 38 000 learners sat for the examinations and only over 5 000 of them passed. Failure in schools is a national issue that needs to be taken seriously by all parties involved. Many graduates are already roaming the streets as they cannot secure employment, and those who did not proceed to grade 12 or who did not meet the entry standards for higher educational institutions in 2023 are now also contributing to the problem. At the announcement of the NSSCO and NSSCAS results in Eenhana, the Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Anna Nghipondoka said most students failed because there wasn’t enough instruction in the classrooms. It is unexpected that the ministry is aware of the poor instruction taking place in the classrooms, and that no action has been taken to address the issue. The minister also mentioned other contributing factors such as the failure to fill all vacancies for principal and heads of department positions, as well as the failure to teach certain subjects in classrooms. However, in my opinion, filling positions for regular teachers also played a role in the failure rate because some of those positions were vacant. Namibia modified the secondary school curriculum, although it did not make any significant changes. But the decision-making body did not take into account stakeholder input, and teachers were not given enough time to properly understand the modified curriculum before it was distributed to them.
The ministry of education needs to adopt some strategies to achieve positive outcomes in public schools by 2023. Namibia revised its secondary education curriculum, but teachers were not well- prepared to implement the necessary supplemental adjustments.
In this situation, extra training should be offered. Social media comments claim that teacher absenteeism is high; and the ministry or inspectors should find a solution to reduce this issue. Parental involvement is crucial because education starts at home. Education inspectors should identify obstacles facing schools from the start, and these issues should be resolved quickly. Teachers should speak to parents about pupils’ conduct, and parents should regularly visit schools to ask teachers about their pupils’ performance.
Education counsellors or educational psychologists should be stationed in regional offices to constantly monitor the mental health of instructors and pupils, and identify loopholes. Prior to the start of the exams, principals should constantly keep track of how much of the curriculum the teachers had covered. A smaller class size so that teachers may focus on each pupil individually, would also be helpful.
The emphasis should now be on working together to identify solutions to guarantee that the educational system is put back on track. President Hage Geingob has pleaded with all parties involved in education to refrain from blaming one another for the dismal final-year test results.
Leonard Kanime is a social critic.