Edmund Taaru
Education, in the broadest sense of the word, is the cycle of input-process-output, whereby it is not teaching per se but learning that is the measure of educational efficacy.
Wiles and Bondi (1993: 99) state that “the general scope and depth of an educational program can be best identified by reviewing the number and types of courses and special activities offered by individual schools”.
To achieve this, the school develops plans called “curriculum”, in which it tells us what will be learned, who will teach it, and who will learn it, among other things.
A curriculum is a learning plan (Marry, 2002: 31). Therefore, as per the Ministry of Education in Namibia, “National Curriculum for Basic education”, Basic education is sub-divided into four phases: Junior Primary (Pre-Primary and Grades 1-3), Senior Primary (Grades 4-7), Junior Secondary (Grades 8-9) and Senior Secondary (Grades 10- 12).
Accordingly, junior secondary students are, therefore, expected to indicate their intended subject specialisation when applying for admission to grades 10-12 among four options: applied sciences, languages, pure sciences, commercial, vocational, and humanity and social science.
In Grade 12, learners take their subjects on the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level, which is an admission requirement for enrolment at many universities in Southern Africa and abroad.
Thus, the newly introduced Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate –Ordinary level (NSSC-O) in which 46 977 full-time candidates who wrote last year’s examination, of whom 38 000 (81%) are unable to proceed to AS, has ignited debate in the Namibian educational system.
Surprisingly, according to part-time results released on Thursday, 11 March 2022, 28% of learners who sat for the NSSCO on a part-time basis are ungraded, with most of them having performed worse than they have in 2021.
This has left many Namibians, including myself, to have more questions than answers as to whether the newly introduced exam maintains acceptable standards, and provides and offers quality secondary education in Namibia as compared to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE), or it is another mediocracy.
What went wrong and who to blame?
It has been therefore made vividly clear that some factors on curriculum implementation and development, such as relevant stakeholders’ engagements – and most importantly, tertiary institutions, such as the University of Namibia (Unam), the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST), among others, were deliberately excluded during the formation and implementation stages of such curriculum 12 years ago.
This exclusion is also confirmed by Unam’s reluctance to admit learners who matriculated from Grade 11 through the new NSSCO curriculum, citing. among others, the underlying principles of its accreditation, credits and quality.
However, for monetary, competitive and political purposes, Unam, which is currently undergoing deep reforms, will therefore be forced to lower its entry grades to accommodate grade 11 matriculates, and subsequently downgrade its academic ranking, which may have short- and long-term effects as a result of incompetent educational managers at National Institute of Education Development (NIED).
This mediocre educational manager lacks effective planning and coordination, and it has dismally failed to consult relevant stakeholders – most importantly, tertiary institutions.
As a result, it is only students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who are severely affected by this poorly coordinated new curriculum since top government dignitaries will keep on enrolling their children at private schools for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education instead of their messed up NSSCO-AS.
This new curriculum does not even serve society well.
Teachers, especially old Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD) holders, are inadequately trained for the new teaching methods.
The way forward
The two years of the NSSC that extend from grades 10 and 11 should be revoked with immediate effect. Discussion pertaining to such examination shall start from the initial stage. All factors that influence the formation of a curriculum in-depth and examine just what it might mean, including relevant tertiary institutions, must be fully met.