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Home / Opinion - Improving the passing rate in secondary schools

Opinion - Improving the passing rate in secondary schools

2022-05-13  Prof Makala Lilemba

Opinion - Improving the passing rate in secondary schools

It is a fact that the Namibian education system has not been performing at the senior secondary level as expected for some years now. The main cause of the high rate has been English – and to some extent Mathematics and other science subjects. 

This is quite strange because one would think that after independence in 1990, the education system should have done better. 

Some of us who went through the so-called Bantu education are surprised if not shocked because we were made to believe by the nationalists then that if they take over the country, everything would be superb, including the quality of education. 

Comparatively speaking, our Bantu education delivered on promises than the liberated education system. 

Whether one disagrees or not, it is fact that the former system performed better where the whole class could pass the final year examination. 

Compare with a situation where, in some cases, only five learners pass in a class of seventy. Let us face it – does that augur well for the nation? 

Yes, Bantu education was bad in terms of racial discrimination, but it produced the nation’s elite today and others who occupy high offices in the land. Where did the promises of better and quality education end up when our children are failing like this? 

One disturbing issue is the silence from the power that be in terms of ways and means of improving the pass rate. As the failing tempo is high, maybe one could analyse some of the points to see if they could be of any use in trying to improve the pass rate in this country.

This is important if, indeed, we want to make changes to the performance of learners. Yes, some teachers may love the subjects they are teaching, but they should go the extra mile if the learners seem not to be performing as expected. 

This might be enormous, but it is the reason they are trained as professionals. If learners keep on failing the same subject year in, year out, adjustments should surely be made by removing the teacher from teaching that subject. 

That could be a difficult task and decision to make by the principal – but for the sake of learners, it needs to be done.

Learners cannot perform very well if they do not study; there are no two ways about it.

 Unfortunately, many schools have adopted a leadership system or policy of laissez-faire, where learners by liberalising the atmosphere in which learners do not take their studies seriously.

 Whether the teacher loves books, magazines or graphic novels, let your child see you reading and studying extensively. Kids learn from what they observe – and if the teacher is excited about reading, learners are highly likely to catch the enthusiasm of the teacher.

There cannot be any effective learning if the atmosphere is not conducive for learning. 

There has been a song all along since the dawn of independence of ‘twamanguluka’, which should see the reality and meaning of freedom without accountability.  

Namibia is free but there is democracy without responsibility, which unfortunately blinds our political leaders and learner. 

We should know that Namibia was not the only country that was colonised, but many African countries went through the same colonial process – maybe in some cases even worse than us. 

These countries have adopted the policy of education with discipline, where learners are expected to strictly adhere to rules and regulations in schools. 

One thing the educational authorities and teachers tend to ignore is the state of our learners. 

Whereas the learners are presented to us, little or perhaps nothing is done in terms of remedial exercises for the learners. 

Although many learners are being catered for in terms of resources, some of them may be struggling with their studies. 

It is, therefore, important that the educational authorities should be conducting regular assessments in finding out whether our learners are in a good state of mind. 

There could be issues that could be troubling the learners and, in the process, making them lose concentration. 

Good teachers will make sure their learners do summaries for all subjects – be it Biology, Geography or English. 

In the process of summarising, the learner will kill two birds with one stone by comprehending what is being summarised and simultaneously learning the meaning and spelling of the words. 

With revision, learners will always get the opportunity of reading the work over and over, which will ultimately make the work for the learner easier and passable. 

Revision is when learners have the opportunity to look back at their texts and reorganise ideas, add, change or remove sentences, and adapt their choice of words to make sure the ideas are being conveyed clearly. 

Feedback has an essential role in this stage. 

It can be provided by the teacher or by peers, as learners can exchange drafts and comment on one another’s work – and in the process learn to comprehend the subject matter.


2022-05-13  Prof Makala Lilemba

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