WINDHOEK – The Teachers’ Union of Namibia (TUN) says most teachers are not qualified nor prepared to teach the new revised national curriculum that the government started implementing five years ago. This is according to the union’s secretary-general Mahongora Kavihuha.
Although the revised national curriculum was implemented in 2015, Kavihuha says the education system was not prepared to implement the new changes in the curriculum.
“The curriculum has changed but it is the same teachers who are teaching who were not given the proper in-service training in the new curriculum. Government failed to give a budget for a refresher course for the teachers,” Kavihuha charged at a media briefing this week.
“At the end of the day when the learners fail and there is a high failure rate, all blame will be placed on the teachers who were not trained to teach the new curriculum,” Kavihuha says.
In his remarks, Kavihuha also touched on the issue of the alarming and increasing number of unemployed teachers. As of 2018, over 500 qualified teachers were roaming the streets without jobs.
He attributes the high unemployment rate in the teaching profession to the inefficiency of the Teaching Service Committee in terms of expediting appointments, promotion and transfer of teachers and other personnel in the education system.
“It has now become obvious to the Teachers’ Union of Namibia that no proper needs assessment research is conducted either by the ministry or by our institutions of higher learning,” said Kavihuha.
TUN is demanding that a fully-fledged research be conducted to determine how many teachers will be needed in this decade – what fields or subjects of study.
“It will also be very important that such a study or research focuses squarely on the subject of vocational training, especially in light of the importance placed on it in the revised national curriculum and throughout the whole spectrum of the basic education system,” noted Kavihuha.