In a hard-hitting statement, PSUN Secretary General Victor Kazonyati said that Namibia's educational standards had shown a "steady and consistent decline" over the last 18 years - not just at school level but at tertiary level as well.

"The way things stand it is surprising to hear that our students will now be admitted to pursue further studies at South African institutions of higher learning - given the poor and declining standards," Kazonyati said.

The Ministry of Education released the Grade 12 results yesterday.

They indicate that only around 3 256 students achieved an average C-Grade and thus qualified for admission to the University of Namibia or Polytechnic of Namibia.

They were the first group to write the newly introduced Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) ordinary level which replaced the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) of Cambridge International Examinations.

"The only things that have changed seem to be the names of the examining bodies - from International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) to Namibian Secondary School Certificate (NSSC) but quality wise, things have changed only for the worse, so what is there to have influenced the South African institutions to now admit our students," PSUN's Kazonyati said.

Kazonyati said the poor performances were also reflected at tertiary level with many employers lamenting the standard of graduates coming out of the country's tertiary institutions.

"Reports emanating from regional bodies such as SADC paint an uncompromisingly gloomy picture of the Namibian educational situation - placing us at the bottom end of the pecking order of national standards," PSUN said.

They said there were no tangible aims to reverse the situation.

"It is hardly reasonable to expect our tertiary institutions, for example, to nurture and produce glittering graduates beaming with well researched knowledge, and other academic accolades if the institutions at which they study are starved of funds by Government primarily.

Without money they cannot secure the necessary material and other resources to provide a sound education," PSUN said.

They said it was only incidental that they were critical of the declining educational standards in the country.

"We could have picked on any Ministry in the Government of the Republic of Namibia, and everything we have said about the Ministry of Education will be true, with respect to the others as well," the PSUN said.

Part of the blame for the poor performances had always been a lack of funds but PSUN said that excuse was "no longer tenable" because Namibia was rich.

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