Cambridge not the problem

PARLIAMENTARIANS yesterday agreed that the Cambridge system cannot be blamed for the state of Namibia’s education system, and in a show of how critical things have become, almost completely set aside their party differences to search for solutions.

The curriculum used in Grades one to ten was in fact designed by Namibian teachers and other experts, while the Cambridge system only comes into play during the last two years of secondary school, MPs heard. “Most people don’t know who or what to blame and therefore they start to generalise,” the Monitor Action Group’s Jurie Viljoen said.Viljoen said that to change Namibia’s education system as suggested by the Teachers’ Union of Namibia, among others, would cost the country millions of dollars.The curriculum would have to be changed, textbooks replaced, examination procedures adapted and in-service training offered to familiarise teachers with the incoming system.”Let’s change the attitude of our parents, our learners, the unions and our lawmakers and tackle the real problems,” Viljoen said.Two of these problems, the Congress of Democrats’ Nora Schimming-Chase affirmed, are the manner in which English is taught, and the neglect of pre-primary education.”The municipality would never allow you to build a house without laying a foundation first,” she said.”But we send children to primary school without laying the proper foundation.Pre-primary education is in the hands of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.Neither gender equality nor child welfare has anything to do with education.”She said children needed to be mentally stimulated from an early age, as research had proven lack of stimulation could negatively affect their mental growth.She called on fellow MPs to support the idea of a National Congress which would call in specialists to suggest the way forward.Prime Minister Nahas Angula also defended the Cambridge system, saying that those disputing its standing should do their homework before criticising the system.”The benefit of the Cambridge system is that you compare our learners with those in Asia, in Europe and elsewhere,” he said.Angula said teachers needed to be taught to come to grips with various social factors present in their classrooms.”Most people don’t know who or what to blame and therefore they start to generalise,” the Monitor Action Group’s Jurie Viljoen said.Viljoen said that to change Namibia’s education system as suggested by the Teachers’ Union of Namibia, among others, would cost the country millions of dollars.The curriculum would have to be changed, textbooks replaced, examination procedures adapted and in-service training offered to familiarise teachers with the incoming system.”Let’s change the attitude of our parents, our learners, the unions and our lawmakers and tackle the real problems,” Viljoen said. Two of these problems, the Congress of Democrats’ Nora Schimming-Chase affirmed, are the manner in which English is taught, and the neglect of pre-primary education.”The municipality would never allow you to build a house without laying a foundation first,” she said.”But we send children to primary school without laying the proper foundation.Pre-primary education is in the hands of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.Neither gender equality nor child welfare has anything to do with education.”She said children needed to be mentally stimulated from an early age, as research had proven lack of stimulation could negatively affect their mental growth.She called on fellow MPs to support the idea of a National Congress which would call in specialists to suggest the way forward.Prime Minister Nahas Angula also defended the Cambridge system, saying that those disputing its standing should do their homework before criticising the system.”The benefit of the Cambridge system is that you compare our learners with those in Asia, in Europe and elsewhere,” he said.Angula said teachers needed to be taught to come to grips with various social factors present in their classrooms.