THE below 50 per cent pass rate for Grade 10s has become an annual ‘ritual’ and a ‘recipe for future unrest’, the Congress of Democrats charged yesterday.
Its Secretary General Tsudao Gurirab said in a media statement that it was long past time to continue harping on about the inequities of Bantu education in Namibia.
Government schools reopened in Namibia yesterday as the scramble for classrooms continued yet again.
Gurirab said children represent hope and the future and need to be taken care of.
‘Whilst the number of grade one learners continue to increase countrywide we remain concerned about the below 50 per cent pass rate for both grades 10 and 12. This has become almost the annual outcome and ritual,’ Gurirab said.
Last year only 17 869 (47,6 per cent) fulltime pupils of the 36 633 who wrote grade 10 exams managed to score the required 23 points or more and a minimum of an F grade in English to proceed to Grade 11.
That is 2 649 pupils more than in 2007, with about 2 500 part-time candidates expected to join them to bring the total pass rate to around 20 369.
The number of those who passed the exams was the highest yet, but that was because there was a record entry of 36 633 fulltime pupils because of the repeaters who were able to return to formal school last year.
The CoD said they want the Ministry to give an opportunity to acquire a skill to become productive members of the community to those who failed Grade 10 last year.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
