Grade 10 decree ‘fails nation’

THE Namibia National Teachers’ Union says the Government’s decision to allow last year’s Grade 10 failures back to formal school “is creating future problems that they would not be able in a position to handle”.

Nantu Secretary General Basilius Haingura told a media briefing in Windhoek on Friday that there was nothing special about last year’s failures and that the Ministry of Education had to look at the issue holistically. “The planning should include the provision of infrastructure that will be determined by the Ministry’s needs, assess the implications of the decision on a long-term provision of education as well as the impact of alternative systems such as Namcol on education,” Haingura said.He said last year’s failure rate was not significantly different to previous years and there was “no justification whatsoever” in terms of law or ministerial policy that would substantiate why the pupils who had failed in 2005 or 2006 could not repeat Grade 10 also.”Nantu fears that the policy that only Grade 10s who failed in 2007 should repeat could be discriminatory.The Ministry will be forced to explain why only those Grade 10 learners who failed last year may repeat while the same right is not extended to the students of previous years,” Haingura said.Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba announced on Thursday that the Government had set aside N$340 million to allow last year’s failures to return to the classroom.However, Nantu said the decision was short-sighted.”We are afraid that the Ministry is creating future problems that they would not be in a position to handle.We need to plan how access to secondary education in terms of adequate infrastructure will be addressed next year in view of the numbers of learners who could pass Grade 10 in 2008,” Haingura said.He said the high failure rate in Grades 10 and 12 was symptomatic of broader problems in the education system which needed a critical and objective analysis.These included policies such as automatic promotion, resource allocation and the quality of the teacher-training programmes.He said many schools, especially in rural areas, lacked basic teaching materials with parents and guardians increasingly getting requests to contribute.While there was a need to improve the standards in rural areas, the Ministry had failed to attract qualified teachers because of a lack of basic needs such as proper housing and other incentives, he said.”Nantu is convinced that issues of urban and rural divide will continue if the issues are not addressed urgently,” Haingura said.”The planning should include the provision of infrastructure that will be determined by the Ministry’s needs, assess the implications of the decision on a long-term provision of education as well as the impact of alternative systems such as Namcol on education,” Haingura said.He said last year’s failure rate was not significantly different to previous years and there was “no justification whatsoever” in terms of law or ministerial policy that would substantiate why the pupils who had failed in 2005 or 2006 could not repeat Grade 10 also.”Nantu fears that the policy that only Grade 10s who failed in 2007 should repeat could be discriminatory.The Ministry will be forced to explain why only those Grade 10 learners who failed last year may repeat while the same right is not extended to the students of previous years,” Haingura said. Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba announced on Thursday that the Government had set aside N$340 million to allow last year’s failures to return to the classroom.However, Nantu said the decision was short-sighted.”We are afraid that the Ministry is creating future problems that they would not be in a position to handle.We need to plan how access to secondary education in terms of adequate infrastructure will be addressed next year in view of the numbers of learners who could pass Grade 10 in 2008,” Haingura said.He said the high failure rate in Grades 10 and 12 was symptomatic of broader problems in the education system which needed a critical and objective analysis.These included policies such as automatic promotion, resource allocation and the quality of the teacher-training programmes.He said many schools, especially in rural areas, lacked basic teaching materials with parents and guardians increasingly getting requests to contribute.While there was a need to improve the standards in rural areas, the Ministry had failed to attract qualified teachers because of a lack of basic needs such as proper housing and other incentives, he said.”Nantu is convinced that issues of urban and rural divide will continue if the issues are not addressed urgently,” Haingura said.