Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, is in Zimbabwe attending the SADC High-Level Ministerial Round Table Dialogue on foundational literacy and numeracy, which kicked off today.
Namibia presented its experience with the rollout of Jolly Phonics, a science of reading-based programme that has helped improve reading abilities among learners across the country.
“Unlike most innovations in education, which are either driven by national education ministries or international donors, the Namibian experience suggests that the initiation can come from innovators in the middle tier of government,” Steenkamp says.
She says that Namibia is noted as a leader in Africa for its national progression from Jolly Phonics to Jolly Grammar.
She also highlighted that the national rollout of Jolly Phonics was sparked by a regional education director who recognised the deep challenges facing young learners in acquiring reading skills.
Initially rolled out to Grade 1 teachers across all government schools, the program benefited approximately 1,023 schools, 2,665 teachers, and over 90,000 pupils.
This phase focused on teaching foundational phonics skills like letter-sounds, blending, and segmenting.
“The most recent phase focused on 2,678 Grade 3 teachers and 225 HoDs, ensuring a smooth progression and strengthening sustainability through continued HoD capacity building. The MoEAC committed budgets of over N$1.9 million for training and over N$2.1 million for materials,” says the minister.
The dialogue brings together SADC ministers to share strategies for strengthening foundational learning across the region.
