Namibia’s educational crisis: 7 in 10 children cannot read or do maths

Seven out of 10 children in Namibia cannot read or do basic maths at the age of 10, education minister Sanet Steenkamp has revealed.

Steenkamp told The Namibian that the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture discovered this following a local assessment on the situation in Namibia after discovering that nine out of 10 children in Africa cannot read or do basic maths.

“It is nothing to be proud of. And, therefore, we have said we want to diagnose the issue. We did a diagnostic assessment of Grade 3. And we are now busy again with another one.”

The ministry recently revealed that only 28% of Grade 3 pupils passed the 40% literacy benchmark in 2024, while just 3% scored above 75%.

Steenkamp notes that in numeracy, only 5% reached the 75% benchmark.

She also revealed that the repetition rates recorded in 2023, which stood at 17.2% in Grade 1, 19% in Grade 4, and 21.9% in Grade 8, signal that many pupils are in school but not learning effectively.

Steenkamp says the situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In 2020, Grade 6 pupils, who are now in Grade 11, were already at a disadvantage.

Why? Because they followed a cohort system where some of them did not go to school the whole year.

We are sitting with a cohort in Grade 11 that has had a backlog since Grade 6 and Grade 7 because of Covid-19,” she says.

Part of the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary curriculum, Grade 11 marks the end of the first phase of senior secondary education, after which pupils can either proceed to Grade 12 or seek employment.

Some universities such as the Namibia University of Science and Technology accept students who have completed Grade 11 for undergraduate studies.

MILLIONS INVESTED

The ministry in a bid to amend the situation, this year budgeted N$89 million for the professional development and in-service training of its teachers in various subjects.

“The advanced subsidiary subjects, four subjects in particular, three of them are mathematics, physics, physical science and chemistry. And then of course, English. And then the other subjects across the curriculum were also allocated some funding,” Steenkamp says.

SING AT HOME

The minister urges parents to invest more time into their children’s education, stating that the country needs to return to the basics.

“Singing, talking, reading needs to start in the house. It’s the parents, the first caregivers, the first educators, the first teachers. So that must start at home. The school is only an extension,” she says.

Steenkamp argues that schools cannot be blamed for young children coming to schools lacking foundational skills.

“If a child already comes with a backlog to school, or a child already comes to school who’s not in an early childhood development centre, or a child who comes to school who’s never been to pre-primary, it’s going to be problematic.

But that is why we now invest extensively in the continuous professional development of our teachers,” she says.

Former principal Dennis Fredericks says there is a need to build a culture of collective responsibility where schools become centres of excellence, principals provide bold leadership, teachers are empowered and parents are actively involved.

“The foundational years of learning must be protected, strengthened and monitored with urgency if we are to reverse this trend and build a future where all Namibian children can read, reason and rise,” he says.

Fredericks adds that this crisis should be addressed by expanding access to quality early childhood development services, especially in rural and underserved areas.

He says parents should also start promoting the culture of reading and numeracy at home.

“[We should be] investing in continuous professional development for teachers, with practical training in effective literacy and numeracy instruction, building strong school-community partnerships where parents and teachers collaborate closely in support of pupil development, strengthening leadership and accountability at the school level to ensure the main business, teaching and learning, remains the central focus,” he says.

TEACHING IN ENGLISH A DISADVANTAGE

Meanwhile, applied language and literacy studies expert Rhodes Muyunda says the use of English, which is only spoken by 3.4% of Namibians as a first language, as a medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards is the cause of such poor performance.

He adds that what further exacerbates the situation is that from Grade 3 and downwards, pupils are not properly taught in their mother tongues as they are supposed to be.

“In practice, English is frequently used, even in the early grades. Moreover, although many Namibian pupils are bilingual or multilingual, the education system largely relies on Western-centric models that often disregard the linguistic and cultural diversity of the pupil population.

“These Western models fail to align with local linguistic realities, making it difficult for pupils to fully grasp complex concepts, identify key terminology and engage confidently in the learning process.

This can lead to reduced motivation, a weakened sense of identity and, ultimately, poor academic performance,” he says.

Muyunda suggests a fundamental re-evaluation of the curriculum, whereby he says to decolonise it and integrate African languages across all subjects and education levels.

“This would help bridge the gap between pupils’ linguistic backgrounds and the language of instruction, making learning more accessible and inclusive.

One promising strategy is trans-language, whereby they must incorporate pupils’ home languages alongside English,” he says.

Educator Andreas Robert told The Namibian that, similarly, the language of instruction should be reconsidered, saying that he once encountered Grade 11 boys in the Omaheke region who could not express themselves in English properly, yet they are expected to write English examinations.

“This is a foundational issue. The use of mother tongue in early grades might help in some contexts, but it clearly isn’t working everywhere. We must be flexible and data-driven,” he says.

He adds that many teachers lack motivation not because they are incapable, but because they work under leadership that is disengaged.

He implores inspectors and education directors to get out of their offices and be present in schools.
“A national pupil assessment tool is urgently needed.

Teachers alone cannot assess learning outcomes; there must be independent, standardised evaluations that track real progress.

Our education reforms must be gender-balanced. I support girl empowerment fully, but we cannot keep ignoring the widening gap for boys.

This imbalance is dangerous and will have long-term consequences for our nation,” he says.

Desert View Private School founder Kim Koch says pupil overcrowding challenges experienced in government schools make it difficult for struggling pupils to receive necessary one-on-one attention.

“As a result, they end up falling behind and fail the grade, especially in the foundation phases from grades 0 to 3.

The school calendar being split into two terms is also a contributing factor, as pupils are expected to learn a high volume of work.

“The chances of pupils failing are also high because if they do not perform well in the first term, then they most probably will fail in the second,” she says.

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