Nanso disappointed with Grade 10 results

THE Namibia National Students’ Organisation (Nanso) has expressed disappointment over last year’s Junior Secondary Certificate results.

Neville Andre, Nanso’s Secretary General, said there was no way the organisation could be proud of a below 50 per cent pass rate “unless the system has been designed deliberately to produce a mass exodus of unskilled young labour amounting to nothing less than exploitation in the end”. Only 13 143 of the 30 059 pupils from 488 schools who wrote last year’s Junior Secondary Certificate exams managed to score the required 23 points or more and a minimum F grade in English to proceed to Grade 11.Candidates should ideally obtain at least 27 points which, on average, would be a grade between C and D.The remaining 16 143 failed and their only option now is part-time classes with the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) and vocational training centres.Since the introduction of the Cambridge Education System in Namibian schools in 1993, there has never been a pass rate over 50 per cent.It was, however, the highest percentage of graded pupils obtained since the introduction of the system.Andre said there was a need to re-evaluate the education system, which for far too long has been getting the biggest chunk of Government’s budget allocation.Nanso called on the Ministry of Education to convene a national consultative conference to come up with solutions for the poor results of Grades 10 and 12.The student body said the automatic promotion of pupils in lower grades was partly to blame for the low pass rate.Pupils who fail a grade twice get automatic promotion.”Education is a process and when we jump a certain level in a process, we are not aiming for quality education.When learners are promoted to the next grade after failing a grade, this leads to the problem of Grade 10s not being able to pass to Grade 11,” Andre said.Nanso want schools to introduce special classes and the extension of teachers’ working hours from 08h00 to 16h00 instead of 14h00.The student union bemoaned the huge gap between rural and urban schools, claiming that better-qualified teachers flock to towns while infrastructure improvement in rural areas was also sluggish.Nanso called on pupils to take education seriously and parents to get more involved in the education of their children.On its part, Nanso says it will use 2006 to strengthen student unity and contribute towards the improvement of education.Only 13 143 of the 30 059 pupils from 488 schools who wrote last year’s Junior Secondary Certificate exams managed to score the required 23 points or more and a minimum F grade in English to proceed to Grade 11.Candidates should ideally obtain at least 27 points which, on average, would be a grade between C and D.The remaining 16 143 failed and their only option now is part-time classes with the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) and vocational training centres.Since the introduction of the Cambridge Education System in Namibian schools in 1993, there has never been a pass rate over 50 per cent.It was, however, the highest percentage of graded pupils obtained since the introduction of the system.Andre said there was a need to re-evaluate the education system, which for far too long has been getting the biggest chunk of Government’s budget allocation.Nanso called on the Ministry of Education to convene a national consultative conference to come up with solutions for the poor results of Grades 10 and 12.The student body said the automatic promotion of pupils in lower grades was partly to blame for the low pass rate.Pupils who fail a grade twice get automatic promotion.”Education is a process and when we jump a certain level in a process, we are not aiming for quality education.When learners are promoted to the next grade after failing a grade, this leads to the problem of Grade 10s not being able to pass to Grade 11,” Andre said.Nanso want schools to introduce special classes and the extension of teachers’ working hours from 08h00 to 16h00 instead of 14h00.The student union bemoaned the huge gap between rural and urban schools, claiming that better-qualified teachers flock to towns while infrastructure improvement in rural areas was also sluggish.Nanso called on pupils to take education seriously and parents to get more involved in the education of their children.On its part, Nanso says it will use 2006 to strengthen student unity and contribute towards the improvement of education.