Opposition parties slam Namibia’s ‘concerning’ 25-point exam pass benchmark as failure rates remain high

Opposition parties have raised concerns over last year’s national Grade 11 and 12 examination results, citing a “concerning” performance benchmark and a high failure rate, despite slight improvement.

While the nation is celebrating the higher pass rate for Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary and Advanced Subsidiary level, the Independent Patriots for Change is questioning the ministry’s 25-point benchmark for five subjects.

Official opposition leader Imms Nashinge says this benchmark is of concern, as many pupils continue to perform below expectation.

Nashinge was responding to yesterday’s announcement of the results.

Minister of education, innovation, youth, sport, arts and culture Sanet Steenkamp yesterday said the ministry has adopted a 25-point benchmark for passing in 2025 – up from 20 points in 2024.

“While the direction is encouraging, we must contextualise these figures. A benchmark of 25 points remains concerning, as it highlights the fact that a significant proportion of pupils are still scoring far below a passing grade,” Nashinge said yesterday

This highlights the need for continued focus on foundational skills, especially regarding underperforming subjects and schools, he said.

Nashinge said the improvement in candidates achieving a combined 25 points or more is a positive indication.

This has risen from 34% to 40%, while the percentage of candidates attaining a combined 20 points is up from 53% to 60%.

“This suggests that targeted interventions, teacher efforts, and pupil resilience are yielding gradual gains. The rise in the number of pupils qualifying for Grade 12 from 12 000 to over 13 000 also reflects an expanding cohort prepared for advanced study,” he said.

Nashinge praised the Kavango East, Oshikoto, and Khomas regions, but said this also invites reflection on why other regions had failed to improve.

He said equitable resource distribution and region-specific strategies must be prioritised to ensure no pupil is left behind.

Nashinge said these results should encourage discussion on curriculum relevance, teaching methods, resource deployment and pupil support.

“The instability from a policy perspective is also disruptive. We salute and celebrate the educators and learners whose dedication made this improvement possible,” he said.

Nashinge said the results should reinforce a collective commitment to a more robust, inclusive, and high-quality education system which measures success in terms of holistic development and readiness for future challenges.

Landless People’s Movement spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa yesterday said the ministry’s statement remains unclear on the failure rate, especially regarding the Advanced Subsidiary failure rate.

“We can only hope that the trend does not shift too far from previous results,” Simataa said.

With only 13 921 candidates able to progress to AS level out of 81 511, he said the ministry is constantly providing results indicating that significantly fewer than half of the pupils who wrote exams get to move forward.

“Each year we get results that are roughly in the same ball park, but no major announcements on how we are improving the situation. We hope the government has taken note of this trend and ensured clearly marked avenues for students to access second opportunities,” Simataa said.

He said young people’s mental well-being should be ensured during this major crossover in their lives.

“We need to pull together as a community to ensure students know failure is not the end and that they can still strive for success and access second opportunities,” Simataa said.

He questioned how the government would ensure quality education given its free tertiary education initiative.

This especially when most of the education budget is spent on salaries, while pupils are being taught under trees and schools depend on parents’ “voluntary contributions”.

IMPROVED

Former Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Maximalliant Katjimune yesterday said: “Inasmuch as we are not where we want to be in terms of the pass rate, we have to applaud the class of 2025 on their improved results compared to those of 2024”.

This demonstrates that the country would slowly but surely attain the results it wants with the right strategy and determination.

Katjimune said it was pleasing to see that predominantly black and rural schools were also performing exceptionally well, with A Shipena Secondary School, Epukiro Secondary School and three other rural high schools featuring among the top performers.

“It is now our collective duty to ensure that each and every pupil who qualifies for university and technical and vocational education and training is admitted, and that those who do not make it are adequately supported through institutions such as the Namibian College of Open Learning.”

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