AS the process for the Millennium Challenge Grant (MCG) application draws to a close, I would like to make two modest suggestions that may well target some first steps on the right path.
The Nantu Congress has just supported the Ministry of Education’s notion of “comprehensive schools” as the way forward. Similarly, the Prime Minister at the recent Science Fair once again emphasised his belief in the path of science to realise the development dreams of Namibians.I would like to propose some specific first steps to jump-start the process for the betterment of education opportunities for Namibia’s children.First, to set the development context, some comments are in order on the existing visionary development strategy, which places such a high emphasis on education and primary health care (human capital) as the foundation for long-term development in Namibia.This is necessary from the point of view of equity, restorative justice, and development.Everything that we know about development emphasises the importance of human capital and the role that spreading education has for growth.All of the target economies that we are trying to use as models, from the small Asian tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore) to Mauritius, Barbados, Costa Rica and others, reached very high levels of effective literacy before they were able to launch accelerated growth paths.The most cost effective and productive strategies wisely stress primary schooling and gender equality.This should continue to be our path, too.Current Shortcomings However, for several years now there has been a partly misplaced generalised emphasis on science and math and a somewhat reversed spending priority.Why do I say this? Sweeping calls for all glory to science and mathematics have two negative impacts: first, they dismiss and demoralise everyone else – researchers, students, and teachers, who are made to feel they are not important; and secondly, such calls send large numbers of pupils and students hurling off in the wrong direction to failure and disappointment.For some this failure is because their talents are not well suited to their path, and others fail because the math/science path has not yet been well prepared for them.For example, the pass rates for entry-level mathematics at tertiary institutions is dismal and completion rates in science fields hover between twenty and thirty per cent.After all the speeches and all the money expended (tens of millions of dollars in tertiary infrastructure alone), the results remain paltry, especially compared to our planning goals and economic growth needs.The Planning Commission’s own research suggests a shortfall of hundreds of engineers, while university science graduates lag earlier estimates.Admittedly, there are many successful and hardworking people in the field, and the MATSEP programme and other efforts may eventually bear fruit.However, the point remains that the current results fall far short of the ideals reiterated in the speeches of our leaders and the needs envisioned by Vision 2030, Human Resources Report, and other planning documents.Still short by far.The problem at present is that the emphasis (other than MATSEP) has been to expect high levels of spending at tertiary level to solve the problem.Expensive science, health and engineering programmes are already established or planned for at the Polytechnic, Unam and the Northern Campus of Unam.Unfortunately, what we have done is analogous to installing gold-plated taps when there is no water in the pipes! The question we need to ask is: Where will we find well-prepared students for all of these tertiary programmes? We know from a lot of experience in education that we need to start earlier to have success at the end of the process (pre-school, or in America Project Head Start, is one successful example).But these are long-term solutions.Comprehensive schools as advocated by the Education Ministry and the Nantu Congress might help, but they too will take some time to bear fruit, as will the general improvements from ETSIP.Therefore, what is needed is a first step to accelerate the process.Specialisation at Secondary Level I propose to jump-start this process by creating three “Specialised Science and Mathematics Senior Secondary Schools” (North, Centre and South) to speed the flow of better qualified students into the existing tertiary institutions.English language mastery will also be a priority for success in these schools.Such specialised schools are less expensive than the N$50 million cost of comprehensive schools over five years, quicker to get under way, and easier to manage and innovate.With outside funding from the Millennium Challenge Grant they might be able to recruit staff more effectively, and, operating as pilot experiments, find other innovations to produce better results in a shorter time.Think of the Cuban or Soviet Bloc sports programmes or our own Arts Conservatory as models.We know the ‘Fame’ School for the Arts in New York from the movie and the TV show, but there is a similar technical high school there, which has produced multiple Nobel Prize winners in science.We know that such specialised schools work, and they produce outstanding graduates in large numbers.One concern is the long-term viability of funding for specialised schools.However, over time one or more of these specialised schools could extend to junior secondary level or even transform into a comprehensive school by adding a broader array of subjects.At the end of the five-year MCG funding, other donors could pick up the pilots, or the Ministry could take them over or transform them into regular senior secondary schools, should the need pass or the scheme not produce desired results.There is a long-term purpose, and there are funding options for them.Ideally, one such school should be located in or near Tsumeb, providing some of the urban amenities that draw better teachers.This opens the possibility of creating a public-private partnership with the new mine owners there.The staff or infrastructure of such an institution could also contribute to after-school activities and programmes for students or staff at other educational institutions in the area.Finally, it could link to the Prime Minister’s much-desired science university (or more reasonably school or college of mines) in that area.Pupils for the specialised schools should be recruited on the basis of their showing promise in maths and science, through existing examination systems and the interest of applicants.For the purpose of greater equity, priority could be given to students from rural schools or households and on the basis of regional distribution.Good students specialising in what they are good at will create a virtuous spiral of peer pressure and support that will produce results.Pumping several hundred better qualified students from these specialised schools into the existing tertiary-level institutions over the next five years will improve the output at that level both quantitatively and qualitatively.We should get the most out of the investment already made before putting in more golden taps.Serving Overage Students The second idea for quick improvement is similar.Too many pupils are currently denied re-admission to grade ten because they are overage and considered a potential disruptive element to the system.They are then condemned to unemployment or distance programmes at Namcol, which has an over-enrolment of 20 to 24-year-olds.No offence to those hardworking people, but we know that face-to-face learning is superior, for most people and some of our most creative minds blossom later in life.Face-to-face education does not cost much more than Namcol, so the cost/benefit to society after initial start-up expenses covered by the MCG clearly favours face-to-face instruction.Therefore, why not start some new senior secondary schools for grades 10, 11, and 12 specifically for overage pupils? In both proposals, we already have a residential education system that can draw from the whole country.In the name of equity and skill improvement, why not give these older pupils another chance to complete formal secondary education and enter the job market on a stronger basis? Strict discipline should be observed so as not to waste the public’s money, but give those who need another chance (for no other reason than their age) a better opportunity to complete and provide the economy with better-prepared workers.Since the Millennium Challenge Grant is “top-up” money and not in competition with already committed expenditures, I think that a bit of it would go a long way in these two directions.This is not a comprehensive package like ETSIP, just a modest proposal to utilise a tiny piece of the national cake.Let’s put it toward an important first step, targeted to a critical need for rapid quality improvements in science and mathematics training and human resources enhancement in order to achieve our stated development goals embodied in the NDP’s and Vision 2030.* The author of this opinion piece, Professor Bill Lindeke, is Senior Research Associate for Democracy and Governance at the IPPR.Similarly, the Prime Minister at the recent Science Fair once again emphasised his belief in the path of science to realise the development dreams of Namibians.I would like to propose some specific first steps to jump-start the process for the betterment of education opportunities for Namibia’s children.First, to set the development context, some comments are in order on the existing visionary development strategy, which places such a high emphasis on education and primary health care (human capital) as the foundation for long-term development in Namibia.This is necessary from the point of view of equity, restorative justice, and development.Everything that we know about development emphasises the importance of human capital and the role that spreading education has for growth. All of the target economies that we are trying to use as models, from the small Asian tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore) to Mauritius, Barbados, Costa Rica and others, reached very high levels of effective literacy before they were able to launch accelerated growth paths.The most cost effective and productive strategies wisely stress primary schooling and gender equality. This should continue to be our path, too.Current Shortcomings However, for several years now there has been a partly misplaced generalised emphasis on science and math and a somewhat reversed spending priority.Why do I say this? Sweeping calls for all glory to science and mathematics have two negative impacts: first, they dismiss and demoralise everyone else – researchers, students, and teachers, who are made to feel they are not important; and secondly, such calls send large numbers of pupils and students hurling off in the wrong direction to failure and disappointment.For some this failure is because their talents are not well suited to their path, and others fail because the math/science path has not yet been well prepared for them.For example, the pass rates for entry-level mathematics at tertiary institutions is dismal and completion rates in science fields hover between twenty and thirty per cent.After all the speeches and all the money expended (tens of millions of dollars in tertiary infrastructure alone), the results remain paltry, especially compared to our planning goals and economic growth needs.The Planning Commission’s own research suggests a shortfall of hundreds of engineers, while university science graduates lag earlier estimates.Admittedly, there are many successful and hardworking people in the field, and the MATSEP programme and other efforts may eventually bear fruit.However, the point remains that the current results fall far short of the ideals reiterated in the speeches of our leaders and the needs envisioned by Vision 2030, Human Resources Report, and other planning documents.Still short by far.The problem at present is that the emphasis (other than MATSEP) has been to expect high levels of spending at tertiary level to solve the problem.Expensive science, health and engineering programmes are already established or planned for at the Polytechnic, Unam and the Northern Campus of Unam.Unfortunately, what we have done is analogous to installing gold-plated taps when there is no water in the pipes! The question we need to ask is: Where will we find well-prepared students for all of these tertiary programmes? We know from a lot of experience in education that we need to start earlier to have success at the end of the process (pre-school, or in America Project Head Start, is one successful example).But these are long-term solutions.Comprehensive schools as advocated by the Education Ministry and the Nantu Congress might help, but they too will take some time to bear fruit, as will the general improvements from ETSIP.Therefore, what is needed is a first step to accelerate the process. Specialisation at Secondary Level I propose to jump-start this process by creating three “Specialised Science and Mathematics Senior Secondary Schools” (North, Centre and South) to speed the flow of better qualified students into the existing tertiary institutions.English language mastery will also be a priority for success in these schools.Such specialised schools are less expensive than the N$50 million cost of comprehensive schools over five years, quicker to get under way, and easier to manage and innovate.With outside funding from the Millennium Challenge Grant they might be able to recruit staff more effectively, and, operating as pilot experiments, find other innovations to produce better results in a shorter time. Think of the Cuban or Soviet Bloc sports programmes or our own Arts Conservatory as models.We know the ‘Fame’ School for the Arts in New York from the movie and the TV show, but there is a similar technical high school there, which has produced multiple Nobel Prize winners in science.We know that such specialised schools work, and they produce outstanding graduates in large numbers.One concern is the long-term viability of funding for specialised schools.However, over time one or more of these specialised schools could extend to junior secondary level or even transform into a comprehensive school by adding a broader array of subjects.At the end of the five-year MCG funding, other donors could pick up the pilots, or the Ministry could take them over or transform them into regular senior secondary schools, should the need pass or the scheme not produce desired results.There is a long-term purpose, and there are funding options for them.Ideally, one such school should be located in or near Tsumeb, providing some of the urban amenities that draw better teachers.This opens the possibility of creating a public-private partnership with the new mine owners there.The staff or infrastructure of such an institution could also contribute to after-school activities and programmes for students or staff at other educational institutions in the area.Finally, it could link to the Prime Minister’s much-desired science university (or more reasonably school or college of mines) in that area.Pupils for the specialised schools should be recruited on the basis of their showing promise in maths and science, through existing examination systems and the interest of applicants.For the purpose of greater equity, priority could be given to students from rural schools or households and on the basis of regional distribution.Good students specialising in what they are good at will create a virtuous spiral of peer pressure and support that will produce results.Pumping several hundred better qualified students from these specialised schools into the existing tertiary-level institutions over the next five years will improve the output at that level both quantitatively and qualitatively.We should get the most out of the investment already made before putting in more golden taps.Serving Overage Students The second idea for quick improvement is similar.Too many pupils are currently denied re-admission to grade ten because they are overage and considered a potential disruptive element to the system.They are then condemned to unemployment or distance programmes at Namcol, which has an over-enrolment of 20 to 24-year-olds.No offence to those hardworking people, but we know that face-to-face learning is superior, for most people and some of our most creative minds blossom later in life.Face-to-face education does not cost much more than Namcol, so the cost/benefit to society after initial start-up expenses covered by the MCG clearly favours face-to-face instruction.Therefore, why not start some new senior secondary schools for grades 10, 11, and 12 specifically for overage pupils? In both proposals, we already have a residential education system that can draw from the whole country.In the name of equity and skill improvement, why not give these older pupils another chance to complete formal secondary education and enter the job market on a stronger basis? Strict discipline should be observed so as not to waste the public’s money, but give those who need another chance (for no other reason than their age) a better opportunity to complete and provide the economy with better-prepared workers.Since the Millennium Challenge Grant is “top-up” money and not in competition with already committed expenditures, I think that a bit of it would go a long way in these two directions.This is not a comprehensive package like ETSIP, just a modest proposal to utilise a tiny piece of the national cake.Let’s put it toward an important first step, targeted to a critical need for rapid quality improvements in science and mathematics training and human resources enhancement in order to achieve our stated development goals embodied in the NDP’s and Vision 2030.* The author of this opinion piece, Professor Bill Lindeke, is Senior Research Associate for Democracy and Governance at the IPPR.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!