Why Namibia Must Fix Education From the Ground Up

Déjà Vu. Every year, Namibia waits for the senior secondary examination results, bracing for a ritual of public outrage, media debates and finger-pointing.

Teachers, pupils, parents, and overcrowded classrooms are blamed. Inevitably, the education ministry explains itself all over again.

For a few weeks, education dominates the national conversation.

Then the noise fades. Results are archived, the system stays the same, and the cycle repeats.

Take the 2025 NSSCO and NSSCAS results: a slight improvement over 2024. Encouraging, yes, but still far from a healthy system.

Poor performance is widespread and regional disparities persist. Incremental progress at the top does not erase structural weaknesses at the bottom.

We obsess over senior secondary results while ignoring the foundation. By the time pupils reach Grade 11 or 12, the gaps are deep, costly and difficult to fix.

Namibia needs a paradigm shift: we must invest at the base.

Education is like a pyramid: broad at the bottom, narrowing at the top. If the foundation is weak, the apex will crumble.

START AT THE BASE

The more we invest in early learning, the less we spend fixing problems later.

Gaps that form early rarely disappear; they widen, becoming more expensive and harder to address over time.

If we want a stronger Namibia, it starts with the youngest Namibians.

Early childhood education (ECE) is where learning habits, language, resilience and curiosity are born. We cannot leave this to chance.

We need:
Quality ECE centres for all, including rural and informal settlements.

Skilled, paid educators who inspire rather than babysit.

Clear standards and oversight so every centre delivers.

Parental support: teaching caregivers the basics of nutrition, play, and language stimulation.

Investing at this level is not optional. Every dollar spent prevents future learning gaps and narrows inequality: if we get this right, we give every child a fair start, and the nation reaps the rewards.

ECE is Namibia’s foundation. Ignore it, and we build on sand. Invest in it, and we build a future we can all be proud of.

PRE-PRIMARY YEARS

Pre-primary education is the bridge between play and formal schooling, shaping the skills, confidence, and curiosity children carry into primary school. Priorities include:
Small class sizes for individual attention

Teachers trained specifically in pre-primary education

Learning material in local languages
Early assessments to identify reading, numeracy, or developmental challenges

Parental involvement to reinforce learning at home

Investing here prevents gaps, reduces costly remediation, and ensures children start primary school ready to thrive.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Primary school should consolidate foundations, not scramble to create them. This stage turns early skills into competence, curiosity into knowledge, and potential into achievement. Focus areas include:
Strong literacy and numeracy programmes

Continuous teacher development and parental support

Adequate classrooms, textbooks, and learning material

Early intervention for pupils who need extra support

When primary education is strong, pupils progress confidently.

Retention improves, repetition drops, and schools focus on growth rather than constant crisis management.

SECONDARY SCHOOL

By secondary school, the system should be about opportunity, not crisis. Here, the focus shifts to refining knowledge, developing critical thinking, and preparing pupils for life beyond school. Priorities include:

Subject mastery and specialised teacher training Career guidance and psychosocial support

Clear accountability for school leadership and regional offices Curricula aligned with skills and future opportunities

Continued parental involvement With strong foundations, secondary schools can focus on growth, not remediation. Pupils emerge resilient, capable, and ready for further education or the workforce.

THE PYRAMID

Tertiary education represents the apex. When foundations are solid, investment here is sharper and highly productive. Universities and colleges can focus on:
Advanced skills, research, and innovation Producing graduates ready for the economy Minimal spending on remedial courses

A strong top ensures efficiency, quality, and national benefit. Graduate readiness and research output soar when the base is healthy.

Neglect early education, and the pyramid is upside down: a narrow base and an unstable top.

The consequences are predictable: high failure rates, expensive interventions, teacher burnout, and persistent inequality.

By investing in the base, pupils progress smoothly, interventions are effective and resources are used wisely.

THE CHOICE

Namibia cannot keep fixing its education system by debating Grade 11 and 12 results. Those are symptoms.

The pyramid model offers a simple, logical solution: strong foundations first, efficiency and opportunity later. Invest at the bottom, and the system becomes cheaper, fairer and more effective.

Failure rates drop, teacher stress eases, and a generation of confident, capable pupils emerges.

The choice is stark: continue flipping the pyramid and watching it collapse – or rebuild it properly, from the ground up.

• Ndumba Kamwanyah is a public policy expert (PhD) focusing on social welfare policy, development and democracy. He is also a certified mediator with a master’s in conflict studies.

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