Ministry of Education

Private Bag 13186, Windhoek, Tel. +264-61-293-3111 Fax. +264-61-224-277

When Namibia became independent on 21 March 1990, education in the country was best characterised by a number of features as follows:

1.      fragmentation of education along racial and ethnic lines; 

2.      unequal access to education and training at all levels of the education system;

3.      inefficiency in terms of low progression and achievement rates, and high wastage rates; 

4.      irrelevance of the curriculum and teacher education programmes to the needs and aspirations of individuals and the nation; and

5.      lack of democratic participation within the education and training system. 

 Teachers, parents, administrators and workers were largely excluded from the decision-making process in education. There was also an extremely unequal financial resource allocation in education based on the eleven ethnic authority systems which were operational before independence. Soon after independence one unified education system was created to provide education to the Namibian nation on an equitable basis. 

The Ministry Of Basic Education, Sport And Culture  was established by amalgamating the eleven second-tier educational and cultural services into one unified national structure. The new Ministry Of Basic Education, Sport And Culture  established a head office in the capital and six regional education offices. The unification of the formerly separate educational administrations resulted at first in an establishment consisting of 2419 administrative and management posts. A rationalisation process was carried out in 1993 resulting in the reduction of the posts to 1753. However, most of the staff members who were declared redundant by this exercise are still serving as additional staff to the establishment of the ministry. The restructuring exercise in the ministry also led to the split of the Ondangwa Education region into two, bringing the number of regional education offices to seven. In 1995, the Ministry of Education and Culture was split into the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Vocational Training, Science and Technology. 

The Ministry of Basic Education and Culture’s structure is composed of the office of the permanent secretary, whose objective is to co-ordinate the activities of the ministry and ensure that the ministry provides education to Namibians and enhances cultural rights of individuals in line with Article 20 of the country’s Constitution. The structure of the ministry is further divided into the Department of Formal Education Programmes and the Department of Culture and Life-long Learning (adult and non-formal education).  

The objective of the Department of Formal Education Programmes is to co-ordinate, implement and monitor all formal education activities. This department is made up of the following directorates:

1.      Directorate of National Examination and Assessment whose objective is to provide an examination, assessment and certification service to enhance the quality of the national education system;

2.      Directorate of Education Programme Implementation whose objective is to organise, co-ordinate, monitor and control the implementation of educational programmes at national level;

3.      Directorate Inspectorate and Advisory Services whose objective is to train, develop and assess school and hostel personnel to ensure the efficient and effective management of educational programmes and services;

4.      Special Education Programmes whose objective is to determine policies and develop programmes to establish and maintain opportunities for children with special needs. 

 The objective for the Department of Culture and Life-long Learning is to provide and promote adult basic education, arts and culture and library support to schools and community.  This department is made up of the following directorates:

1.      Directorate of Adult Basic Education whose objective is to provide and promote adult basic education and continuing education to adults and early school leavers;

2.      Directorate of Arts and Culture whose objective is to preserve, promote, develop and enhance arts and culture for the benefit of all;

3.      Directorate of Library and Archives Services whose objective is to facilitate access to, and promote the use of all sources of information for the purposes of education, research and recreation. 

The Namibia College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) became a parastatal on 1 April 1998. Its objective is to render educational services to learners who could not complete their junior or senior secondary phase in formal schooling.

In addition, the Directorate of National Institute for Educational Development was created to develop and maintain the quality and scope of basic, secondary, and basic teacher education; and the Directorate of Planning and Development develops goals, policy options, strategies and plans for the activities of the ministry. The Directorate of General Services renders financial, personnel and support services.

The seven education regions effectively manage educational and cultural activities in the region in accordance with national guidelines and regional needs. The ministry is also working on the decentralisation plan aimed at decentralising some of its services to regional and local level authorities.

To carry out its responsibilities, as stipulated in Article 20 in relation to education and Article 19 in relation to culture in the Constitution, the ministry developed its policy, “Towards Education For All: A Development Brief For Education, Culture and Training”, to guide it in the process of rendering educational services to the nation. The ministry set itself five major goals towards meeting the objective of its policy framework. These goals include access, equity, quality, efficiency and democracy. 

The government is committed to provide universal primary education to the entire Namibian nation.  It aims at giving every Namibian equal opportunity to complete his/her primary education or to be in school until he/she attains the age of sixteen which ever is sooner. The target being that by the year 2000, the majority of people should have acquired basic skills of reading, writing, numeracy and understanding socio-cultural processes and natural phenomena. Going along with the provision of education to school going age children and out of school adults is the provision of classrooms. One other target therefore, was and still is to increase the number of schools and classrooms to ensure that there are sufficient places for all Namibians of school going age.

The number of learners in 1990 was 382 445 while in 1998 it was 497 418 giving an average annual growth rate of 2.5% and an overall growth of 30%. Of this number 251 782  which is 50.6% are girls. The mid term review of the National Development Plan one (NDP1) conducted by the ministry in 1997 revealed that 369 200 out of 415 300 people aged between six and sixteen years of age which is 89% of this group were in school.  The total net enrolment of seven to thirteen years age group in 1997 was 95%. The net enrolment for boys was 92.2% and for girls was 97.4%.

Enrolments in some of the education regions have improved significantly. For example enrolment in the Ondangwa East Education Region in 1990 was 81 718 while in 1998 it was 121 932 an increase of 49%. In Ondangwa West Education Region in 1990 the enrolment was 115 009 while in 1998 it was 135 319, an increase of 18%.  In Kavango/Rundu Education Region the enrolment in 1990 was 32 661 while in 1998 it was 50 148, an increase of 53%.

A positive trend has been shown in promotion rates in the primary phase from 1991 to date. This improved trend can be attributed to the improved teacher qualifications, more parental involvement and concerted efforts from teachers, learners and the ministry. 

For example, the promotion rates in grade 1 in 1991 was 51.1% while in 1996 it was 83.7 %.  In 1997 it went down to 81.1 %. In grade 7 the promotion rate in 1991 was 72.2% while in 1997 it was 80.8%. From grade 1 to grade 6 females are promoted at a greater rate than males. From grade 7 onwards, however, higher proportion of males are promoted.

Repetition and dropout rates are decreasing, for example repetition rates in grade 1 in 1991 were at 36.4% while in 1997 they were at 14.6%. It was the lowest in 1995 which was 95%. In grade 7 repetition in 1991 was 19.5% while in 1997 it was 10.9%. The dropout rate in grade 1 in 1991 was 12.5% while in 1997 it was 3.9%. In grade 7, the drop out rate was lowest in 1994 when it was 7.9%. In 1991 and 1997 the dropout rate appears to be the same (8.3%) in both cases.

The educationally marginalised children (EMC) are a diverse group, and their educational needs differ from community to community. This group comprises children of farm workers, San children, Ovahimba children, street children and children in squatter areas. For most of the groups two common reasons suggested as affecting their education are poverty and/or attitudes shown by non-marginalised groups.  The third factor, linked to poverty, is the high illiteracy rate among the parents of the educationally marginalised children. The farm workers are not only poor but, a high proportion of them are also illiterate. According to the Namibia Housing Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) of 1991, “44% had never been to school at all, while 37% had attended primary school only”.  According to the 1991 population census 81% of all the six - eighteen year old Namibians were in school that year. However, only 18% of the same age groups of San speaking learners were in school.  At the same time literacy among the San is very low.  The literacy rate in the Kunene region where the Ovahimba are in the majority is only 45% as compared to 66% of the entire Namibian population.

In efforts to improve access to education for the marginalised children the ministry, working together with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has introduced programmes such as the Nyae-Nyae Village School programme where the curriculum is community based and the San language is the medium of instruction.  In the Kunene region the pilot mobile school project has started.  The School Feeding Programme is benefiting most poor rural schools to keep the children of very poor families in school.  In 1996 the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture established the Inter-Sectoral Task Force (ITF) or marginalised children with the following terms of reference:

1.      to study the recommendations of the November 1995 workshop on educationally marginalised children and advise the government through the ministry on the implementation of the recommendations of the workshop;

2.      work out national policy guidelines on EMC in Namibia which will be presented to Cabinet for approval;

3.      co-ordinate activities of the ministries and NGOs and disseminate knowledge and information regarding EMC among all stakeholders; and to

4.      design programme options and strategies for meeting the educational and the learning needs of EMC.

The provision of twelve mobile school units for Ovahimba children in Kunene Region on a pilot basis has materialised; the sponsorship of twenty San learners by the Royal-Overseas League (ROSL) of U.K has been secured.  The purpose is to enable those San learners to pursue their primary and secondary education and possibly proceed to tertiary education.

The policy document on EMC entitled: “National Policy Options for Educationally Marginalised Children” was completed and endorsed by the EMT; five Nyae-Nyae Village School San teachers have been granted a status of Grade 10 equivalence in 1998 and thus have been enrolled in the ISC programme; and through the Inter-sectoral Task Force a strong voice representing the plight of the EMC has been created and its Secretariat is housed in the Directorate EPI.

The Directorate of Adult Basic Education was established in 1990 in line with the National Education Policy that aimed at achieving the educational goals of access, quality, efficiency and democracy.  The year 1991 was spent on designing the programme and putting the structure in place.  In September 1992, the National Literacy Programme in Namibia (NLPN) was launched by the Prime Minister with the initial enrolment of about 1300 learners - adults and youth.  Since then the first week of September is celebrated in Namibia every year as National Literacy Week.

The main functions of the directorate include the recruitment, enrolment and teaching of the adult learners, the training of staff through staff development programmes, literacy and materials development, production, credit facilities provision for small scale enterprises and monitoring and evaluation of the programme of the directorate. Over the period under review 90 129 learners were enrolled in Stage I for basic literacy in ten Namibian languages, of whom 64 695 learners had written a test in which 71% have passed.  They became literate in their own mother tongues.  More than 62 400 went on to Stage II literacy in which they became more fluent in reading and writing their own mother tongue.  Arithmetic was taught throughout all the three Stages of the NLPN.  In Stage III 60 717 learners were introduced to basic English for communication.  The literacy skills of NLPN learners can be acknowledged by the letters they write to the DABE newsletter, ‘DABE NEWS’ for publication.

A certificate course in Education for Development was designed in co-operation with NAMCOL to train DABE District Literacy Officers (DLOs) as adult education professionals.  More than sixty DLOs have attended the course and have their previous qualifications up-graded and recognised by the National Qualifications Authority (NQA). More than 3100 literacy promoters have been trained to conduct literacy teaching. They also receive monthly refresher courses where they review the past work, discuss and solve problems and plan for the month ahead. An adult education faculty is being established at UNAM.  This initiative was activated through discussion with DABE and familiarisation with adult education activities.

The NLPN developed the literacy curriculum for stage I - III to guide the directorate in literacy learning materials development.  The curriculum was approved by the National Examination Board.  As a result, literacy primers were developed and produced in ten local- languages.  A primer was developed in basic english and three primers in mathematics for stage I, II & III respectively. 

In total fifteen titles were produced for the first three stages of the NLPN.  The directorate has also developed the promoter’s and DLO’s handbook of instructions and methodology. Supplementary readers were also produced to help the learners retain their newly acquired literacy skills.  These had to do with life skills, income-generation, civic affairs and public (primary) health.

The project trains members of communities in small business enterprises.  It also provides credit to prospective entrepreneurs to start up their small businesses with funds provided by the European Union.  More than 100 persons have so far benefited from this scheme.

Three buildings have been erected in the Caprivi region to be used for literacy activities: the programme has been visited by other practitioners from other countries and Namibians visited foreign countries.  Thus sharing of information took place; More than 90 000 Namibians are now able to read and write in their own languages and more than 60 000 learners have been introduced to basic English.

The first step in the establishment of the Namibia College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) was the creation of a separate unit within the ministry. During November 1994, the Public Service Commission sanctioned the break up of DACE into two directorates.  The Directorate of Adult Basic Education was tasked with the administration of adult literacy and basic skills development, while face-to-face and distance education programmes were allocated to a new directorate which was called NAMCOL.

The transition was completed on 1 April 1998, when the newly-established institution took over responsibility for all continuing education programmes formerly administered by the Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture.  Shortly afterwards, the College’s staff moved to new offices on the campus of the Yetu Yama Centre along Independence Avenue in Katutura. This complex was officially inaugurated on 29 October 1998.

NAMCOL’s core activity has traditionally been its programme of alternative secondary education, which provides study opportunities for those who are unable or do not wish to attend formal schools.  During 1998, courses were offered at two levels:  the Junior Secondary Certificate (Grade 10) and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (Grade 12).  Learners enrolling for this programme can opt to study through either distance education (DE) or the face-to-face mode (F-F).  Distance education learners receive a full set of self-study materials, including: study guides or workbooks, tutorial letters and assignments, which must be completed and send to NAMCOL head office for marking.  In addition, regional offices are responsible for organising workshops for DE learners during school vacations in order to supplement the study materials with approximately fourty hours of tutorials per annum in each subject.

Learners receive an average of four hour tuition per week for between twenty-two – twenty-six weeks each year.  During 1998, NAMCOL provided face-to-face tuition at seventy-nine centres around the country. In addition to Alternative Secondary Education, NAMCOL offers a Certificate in Education for Development (CED), which was designed to meet the professional development needs of adult educators, extensions agents and community development workers. The CED is a two-year programme.  It is offered through a combination of distance education and residential workshops and includes four courses:  contextual studies, theory and practice of adult education, organisational development studies, and research methods, including a practice.  By the end of 1998, twenty-six students had completed the programme and received a certificate jointly accredited by NAMCOL and UNISA.  The certificate has been recognised as equivalent to two years of study at post-matriculation level.  The Certificate of Education for Development (CED) is a two-year program which commenced in 1997. The CED is a joint initiative between NAMCOL and the university of South Africa (UNISA) tailored mainly for community development workers such as district literacy organisers, agricultural extension workers, health educators, project managers and non-formal educators working in government ministries and NGOs. Over the last four years, enrolments have grown more than four-fold, from 4 780 learners in 1994 to a total of 20 167 in 1998.  This is equivalent to over 13 000 full-time learners, which means that NAMCOL is the largest educational institution in Namibia.

Not only has NAMCOL managed to achieve growth in student numbers, but its learners have also demonstrated improved outcomes in terms of their examination results. In 1998, there were 7 978 part-time candidates registered for junior secondary examinations, which was one third higher than in the previous year.  At the same time the number of graded entries increased by over 62%. Overall, the number of candidates achieving various marks also increased, with the exception of A symbols.  The failure rate dropped from 41% in 1997 to only 24% in 1998. In 1998, 7 498 IGCSE part-time candidates registered for the October/November examination, representing more than a third of all candidates.  Over two thirds of subjects entries were graded last year as compared to only 59% in 1997. 

Efforts have been and are still being made by the ministry to promote equitable access to education for learners with disabilities in Namibia. There are national special schools for learners with disabilities in the country. Two of these schools are for the mentally disabled children, two for the learners with learning difficulties, one industrial school for boys is in operation while another for girls will be started soon. Two are for the visually and hearing impaired children. The national Institute for Special Education is mainly for the visually and mentally impaired. It also serves as a training and resource centre for teachers involved in special education. The above institutions cater for about 1 200 learners with disabilities.

The implementation of vocational training at Pionier Boys’ School was approved by the Examinations Board of Namibia and the school was registered as a vocational training centre with the Ministry of Higher Education, Vocational Training Science and Technology. In-service training courses for the Regional School Counsellors, as the field workers of this directorate, were held during February, June and September from 1996 to 1998 at NIED.  In-service training of staff at schools for the hearing impaired (Eluwa Special School, National Institute for Special Education) was conducted by Optima College from the RSA.

Of the forty-five Special Class teachers thirty-eight received in-service training on baseline assessment, value-adding and differentiation.  Resource material like guidelines for the establishment of a special class, assessment forms and basic scholastic skills tests were developed and approved by the curriculum panel for special education.  In line with the policy of mainstreaming the adaptation of two of the five special grades syllabi has been completed by the working group for special classes.  Special grades were implemented.

Counselling support groups were established at 165 schools country wide and the relevant training was given to 329 teachers.  Four blind grade twelve learners from Eluwa Special School started with their teacher training courses at the Malcolm Moffat Teachers Training College in Zambia. The Eluwa Special School boasted in having achieved, for the first time in its existence, to have three totally deaf learners pass the Junior Secondary Certificate Examinations.  This was achieved due to increased audiology-and speech therapy offered by Volunteer Services Overseas and the newly introduced total communication system.  

The main objective of the ministry over this period was to provide physical  facilities in the form of complete schools, classrooms, ablutions, administration blocks, laboratories, libraries and staff houses to previously neglected regions where needs exist, as well as renovation and maintenance of education buildings.

1.      Since independence the development budget has increased from a mere N$ 32 million to a N$ 90 million in 1999.  This allowed for more facilities to be built.  In 1990/91 a total of 205 facilities were erected compared to 691 in 1999/2000 fiscal year.

2.      In 1998 it was realised that the renovation and maintenance budget was insufficient to cope with the needs of education and 10% of the development budget was allocated for renovation and maintenance. 

3.      The same principle applies with different norms when it comes to the upgrading of primary schools. The original building modules were refined to an acceptable cost effective product that is applicable to all the regions.

4.      Through the Socio-Economic Integration Programme for the Ex-combatants (SIPE), ninenty-two pit latrines were erected. Another 125 are in the pipeline for 1999. With GTZ support fifty-six VIP latrines were built and construction is still continuing.

5.      Previously most of the construction companies were mainly from Windhoek and central Namibia.  People in the northern parts of Namibia were encouraged to   participate in the building projects, as a result they came up with an organisation (NANCA), and are now participating alongside the GRN in building.

6.      The main aim was capacity building and up to this point, small contractors are able to construct the standard module classrooms with great success.

7.      A major financial saving was the appointment of one consulting firm to do the documentation, financial control and supervision with agents on the classroom project instead of different consultants. 

8.      The fate of unemployed ex-combatants was greatly relieved when the conditions in the tender document were adapted so that contractors were forced to employ ex-combatants as part of their labour force.

9.      The furniture monopoly was cracked when school desks and chairs were redesigned for a proper tender. The outcome was tremendous as the price to furnish one classroom came down by N$ 4 000.00. The provision of loose desk tops and seats to the regions enabled regional offices to repair hundreds of school desks and chairs.

The provision of water tanks to some rural schools created a better situation at schools which  had a shortage of water, like in the Caprivi region.

Table 1: Number of schools per region, 1990-1998

Budget Allocation

The 1998/99 budgeted amount of N$1467.5 million is one of the largest single allocations made to a ministry from the national budget.  But this must be seen against the ministry’s responsibility for nearly half a million (497 418) school-going children, apart from the adults that the ministry reaches through its adult learning programmes and the arts, culture, museum, archives and library services which the ministry provides to the nation as a whole, and to non-nationals. The increase of N$132.1 million over the 1997/98 budgeted expenditure is accounted for by further steps in the implementation of the recommendations of the Wages and Salary Commission, notably the personnel appraisal system, coupled with a general salary increase for public servants, and the implementation of provisions of the Labour Act, and by the taking over by the ministry, from the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, of the responsibility for services such as electricity, water and refuse removal.  

Provision of educational supplies has suffered from the encroachment of personnel costs into the budget for supplies and services.  As a consequence, under-resourced schools have not had sufficient government assistance to redress the deficiencies of the past.  Human resources are unevenly spread across the country, with some regions having a significantly higher learner-teacher ratio than other regions.  With a national average of 29.1, the range is from 21.4 to 40.0.  In the Ohangwena Region 51% of all schools have a learner-teacher ratio in excess of 40. In general, it is also the regions with the highest (and therefore least satisfactory) learner-teacher ratios which have the highest proportion of unqualified and under-qualified teachers. While this is not a situation which can be remedied overnight, there is little evidence that progress is being made towards a more equitable arrangement, except in so far as the proportion of unqualified teachers is decreasing as a result of the in-service BETD. At the senior secondary level many of the northern schools are relying on expatriates to teach the critical subjects of mathematics, physical science, and English, because the number of newly qualified teachers in these subject areas is small.

The University of Namibia (UNAM) is making efforts to provide the required teachers for the senior secondary phase.

Table 2: Budget allocation to the ministry for the past financial years 1990 – 1999 (N$) 

The actual expenditure incurred on personnel employment by the ministry for the past financial years is indicated in the table below.  Also indicated is the percentage of personnel expenditure against the total budget allocation per financial year.

Table 3 : Personnel expenditure over the period under-review

The allocation made to provide materials and supplies to Primary and Secondary schools over the past financial years is indicated below.

Table 4: Budget allocation for materials and supplies over 1990-1999 (N$)

The ministry already operates its annual budget on a decentralized basis.  Indicated in the table below are the amounts allocated to the different educational regions over the past financial years:

Table 5: shows budget allocation to regional offices over the period under-review (N$)