Free education: Only N$19 per learner per month
N$19 per learner per month available
The new school year just started for learners. While many are pointing fingers at the dismal results from last year, this year brings about an opportunity to make sure the results look better.
Yolanda Nel
Windhoek
While last year’s grade 11 and 12 results left the country shocked, the failure rate cannot only be because of the new curriculum, with many more facets to consider.
According to Dr Eva-Panduleni Beukes, many issues contributed to the failure rates, “and one of the biggest issues was that teachers were not well prepared”. She said while teachers are blamed, the minister of education should take responsibility and assess what the ministry has done wrong.
“This lies in the way the ministry introduced the new curriculum and how they prepared teachers for it. Proper training is needed.”
Beukes added that at the very least, teachers gained experience last year and they can build on that going forward.
‘Abysmal’ resources
Apart from the new curriculum, the education sector has always faced many challenges, including a lack of resources.
“The resources are abysmal. There is no other word for it. Learners don’t have textbooks because the allocated budget makes provision for N$19 per month per learner,” she said.
According to Beukes, when we look at local textbooks, there are many mistakes to be found.
“Then the content editor is the author. How can you edit your own work? Even top academics need to be peer-reviewed,” she said.
Another decade-old problem is the number of learners in a class.
“With between 40 and 50 learners in a class, children will get distracted. Everyone has different concentration spans. Even controlling a class of that size is a challenge.”
She added that there is no room for individual care and attention for learners.
Having worked as a relief teacher last year, Beukes said educators work with different personalities - introverts and extroverts - and “there are many learning methods but there is just no capacity to enhance it with so many learners”.
“Serious intervention is needed in the whole school system. Not only grade 11 and 12 learners. All of it, starting at primary level.”
Windhoek
While last year’s grade 11 and 12 results left the country shocked, the failure rate cannot only be because of the new curriculum, with many more facets to consider.
According to Dr Eva-Panduleni Beukes, many issues contributed to the failure rates, “and one of the biggest issues was that teachers were not well prepared”. She said while teachers are blamed, the minister of education should take responsibility and assess what the ministry has done wrong.
“This lies in the way the ministry introduced the new curriculum and how they prepared teachers for it. Proper training is needed.”
Beukes added that at the very least, teachers gained experience last year and they can build on that going forward.
‘Abysmal’ resources
Apart from the new curriculum, the education sector has always faced many challenges, including a lack of resources.
“The resources are abysmal. There is no other word for it. Learners don’t have textbooks because the allocated budget makes provision for N$19 per month per learner,” she said.
According to Beukes, when we look at local textbooks, there are many mistakes to be found.
“Then the content editor is the author. How can you edit your own work? Even top academics need to be peer-reviewed,” she said.
Another decade-old problem is the number of learners in a class.
“With between 40 and 50 learners in a class, children will get distracted. Everyone has different concentration spans. Even controlling a class of that size is a challenge.”
She added that there is no room for individual care and attention for learners.
Having worked as a relief teacher last year, Beukes said educators work with different personalities - introverts and extroverts - and “there are many learning methods but there is just no capacity to enhance it with so many learners”.
“Serious intervention is needed in the whole school system. Not only grade 11 and 12 learners. All of it, starting at primary level.”
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article