Education rate

A third of Namibians have had no formal education Nearly 80% of these uneducated people live in rural areas, presenting a major stumbling block to the socio-economic development of the country. WINDHOEK NAMPA One out of three Namibians either have not had any formal education, or left school without completing their primary education. This concern was raised by Namibia's Statistician-General Dr John Steytler during the launch of the Namibia 2011 Population and Housing Census Basic Report in Windhoek recently. The majority of people who never attended school live in rural areas (77%), compared to 23% in urban areas. By contrast, a much greater proportion of people enrolled in adult education programmes (71%) are in rural areas than in urban areas (29%). We should prepare for the future, Steytler said, emphasising that education is key to the socio-economic development of this country. Out of about 283 501 children aged zero to four years surveyed during the 2011 Population and Housing Census, only 13% were attending Early Childhood Development (ECD) services, such as educare (daycare, crèche, kindergarten) and pre-primary school countrywide. Access to ECD was better in urban areas, with one out of five children accessing such services, compared to one out of 10 children in rural areas. Slightly more girls than boys were enrolled in ECD programmes in both rural and urban areas. At regional level, a much higher proportion of children attended ECD programmes in Erongo (24,2% and Khomas (22,9%) than in Hardap, Kunene and Omaheke, where attendance was about seven per cent. Meanwhile, the literacy rate in Namibia for the population five years and above stood at 85,3%. The literacy rate was marginally higher for males (85,4 %) than females (85,1 per cent). Furthermore, literacy rates were higher in urban (93%) than in rural areas (79%). The Khomas Region had the highest literacy rate at 95%, while the Kunene had the lowest (59,4%). The largest differences between female and male literacy were found in Caprivi and Kavango, where the male literacy rates were lower by 3,4 and 3,7 percentage points, respectively. In the Oshikoto Region, the literacy rate for women was also slightly higher than for men. Primary school enrolment across the country stood at 87% for children aged seven to 13. On regional level, the highest enrolment of 92% was in the regions of Karas, Omusati and Oshana. Meanwhile, the national adult literacy rate (which refers to Namibians 15 years and older) was 89%, with no differences between males and females. The adult literacy rate in urban areas stood at 96%, compared to 83% in rural areas. The adult literacy rate is the highest in Khomas (97,4%) and lowest in the Kunene Region (64,9%). The literacy rate for youth (15 to 24 years) in Namibia was 94%, with higher proportions of women (95,3%) than men (92,5%) being literate. The rate was once again higher in urban (98%) than rural areas (92%). The literacy rate for young women in rural areas was 2,6 percentage points higher than for men, while in urban areas, the literacy rates were almost the same.