Lack of money hampers education
The 2017/18 budget allocated to the education ministry is N$11.98 billion, down 2.8% from the previous year.
Insufficient funding for free education and infrastructure, and a lack of qualified teachers, remain challenges in the education sector.
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture's assessment of its performance for the years 2015 and 2016, as reported in the 2017/18 mid-term expenditure framework documents, states that budget constraints continue to hamper efforts to provide free pre-primary, primary and secondary education as per cabinet decision.
The 2017/18 budget allocated to the ministry is N$11.98 billion, down 2.8% compared to the N$12.323 billion budget allocated for 2016/17.
In the accountability report the ministry states that the free education mandate was not budgeted for, leading to overspending totalling N$400 722 538 for the 2015/16 financial year.
Meanwhile, demand for pre-primary education and pre-primary teachers continues to increase and insufficient classrooms are a challenge.
“Shortages of physical facilities as well as dilapidated education institutions in most regions results in teaching being done in tents, storerooms and sheds,” the ministry states.
The ministry warns that “quality education cannot be provided if a conducive environment is not created in terms of physical infrastructure at all levels [and] if the safety of learners and students at homes and schools is not secured.”
According to the ministry gender-based violence is on the increase at schools and requires “stronger collaboration with community-level interventions and strengthening of life skills outreach programmes.”
According to the ministry assessment, the demand for infrastructure has led to an increased development budget from N$590 million in 2015/16 to more than N$838 million in 2016/17. However, the ministry recognised that this is an area where public-private partnerships will be required, as the needs go beyond the financial capacity of the government.
Other critical issues are unqualified and under-qualified teachers, “as well as the overall process of training, recruitment, deployment and retention of qualified teachers.”
According to the ministry, the majority of unqualified and under-qualified teachers are employed in the early grades, including pre-primary education.
In line with this, a programme for under-qualified and unqualified teachers, who teach pre-primary classes and grades one to three, designed in collaboration with the University of Namibia, had its first intake of 1 000 teachers in 2016.
“The ministry has embarked on a six-year programme to upgrade the skills of under-and unqualified teachers, teaching in the junior primary levels, through outsourcing the upgrading programme to Unam,” the assessment states.
The ministry also says that 51.8% of registered teachers enrolled in the English language proficiency programme during the 2015/16 period.
The ministry currently employs more than 27 000 teachers in 1 779 schools and is responsible for the education of more than 707 000 children.
A shortage of teacher housing, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge, particularly in terms of attracting qualified teachers to remote areas.
Moreover, the ministry still experiences shortages of qualified teachers in critical subjects such as mathematics, science and information and communications technology.
Librarians and archivists are also in critically short supply.
A high turnover of facilitators in adult education programmes due to poor salaries and short contract periods continues to plague education programmes.
In 2012, it was estimated that there were 1 723 schools, and more than 24 600 teachers in charge of 617 000 learners.
A total of 752 237 adults and out-of-school learners have benefitted from adult education and basic literacy and post-literacy programmes to date. “The programme enrolment continues to grow at a rate of about 28 000 learners annually,” the ministry says.
Namibia College of Open Learning enrolment rates for all programmes increased from 16 640 in 1979 to more than 40 000 in 2015.
The College of the Arts provided accredited diploma courses to 745 students over the past year, while 1 851 students enrolled in the general tuition programme.
JANA-MARI SMITH
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture's assessment of its performance for the years 2015 and 2016, as reported in the 2017/18 mid-term expenditure framework documents, states that budget constraints continue to hamper efforts to provide free pre-primary, primary and secondary education as per cabinet decision.
The 2017/18 budget allocated to the ministry is N$11.98 billion, down 2.8% compared to the N$12.323 billion budget allocated for 2016/17.
In the accountability report the ministry states that the free education mandate was not budgeted for, leading to overspending totalling N$400 722 538 for the 2015/16 financial year.
Meanwhile, demand for pre-primary education and pre-primary teachers continues to increase and insufficient classrooms are a challenge.
“Shortages of physical facilities as well as dilapidated education institutions in most regions results in teaching being done in tents, storerooms and sheds,” the ministry states.
The ministry warns that “quality education cannot be provided if a conducive environment is not created in terms of physical infrastructure at all levels [and] if the safety of learners and students at homes and schools is not secured.”
According to the ministry gender-based violence is on the increase at schools and requires “stronger collaboration with community-level interventions and strengthening of life skills outreach programmes.”
According to the ministry assessment, the demand for infrastructure has led to an increased development budget from N$590 million in 2015/16 to more than N$838 million in 2016/17. However, the ministry recognised that this is an area where public-private partnerships will be required, as the needs go beyond the financial capacity of the government.
Other critical issues are unqualified and under-qualified teachers, “as well as the overall process of training, recruitment, deployment and retention of qualified teachers.”
According to the ministry, the majority of unqualified and under-qualified teachers are employed in the early grades, including pre-primary education.
In line with this, a programme for under-qualified and unqualified teachers, who teach pre-primary classes and grades one to three, designed in collaboration with the University of Namibia, had its first intake of 1 000 teachers in 2016.
“The ministry has embarked on a six-year programme to upgrade the skills of under-and unqualified teachers, teaching in the junior primary levels, through outsourcing the upgrading programme to Unam,” the assessment states.
The ministry also says that 51.8% of registered teachers enrolled in the English language proficiency programme during the 2015/16 period.
The ministry currently employs more than 27 000 teachers in 1 779 schools and is responsible for the education of more than 707 000 children.
A shortage of teacher housing, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge, particularly in terms of attracting qualified teachers to remote areas.
Moreover, the ministry still experiences shortages of qualified teachers in critical subjects such as mathematics, science and information and communications technology.
Librarians and archivists are also in critically short supply.
A high turnover of facilitators in adult education programmes due to poor salaries and short contract periods continues to plague education programmes.
In 2012, it was estimated that there were 1 723 schools, and more than 24 600 teachers in charge of 617 000 learners.
A total of 752 237 adults and out-of-school learners have benefitted from adult education and basic literacy and post-literacy programmes to date. “The programme enrolment continues to grow at a rate of about 28 000 learners annually,” the ministry says.
Namibia College of Open Learning enrolment rates for all programmes increased from 16 640 in 1979 to more than 40 000 in 2015.
The College of the Arts provided accredited diploma courses to 745 students over the past year, while 1 851 students enrolled in the general tuition programme.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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