Private schools must up their game

Education Minister David Namwandi has urged private schools that did not perform well in last year’s Grade 12 Ordinary Level examinations to pull up their socks. Namwandi said private schools are there to help the government to raise the bar and the ministry would not accept it when private and public schools perform equally badly, since they use the same syllabus and curriculum. Four private schools were ranked among the 10 worst-performing schools in the country last year. Namwandi said in terms of Article 20 of the Namibian Constitution, the government will only allow private schools to exist if their standard is not inferior to public schools. According to the ministry the 10 worst-performing schools in the Grade 12 Ordinary Level exams were the Rundu Christian Private School, Eros Girls’ School, Okakarara Secondary School, Etalaleko Senior Secondary, Motacs College, Jakob Marengo Tutorial College, Tanben College, Evululuko Senior Secondary, Petrus Ganeb Senior Secondary and Omungwelume Combined School. Namwandi said: “The moment the private school standards are below standard, then we have a problem because that is not what the Constitution states.” A source from the education sector added that some of the private schools that did badly do not have selection criteria like other private schools. “They have not made a name in society and they just accept anyone. If they don’t accept these learners then they won’t have learners,” said the source. At seven out of the worst-performing schools, excluding Jakob Marengo, Tanben College and Etalaleko, none of the learners obtained a distinction or an A symbol. Education spokesperson Johanna Absalom said the performance of a school is determined by a number of factors, such as a lack of discipline, commitment and minimal mastery of subject content. Absalom said they had seen practical examples of poorly performing schools that revamped their teaching standards and excelled in the 2014 national examinations. “The Ministry of Education would like to encourage schools that performed below standard to develop strategies and enhance their leadership to improve performance and teaching standards,” she said. “The ministry also calls for community support and active parental involvement in the learners’ education,” she said. WINDHOEK SELMA IKELA