Redefining Namibia's education - Waldorf School Windhoek

Surrounded by a typical savannah landscape off the road to the Hosea Kutako Airport on the eastern outskirts of Windhoek, the Waldorf School Windhoek is one of the few schools with an additional definition to education and learning. Founded 12 years ago, the school’s mission has always aimed to introduce innovative teaching and learning principles, which view all children holistically and provides them with an integrated education, resulting in well-rounded young adults fully prepared for all aspects of life in Namibia. The school’s curriculum has been tailored to make reference to the Namibian socioeconomic status quo. The focus in the primary phase has been on the development of an intercultural environment, through multilingual teaching and the celebration of Namibia’s diverse cultural history. This has become evident when walking through the school as sounds of a children speaking a variety of languages and easily singing the songs of diversity. On top of the many styles of teaching at the school, Waldorf CEO Christian Bosse outlines that, “Our basic principle is to give the child time to develop their capabilities. Our curriculum is based on the appropriate learning according to the age because this is what strengthens the personality of the learners and give them conviction to stand for their calling in life. There is not only learning through academics but also through movement and arts, and practical elements.” What makes the school more special is its recent move to place the provision of vocational education as a priority in the preparation of students for life. For some time now, the scarcity of required skills in the job market has been one of the reasons the numbers of unemployed continue to rise. At Waldorf, the development of competence required for competing in the Namibian job market begins in grade 1 and continues throughout the primary school, as children develop technical, artistic, and personal skills, whilst engaging in challenging projects. At secondary school, certified vocational training programs are offered alongside the academic program that leads to the NSSC. Since 2010, the school’s vision of a fully integrated technical education and training programme has been evolving. After the completion of the workshops the school has been working in partnership with the NTA and the NQA, on the process of designing project-based curriculum which will lead to national certification in key areas of Namibia’s expanding economy. In essence, learners matriculating from the Waldorf School, in addition to the NSSC certificate, they will also have in position a certificate from either trades in Hospitality & Tourism, Construction, Agriculture, and Business Administration. “In the past I have seen more and more learners who cannot stand the pressure of our performance oriented society. The general trend to streamline education and focus on specialisation at an early stage is limiting young people instead of giving them the capability to develop their full potential. We want our children to develop imagination and be creative and I believe that this is the way forward in education. The traditional way of information teaching is not the way to prepare the children for a more and more complex and digitalised future”, said the CEO. Christian adds that he has seen too many students who come out of university but do not have any life skills because they have been oriented only to the academic area of education. “This is important, but not the only part of the human being. Our basic vocational training for our grade 8-11 learners gives them the opportunity to develop practical skills which in the end helps them to find their way in life and at work.” The school’s continuous academic performance is one of many achievements the school flags. Last year, the grade 13 learners achieved a pass rate of 83% on higher level subjects while the pass rate for the ordinary level subjects was 79%. Learner Nita Pallett made history by achieving seven distinctions for the first time ever in the school. This has moved the school’s position on higher level subjects four places up in the ranking list and they are tenth place out of 27 schools in the Khomas Region. FIKAMENI MATHIAS