Grade 10 exams to goSchool curriculum gets major revamp From the 2018 school year major reforms in the basic education curriculum will be phased in. The external grade 10 junior secondary examinations, which used to mark the end of the academic road for many learners, will be abolished in 2019.This forms part of broad-based reforms in basic education aimed at addressing high dropout rates and improving the quality of basic education in Namibia.
The architects of the reforms say the goal is not only to keep students at their desks for longer by diversifying subjects and strengthening student support, but also to improve teacher skills and qualifications, a vital ingredient in improving basic education quality in Namibia.
At the end of 2018, grade 9 learners will write the first junior secondary semi-external examinations, following which they will be promoted to the senior secondary phase, starting with grade 10.
This will mark the start of a new, extended senior secondary phase of education, taking the form of a two-year Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary Level (NSSCO) course.
Following that, grade 12 will allow students to complete the one-year Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Higher Level (NSSCH) course.
“We want to keep children in school longer and reduce the dropout numbers. This will also require extra training for the teachers. We need them to stand with us,” says Hertha Pomuti, the director of the National Institute for Educational Development (Nied).
Pomuti explains that the junior secondary semi-external examinations in grade 9 are for quality assurance purposes, allowing students to repeat if they fail.
Extending the final phase of schooling from two to three years has been proven internationally to keep children in school longer and to provide more thorough, quality education, Pomuti says.
“One of the important factors with these changes is that learners will have more time to study for their senior secondary education, because the duration has been extended from two to three years,” Pomuti explains.
Once the revised curriculum begins in 2020, grade 11 will be the first exit point from basic education.
According to experts, Namibia''s high dropout rates mean the country haemorrhages potential each year as students fall through the cracks.
Pomuti says statistics show that roughly 60 000 children enter first grade. By grade 5, 54 000 remain in the system and by grade 12, only 30 000 finish their schooling.
“So, we have to ask, where are these kids? They are all over the place. Losing them means you lose potential teachers, doctors, those who were supposed to be engineers.”
The NIED has been instrumental in shaping the educational reforms since 2010, and the first changes were rolled out last year.
“The reforms are being made to improve the quality of basic education, and one of the things you want to address is that there is more to education than the academic,” Pomuti says.
Besides tweaking the school phases, emphasis is being placed on broadening subject choices, with a focus on technical and vocational subjects, a renewed focus on learner support from teachers, life skills development as well as academic subjects.
Pomuti says global research has shown that in any system, about half of students prefer academic subjects and the other half more practical courses.
“But if the system does not make provision for learners to do practical, they drop out.”
She says one of the major issues of this reform is a diversification of the school curriculum where learners have more choices available between academic and practical subjects.
In line with this, another major change is the introduction of pre-vocational subjects in grade 5, and a host of technical studies from grade 8 onwards.
The technical courses, which will initially be introduced at one school in every region, will include bricklaying and plastering, electricity, plumbing and pipe fitting, and technical drawing. Office practice and hospitality subjects will also be introduced.
Pomuti explains that the basic education system should lay the groundwork for equipping students with relevant practical, entrepreneurial and vocational skills when entering the job market.
From this year, subjects such as life skills, religious and moral education, arts, information and communication, and physical education are accorded equal status as other subjects and are assessed.
“These are subjects that increase learners'' moral and personal development. Being intellectual is not the only important thing,” Pomuti says.
JANA-MARI SMITH