There’s still hope for grade 12s

Michelline Nawatises







The grade 12 results were always released in mid-January while the NSSCH results were released around 20 December. However, 2020 was a year of trying times. The curriculum reform has added NSSCO (grade 11) examinations to be administered during the same year, and these developments contributed to the shifting of national examinations one month later, which resulted in the release of the results in February, unlike in previous years.

The minister of education, arts and culture, Ester Anna Nghipondoka, last week applauded all teachers. “I appreciate all our teachers countrywide, for having shown sheer will and determination during a time when the learners, parents, communities and your ministry needed you the most,” she says.

There is still hope

Nghipondoka urged all learners and teachers to be focused and diligent in the future. Those grade 12 learners who did not qualify for university admission can try the following options:

Vocational training centres;

Start your own business;

Try and acquire different skills;

Attempt short courses; and

Upgrade your points at institutions such as Namcol or Tucsin.

Out of 68 595 NSSC Ordinary Level candidates, 6 448 full-time candidates achieved a C or better grade at Ordinary Level. This means that they qualify for admission to institutions of higher learning for degree courses.

Funding

According to Maximalliant Katjimune, spokesperson for the Popular Democratic Movement Youth League (PDMYL), there are still very few learners making the transition from grade 12 to degree programmes.

“Only 24.1% of our grade 12 learners have qualified for admission to university degree programmes. This 24.1% of learners are unfortunately the only ones who secured funding from the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF). The other 75.9% will have to seek alternative funding for their diplomas, certificates and Namcol,” he says.

The PDMYL, therefore, believes the government needs to develop a much more responsive vocational training sector for the significant majority of students who do not intend to pursue the mainstream academic courses offered at universities.

“The government, in collaboration with the higher education sector, must incorporate schools of vocational training into the mainstream university curriculum,” Katjimune said.