Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) is under increasing pressure to accommodate some of the 38 164 Grade 11 pupils who did not qualify for Grade 12.
Only 18,8% of 2021’s Grade 11 AS level pupils qualified to advance to Grade 12 Namcol director Heroldt Murangi during an interview with The Namibian on Tuesday said they expect an increased number of applications this year, following more than 4 000 pupils who registered for the new curriculum, and 24 000 who registered for the old curriculum.
“Our projections are based on last year’s figures. We have added a small increase so far as students are still coming in due to late results,” he said.
Murangi said Namcol can only accommodate 28 000 pupils this year as the institution’s intake numbers are limited by government funding. Murangi added that as much as they would like to accommodate more pupils, they work in line with the government’s support.
He said Namcol works on a first come, first served basis, and once materials are finished, they can’t accommodate any additional pupils. “Why are we not improving institutions that are stopping learners from going into the streets? And how do these institutions work if they are not supported?” Murangi said the goal is for every child to qualify for AS levels in order to embark on tertiary studies.
“Although the results are worrisome, there are lots of stakeholders involved in the education system, such as parents. I don’t think parents put in more effort in their children’s education. The results could be affected by a lot of things such as teachers not being fully trained to offer AS level.”
Murangi said the institution also has to deal with the late delivery of materials. “How do you order books when learners are already in class?” Murangi added that pupils who apply to universities with Grade 11, may have to enrol for two years as the University of Namibia (Unam) only accepts Grade 11 with AS level.
“This means learners will enrol to improve their Grade 11 grades and then do the AS level, in order to be admitted to Unam.” University Centre for Studies in Namibia (Tucsin) director Cliff Olivier said they expect an increased number of applications this year.
“Our results were phenomenal, as they have been through the years. We achieved pass rates of above 75% in all subjects except English, where we achieved a 50% pass rate,” he said.
Olivier said some pupils came to Tucsin disappointed after obtaining poor results, but they eventually made it. He stressed that pupils who do not qualify for university entrance, have other options such as vocational centres.
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