Africa-Press – Namibia. PRESIDENTIAL adviser on youth matters and enterprise development Daisry Mathias says although primary and secondary education is mostly delivered at the government’s cost, more than 10 000 pupils drop out of schools annually.
She was speaking at a discussion on the state of early childhood development (ECD), hosted by the Capricorn Foundation in Windhoek recently.
“This leads to a very high attrition rate, with two out of three of pupils from rural areas currently unable to proceed to secondary and tertiary education,” she said. Last year, the education ministry reported that over 30 000 pupils did not return to school following the 2019 Covid-19 lockdown.
Mathias said the high dropout rate is a risk to investment in the education sector.
“Approximately 89% of our public schools currently have access to the basic infrastructure of water supply, but sanitation, electricity and internet are some of the threats to education,” she said.
Mathias said the government has endeavoured to improve the quality of education.
She said ECD was not included in the first Harambee Prosperity plan, but was prioritised under the social progress pillar.
“Not because it is not a priority, but because the government is trying to take a very focused approach in redressing the social deficits that affect our communities,” she said.
Mathias said with the second Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPPII) the government has recognised there is a discrepancy between investments made at primary school level, and non-performance at secondary and tertiary level.
“This is why we went back to the fundamentals and seek to intensify investment in integrated early childhood development,” she said.
Mathias said addressing child nutrition and education at an early stage is a long-term investment.
“Our country currently has 3 100 integrated early childhood development centres, of which 900 are privately owned and 2 200 are community owned and managed,” she said.
Mathias said the ECD mandate has moved from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture to the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare.
“Some of the challenges we are looking to redress, include the underqualification of educarers, perhaps because of a lack of standards and accreditation mechanisms, and it is evident that children are beginning life at different levels,” she said.
Mathias said HPPII is seeking to address quality ECD outcomes during the 2022/24 period.
Capricorn Foundation acting head Marlize Theron, said the institution remains committed to transforming lives and being connectors of positive change.
“High-quality early childhood development gives children a strong foundation for their future education.
The research shows that children who have access to quality education from a young age are more likely to start their formal school education equipped with the cognitive, social, and emotional skills they need to thrive and to eventually contribute to the economy.
She said investing in children can be seen as economic development.
Rosina Mubonewa, the director of community development and poverty eradication at the gender ministry, said access to quality ECD centres remains a serious challenge.
“We believe that high-quality ECD services give children a strong foundation for their future education.
“ECD starts at the time of conception to eight years, and if we mess up during that period, we mess up the country,” she said.
Mubonewa said according to the ECD survey, only 29% of children from the age of zero to six years have access to ECD centres.
“Namibians, we need to wake up, and so much needs to be done to improve the quality of education and service children receive in ECD for better primary and secondary education,” she said. Education executive director Santet Steenkamp could not be reached for comment on the dropout figures.
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