Editorial: Looking At Why We are Failing

IT IS more than just an education system failing in its task of empowering the nation that is responsible for the state of mediocrity in which the country as a whole seems to find itself.

Our value system is equally imperiled. Standards are slipping across the board through lack of a solid foundation on which to build a prosperous future for all.Several politicians and other leaders have been trying to address this issue in one way or another and it is something that needs to be looked at holistically.On the education front, Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba admitted in Parliament this week that our education system had still not succeeded in providing adequate skilled human resources.He is absolutely correct.And while unemployment persists, ironically, on the other hand, many job vacancies exist in many sectors for which there are no or few skilled candidates to take up the posts.And what, after all, is the purpose of education? And if our education is missing the mark, as it has been widely acknowledged, then why is nothing being done about it? Nothing proactive, that is.As students struggle more and more, the Ministry’s answer tends to be to lower the threshold, so that more pupils who shouldn’t, are in fact passed through the education system.It can come as no surprise therefore, when it is found that their knowledge of even the basics does not provide them with enough grounding to take on jobs in either the public or the private sector.The system does our youth no favour in this respect.They complete schooling, are presented with certificates which do or don’t enable them to continue with further tertiary studies, and for which they remain ill-equipped.Further training, at the end of the day, is not the only answer.It will help in some cases to consolidate skills, where there are some already, but only with difficulty can it invest skills in those who have little or none.And in many cases too, the private sector needs to employ people who already have qualifications.After all, business is about profitability, and it is well nigh impossible to run an effective one if few or no staff are actually qualified.It is something of a vicious circle.There are no easy answers or solutions as to how we can get out of the impasse in which we find ourselves.But we simply have to, or risk further deterioration across the board, but more particularly with regard to economic development.The goals we have set ourselves for the country in terms of Vision 2030 cannot be reached if present levels are sustained.We have to work towards solutions, and of course, these must begin with a review of the education system itself.It does not help to drop standards, as appears to be the case at present.All this will achieve is to give an impression to some that pass rates are increasing, but in actual fact we are turning out more and more students with insufficient qualifications to either enter the job market or take on tertiary studies.Some say, and we tend to subscribe to this view, that pre-primary education needs to be the focus of any thorough education system revamp.It would obviously be very expensive in terms of resources to make such a commitment to our youth, but it is nevertheless important for us to see whether this in fact would not pay us dividends in the long run.We also need to inculcate learning in the youth at an early stage, and this is where the adult population in Namibia could set an example.The problem is that the desire to better ourselves and empower ourselves and build a solid skills base is not a part of our culture at present.Instead, the get-rich-quick school of thought tends to dominate, and that must surely de-motivate those learners who are then deterred from a belief that academic achievement is important in the path to self-development and seek the easy way out instead.We are certain that, like ourselves as print media, there are many other companies in the private sector crying out for high-quality people in various sectors of employment.There are jobs available, but in too many cases, no one to fill them.The country needs to face up to this fact, and address it as a matter of urgent concern, and we do believe it starts with the education system itself.Standards are slipping across the board through lack of a solid foundation on which to build a prosperous future for all.Several politicians and other leaders have been trying to address this issue in one way or another and it is something that needs to be looked at holistically.On the education front, Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba admitted in Parliament this week that our education system had still not succeeded in providing adequate skilled human resources.He is absolutely correct.And while unemployment persists, ironically, on the other hand, many job vacancies exist in many sectors for which there are no or few skilled candidates to take up the posts.And what, after all, is the purpose of education? And if our education is missing the mark, as it has been widely acknowledged, then why is nothing being done about it? Nothing proactive, that is.As students struggle more and more, the Ministry’s answer tends to be to lower the threshold, so that more pupils who shouldn’t, are in fact passed through the education system.It can come as no surprise therefore, when it is found that their knowledge of even the basics does not provide them with enough grounding to take on jobs in either the public or the private sector.The system does our youth no favour in this respect.They complete schooling, are presented with certificates which do or don’t enable them to continue with further tertiary studies, and for which they remain ill-equipped.Further training, at the end of the day, is not the only answer.It will help in some cases to consolidate skills, where there are some already, but only with difficulty can it invest skills in those who have little or none.And in many cases too, the private sector needs to employ people who already have qualifications.After all, business is about profitability, and it is well nigh impossible to run an effective one if few or no staff are actually qualified.It is something of a vicious circle.There are no easy answers or solutions as to how we can get out of the impasse in which we find ourselves.But we simply have to, or risk further deterioration across the board, but more particularly with regard to economic development.The goals we have set ourselves for the country in terms of Vision 2030 cannot be reached if present levels are sustained.We have to work towards solutions, and of course, these must begin with a review of the education system itself.It does not help to drop standards, as appears to be the case at present.All this will achieve is to give an impression to some that pass rates are increasing, but in actual fact we are turning out more and more students with insufficient qualifications to either enter the job market or take on tertiary studies.Some say, and we tend to subscribe to this view, that pre-primary education needs to be the focus of any thorough education system revamp.It would obviously be very expensive in terms of resources to make such a commitment to our youth, but it is nevertheless important for us to see whether this in fact would not pay us dividends in the long run.We also need to inculcate learning in the youth at an early stage, and this is where the adult population in Namibia could set an example.The problem is that the desire to better ourselves and empower ourselves and build a solid skills base is not a part of our culture at present.Instead, the get-rich-quick school of thought tends to dominate, and that must surely de-motivate those learners who are then deterred from a belief that academic achievement is important in the path to self-development and seek the easy way out instead.We are certain that, like ourselves as print media, there are many other companies in the private sector crying out for high-quality people in various sectors of employment.There are jobs available, but in too many cases, no one to fill them.The country needs to face up to this fact, and address it as a matter of urgent concern, and we do believe it starts with the education system itself.