PDM unhappy with Grade 12 results

THE Popular Democratic Movement said the recently released exam results showed that the education system is on the wrong track with a significant drop in the number of learners who managed to achieve the required grade to study at a tertiary institution.

This comes after the deputy education, arts and culture minister, Anna Nghipondoka, said fewer pupils achieved the minimum requirements to proceed to higher learning institutions in 2020.

The number of high school pupils who made the grade dropped from 66,7% in 2018 to 61% this year, while the part-time candidates obtained 77,3% of graded subjects, compared to 85,5% in 2018.

The party’s treasurer general, Nico Smit, said in a statement released on Sunday that the way in which the results were presented to the public via the media on Thursday left a lot to be desired.

“It is unclear from the media reports how many pupils actually achieved the required number of points to attend a Namibian institution. It is also unclear how many pupils actually achieved four subjects on higher level with a grade of three or more that will allow them to attend a university outside Namibia,” he said.

Smit further pointed out that reports did not state how many pupils achieved the required grade in a first language, which is usually required for admittance to universities outside of Namibia.

“Only Namibian institutions are willing to accept students with an E in English, despite the fact that this is the language in which they will be expected to study all their subjects,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment that the deputy minister tried to shift the blame for the unsatisfactory Grade 12 exams onto the schools and teachers in statements made recently alluding that the pupils were not adequately prepared for the exams, or that they had tried to cheat the system by various means.

Smit further questioned if the pupils would be able master the same amount of work under the new curriculum and pass their examinations.

“Parents should understand that their children are now, in Grades 10 and 11, under this new curriculum being expected to master the work previously done in Grades 11 and 12. The PDM suspects that very few parents have actually understood this basic issue and are going to find it out at the end of next year when the first batch of Grade 11 school-leavers write their final exams,” he said.

He noted that until the government accepts that the only way to fix the disaster that is occurring in schools is to train the junior primary school teachers properly, the country will continue on this headlong slide into illiteracy.

“In order to test the hypothesis regarding what the outcome will be when the first Grade 11s write their final exam at the end of 2020, the PDM challenges the deputy minister to inform the public of the marks achieved by the learners who wrote Grade 10 at the end of 2019. That should give parents a good idea of what to expect at the end of 2020,” he concluded.