Allexer Namundjembo
The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) student command has criticised the government’s decision not to subsidise learners who enrol at the Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol) or other institutions to improve their Grade 11 and 12 results, arguing that the move undermines the constitutional right to education.
Speaking to the Windhoek Observer on Thursday, AR student command interim head of secretariat, Intelligent Katire said the government’s free education policy should benefit all learners, including those seeking to improve their examination results.
Katire’s comments come after the ministry of education, innovation, youth, sport, arts and culture ruled out extending financial assistance to learners rewriting subjects at Namcol, saying the measure was financially unsustainable and had failed to improve academic outcomes when implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Katire said the introduction of free education at both basic and tertiary levels was intended to uphold Articles 20 and 21 of the Namibian Constitution, which guarantee access to education.
“Free education for both basic and tertiary education was introduced to honour, respect and acknowledge the Constitution, whose emphasis is on effective inclusivity for every Namibian child. Whether academically gifted or not, everybody has the right to free education,” he said.
He questioned why learners who are attempting to improve their results should be excluded from the government’s education subsidy programme.
“If subsidised free education is going to exclude Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners who are improving their results through Namcol, then what good is the term ‘democracy’ in our Constitution? Whoever is advocating that these learners should only depend on their parents’ funds, if their parents can afford it, should be held accountable for directly violating the Namibian Constitution,” Katire said.
He argued that many learners fail examinations because of circumstances beyond their control, including poverty, social challenges, and weaknesses within the education system.
“Learners fail due to many reasons caused by the government. Some come from vulnerable households, others are traumatised by their communities, while some receive poor-quality education from teachers and the school system at large. All these factors influence how they approach examinations,” he said.
Katire also rejected the notion that government-funded education should only benefit learners who perform well academically.
“Are we saying free education is just for the smart kids?” he asked.
The remarks follow comments by education minister Sanet Steenkamp, who told the Windhoek Observer that the ministry is not considering paying for learners who improve their subjects at Namcol or any other institution.
Steenkamp said the government had previously funded such learners during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the initiative came at a significant cost and did not result in improved academic performance.
She also said the ministry’s priorities remain early childhood education and sustaining tertiary education, adding that it is not financially sustainable to subsidise learners rewriting subjects.
Questions were also sent to Namcol chief executive officer Ngepathimo Kadhila. At the time of publication, Namcol had not responded, but indicated that it would provide a response.
