Education in Namibia

The Constitution directs the government to provide free primary education; however, families must pay fees for uniforms, stationery, books, hostels, and school improvements.

Before Namibia's independence, the country's education system was designed to reinforce apartheid rather than provide the necessary human resource base to promote equitable social and economic development.

It was fragmented along racial and ethnic lines, with vast disparities in both the allocation of resources and the quality of education offered.

[4] The new Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) set about to create one unified structure for education administration.

A new, uniform and learner-centered curriculum for grades one through twelve, finalized in 1998, has received recognition beyond Namibia's borders and significant progress has been made in the use of English (which replaced Afrikaans as the nation's official language) as a medium of instruction.

[4] On the other hand, Namibia's former Minister of Education Abraham Iyambo summarily described the Namibian education system as "crippled",[6] citing dropout rates, lack of teaching facilities, financial difficulties, sub-standard vocational training, and absence of pre-primary development.

Children are presented with a National Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary level (NSSCO) after successful completion of Grade 11.

[14] After successful completion of Grade 12 learners are presented with a National Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS).

The Namibian Training Authority (NTA) controls seven vocational centers and supports a number of other institutions like Namwater.

They offer a range of courses for school leavers, including; Plumbing, Welding, Electrical general, Automotive electrical, Bricklaying, Cabinet making, Technical drawing, Dressmaking, Hospitality, Office management and Automotive mechanics.

[19] In 2011 the Namibian education system accommodated approximately 600,000 learners of which 174,000 were senior secondary students and below 10,000 were pre-primary pupils.

Only 12% of learners proceed into tertiary education of any kind due to limited places in universities and vocational training.