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On the southwestern coast of Africa, bordering the south Atlantic Ocean and lapped by the cold waves of the Benguela ocean current, lies the Republic of Namibia. Formerly known as South-West Africa, and before that as German Southwest Africa, it gained independence on March 21, 1990, at which time it adopted the name Namibia. The Namib Desert (from which the country gets its name), one of the plan…
Education in pre-colonial Namibia was an integral part of everyday life rather than a specialist activity carried out in a particular venue with a set curriculum. All the adults in the community were involved in the education of the young as knowledge, skills, values, and the understanding of roles was transmitted by means of conversations, imitation, stories, games, songs, and ritual ceremonies. …
At independence in March 1990, a new teaching and learning paradigm had to be developed that would dismantle the previous regime's policy of segregation and inequality of access and that would reflect the new government's priorities of equity, access, quality, and democracy in education. The National Institution for Education and Development (NIED), one of the branches of the Ministr…
The guiding motto in Namibia's education system is "Education for All." Children three to six years of age attend nursery schools, day care centers, crèches, and preprimary schools, where available, mainly in the urban areas. In the rural areas, children of preschool age continue in the traditional way, remaining close to the mother. The Constitution of Namibia guarante…
Slightly more than 25 percent of the school-going population is at the secondary level. In 1991 a new junior secondary curriculum was introduced throughout the country that unified the 11 separate educational authorities and introduced English as the common medium of instruction. About 20 percent of weekly class time is devoted to pre-vocational subjects. The syllabus thus prepares students either…
Prior to 1979, higher education in Namibia was only available to students who were able to go to South Africa or other countries abroad. In 1980 the Academy for Tertiary Education was established by the South African government, and classes in teacher training and secretarial courses started. In 1985 another academy, consisting of a university component (the present University of Namibia), a Techn…
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Namibian Constitution enumerated children's rights, including those of education and health. In order to improve literacy, which is 80 percent at present, the government allocates 31 percent of the national budget to education and an additional 15 to 20 percent towards health. However, due to outmoded policies and laws, and an untrained teac…
As in most African countries, large land areas, long distances between cities, and the remoteness of large numbers of the population make it necessary for many people to obtain higher education through distance education.
In distance education there is, thus, not always a clear distinction between nonformal and formal education in these countries. While Namibian education was under the…
The changing needs of an independent Namibia require that all teachers be appropriately qualified. For several years the Swedish International Development Agency, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO, and UNICEF have been working on pre-service teacher training programs. In 1993 the Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD) introduced a uniform three-year pre-service teacher educatio…
"Education for All" has been the watchword for the people of Namibia since independence in March 1990, and the country has made remarkable strides in moving towards a goal of universal literacy. This progress has been all the more remarkable as it has been furthered through the medium of English, a foreign language to all but 0.8 percent of the population. International involvement a…
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