Dear Minister,
Now that you have proposed a National Conference on English as the solution to the poor English performance in Namibia‘s education system let me bring you up to speed on what happened 8 years ago.
But before, we begin, let me state clearly that your idea is not entirely bad, since we need to find a lasting solution to this recurring national disgrace but I find it difficult to understand why this circle keep repeating itself.
8 years ago a survey was conducted on this same issue and the reality surfaces, over 69% of teachers in our Country were struggling to write and speak in English, If teachers who are supposed to teach couldn’t perform well, how can the students perform well?
This is a question, I want you and your team to answer as you are making plans to prepare for the ‘millions of dollar worth’ of national conference.
What a funny time to be alive? Honestly, I don’t know why we like complicating issues. The reality is that, no learning can take place without effective communication. That report of 8 years ago indicted over 69% of our teachers and nothing was done to correct it
“National conference for English should be held as early as possible before the end of March 2020 to unpack the reasons for the persistent poor performance at schools”, deputy minister Anna Nghipondoka
The people who are now promoting the assertion that English is not a measure of one’s intelligence are not entirely wrong, but we must be very careful not to set a bad precedent for future generation.
If we are just coming to terms that this language is not a measure of one’s intelligence, then why did we make it our official language?
Dear Minister, if you had read the report of the survey that was done 8 years you will come to terms with the reality. The report clearly highlighted that over 69% of our teachers lacked advanced skills in critical thinking and discourse analysis.
The problem is not just the language, they are failing in Mathematics and Physical science too, I hope the Country leadership does not fail our students too by chasing after shadow when the problem is right before their eyes.