Cash-strapped govt schools cancel exams

The Oluno education circuit in the Oshana Region has cancelled its common circuit examinations for May and June due to financial restraints.

In a letter dated 13 May addressed to all principals, heads of department and teachers, Oluno circuit acting inspector Elvi Wapota said the circuit's examination committee resolved that, instead of circuit-wide exams, all schools will write school-based tests. Oluno is home to close to 36 schools – 27 of them state-owned.

Wapota said all principals and heads of department are to ensure that such tests are of quality. She added that the papers that were set at circuit level are to be kept to be used next year.

“All schools are expected to give progress reports to the parents at the end of the semester. Schools are advised to ensure maximum time is used for teaching and learning,” she said. Wapota said the tests will make up for the cancelled exams.

Two-semester system

Speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, education ministry executive director Sanet Steenkamp denied that exams were cancelled, saying they were rather termed a ‘test series’.

At the moment, they follow a two-semester school calendar, she explained. She added that they are still consulting widely and in-depth for the 2025 calendar.

With the two-semester system, the ministry has introduced an end-of-term test series, Steenkamp said. “This means we do not call it examinations. From grade four up to grade nine, they will write the test series. It’s a one-hour test series. After the test, we expect teaching and learning to continue,” she said.

“The only thing we expect is that the children are not provided with homework. This test series will help to put together a report card and feedback to the parents, for them to understand the level of progress that their children have made,” she stressed, adding that the tests should not be easy, but should truly test the learners to see what competencies they have mastered.

Critical decision

Steenkamp said like all other ministries in government, they receive their budgetary allocation to distribute to the regions. This year, they made a critical decision to centralise the payments to schools, she added.

“We are no longer transferring the universal education grants for primary and secondary to the regions to pay out to schools. We get all the required documents from the schools and on the accounts, they are given suppliers’ codes through the ministry of finance, and then we have started our team’s work in April,” she said.

Of 1 760 government schools countrywide, 1 100 schools received direct funding, the executive director said.

“They will get their full amounts of universal primary education and universal secondary education. They will get, in addition to that, money for practical subjects. They will also get N$15 per child for a hygiene package.”

Steenkamp said they have asked principals to ensure that one third of the budget goes over to the next academic year until the next financial year starts in March.

“The school boards and principals must budget in such a manner that they do not use all the money in the school account by December. By January/February, they should still have money because they will only be receiving money in April and May,” she said.

During the 2024 academic year, the universal grant increased by N$100. This means pre-primary learners and primary school learners are allocated N$300 each for the year, while secondary education learners are allocated N$400 each.

The primary education grant for resource schools, or classrooms with resource units, stands at N$1 500 per learner, while the secondary education grant for resource schools, or classrooms with resource units, stands at N$2 000 per learner.

Steenkamp said the funds transferred for practical and basic pre-vocational subjects must be utilised by 31 July. It is the ministry’s intention to have these transfers finalised by 31 May, which will be in a lump sum, once off, she noted.

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