WINDHOEK, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's latest school results show that while top students are performing better than ever, more and more students are having to retake their examinations.
Presenting the data from school examinations on Tuesday, Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, announced that the percentage of full-time candidates qualifying for the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) levels rose to 36 percent, up from 29.5 percent in 2024.
According to Steenkamp, the improvement comes as the ministry introduced more benchmarks under the National Development Plan, raising the quality threshold from 20 to 25 points.
Under this new standard, 40.3 percent of candidates succeeded, a marked improvement over the previous year's 34.6 percent, she said.
While academic quality for the top performers is increasing, Steenkamp said the demographic data suggests a system shift.
Full-time registrations for the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) fell to 38,692.
Meanwhile, part-time registrations increased to 42,819, effectively making the second-chance cohort larger than the traditional full-time student body, she said.
Steenkamp noted that while the rise in part-time enrollment demonstrates a demand for alternative pathways, the decline in full-time students highlights "challenges within earlier stages of the schooling system."
According to the minister, results for part-time candidates remain heavily in the lowest bands (grades E, F, and G), "signaling persistent challenges in quality learning outcomes that require targeted intervention."
"Of particular concern is the fact that a significant number of candidates have enrolled on a part-time basis for up to five times without achieving success, pointing to the need for a more targeted and effective intervention strategy, so that at least the second attempt brings them to achieving their goals," Steenkamp stated.
Steenkamp said the ministry needs to map out ways to provide and guide these candidates on alternative pathways where possible. ■
