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STATE, REGION, ETHNICITY AND EDUCATIONAL
INEQUALITIES IN POSTCOLONIAL NAMIBIA

presented by

Tangeni Cornelius Kakweno Iijambo

has been accepted towards fulfillment
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STATE, REGION, ETHNICITY AND EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES IN
POSTCOLONIAL NAMIBIA

By

Tangeni Cornelius Kakweno Iijambo

A DISSERTATION
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ABSTRACT

STATE, REGION, ETHNICITY AND EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES IN
POSTCOLONIAL NAMIBIA

By

TANGENI CORNELIUS KAKWENO IIJAMBO

This study identifies some of the practices that are shaping, in complex and
sometimes contradictory ways, the persistence of educational inequalities, along regional
and ethnic lines, in the transformation of postcolonial Namibia. The purpose of this study
was to investigate the extant inequalities and lack of access to educational opportunity
which continue to inhibit Namibia’s educational development and which continue to
manifest themselves in different ways in post-colonial Namibia.

Twenty education officers and two groups, each consisting of ten people from two
disadvantaged marginalized ethnic groups, were given semi-structured and structured
interviews to determine the extent to which educational disparities affect various regions
and ethnic groups in post-colonial Namibia. Other data consists of original materials,
reports, and other documents the researcher was able to secure both in and outside
Namibia.

The study explored the forms and combinations of inequality and social
stratification in education, as manifested along regional and ethnic lines. The report of
this research provides evidence supporting the conclusion that the thrust for educational
transformation in Namibia cannot be realized without responding to the need for

fundamental educational reform. More specifically, the major finding of the study is that

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inequities and inequalities are a result of deep-rooted poverty and social stratification of
the majority population that emanated fiom the inherited legacy of apartheid. In this
study, “transformation” was defined as basic change in the structure of national
institutions to allow the individual a maximum opportunity to ensure her or his
advancement, without any restrictions in terms of socioeconomic, regional or ethnic
background to participate in the nation building purpose.

This dissertation was completed at a time when the SWAPO-dominated, post-
independence government had been in power for eleven years. This was a time of
national self—reflection, both inside and outside government. This study makes a timely
contribution to the national debate on educational inequalities, regional and ethnic
stratification, and marginalization.

The significance of this study lies in its attempt to situate educational policies
within an analysis of the colonial to postcolonial transition while also taking into account

the international global context of funding, influence, and restructuring of policies and

practices.

Copyright by
Tangeni Cornelius Kakweno Iijambo
2001

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DEDICATION

My sons, Takamitheni (literally translated, meaning, “Beware”) and
Kuraushimane (meaning “Grow up and do something about it”) this is my dignity to you,
this is your dignity fi'om me. In Lusaka 1987, while Takamitheni was only six-and-a-half
montln old, and in Windhoek 1995, while Kuraushimane was only two-and-a-half
months old, I had to leave you while you were babies. The first few years of our lives are
the most delicate, and thus very important. To endure them without a father, or a father
without his sons, has its consequences, for both father and sons. However, I believe the
sacrifice was worthwhile and the wait justifiable to accomplish what my sustain us and
in this complex world improve our future. Your mothers, Harriet Sithole Chatepa, then
in Lusaka Zambia, and Mbatjiua Emla Kapitako, in Windhoek Namibia, have done a
remarkable job in raising you alone during your infancy.

All the extended Iijambo and Ihuhua families, your encouragement, support, love
and patience enhanced and improved my vision. My parents did not have much formal
schooling but understood the value and power of education. All siblings and extended
family cousins and nieces and nephews got an opportunity for the only available primary
education. Ovandu Kombombo etc uina maatu zuvaka ombm'a ambura Namibia one
finger alone does not pick up anything. Our collective blood, sweat and tears as well as
concerted efl'orts, therefore, led to 0m deserved independence. It is now up to us what
we will make of the freedom. Ngele Namibia otwelihalela uuyuki, nuukaleleli otuna
okuuvathana etatu hangana.

I honor all the martyrs, comrades and heroes who both in Namibia and in exile

fell during the struggle for independence. Africa, understanding you may eventually help

 

 

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us save ourselves and ultimately serve you better. The global village is too fragile,
multinational and diverse to continue with educational inequalities and social injustice
and stratification indefinitely. Those left out, who in some cases never get opportunities
to get an education, may well be our saviors. The universe and infinity, we the earthlings
together, will try to curve our way into the endlessness. Last but not in any way the least,
the deprived and marginalized communities in Namibia and beyond, I hope this study
will serve as a mouthpiece for you to initiate the process of your VOICES to be heard.
The study is dedicated to all the above with hope for universal, equitable, and
contextually quality education and understanding of the forces that shape our life and
future. That seems to be inevitable because despite fiequent conflicts, the world is daily

becoming the desired “global village.”

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In our academic sojourns, we all accumulate huge intellectual debts. Over the
long years of my student life many people have, the phrases ‘helped me’ and or ‘assisted
me’ seem inadequate, shaped what I have become. In the writing of a dissertation, the
old adage “no person is an island” certainly holds true. Throughout my academic career,
I was fortunate to be mentored by outstanding individuals.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the professors who served on my
dissertation committee: Drs. Douglas R. Campbell, David N. Plank, Susan L. Melnick
and John D. Metzler. I am grateful that throughout my years of study at Michigan State
University they served as colleagues, mentors and guides. I am sure that I was not an
easy person to be guidance committee for, thus, I do appreciate their time, their patience,
and their good advice. I also appreciate their continuous encouragement and support of
my efforts to complete my dissertation.

Secondly, I would like to thank my sponsor Fulbright and the administrators of
the program, the Institute of International Education, without whose sponsorship this
study would but remain an idea in my mind. I highly value and appreciate the costly
process they supported me through. I honor Michigan State University’s assistance for
its payment of my out of state tuition. MSU also sponsored my extended visa, without
whichI could not have stayed in the US. The Office of International Students and
Scholars was appreciably fundamental in that process. Drs. Villet and Amukugo were
my pillars during the data collection stage in Namibia and my mother Ueitiraje Toini
Carolina Iijambo deserves her appreciation for ozongama and for letting me use her

delicate Isuzu KB during that process. I am also indebted to all of my participants for

vii

 

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their professional conduct, objectivity as well as subjectivity and hospitality. Apaxu
Maiz brother in solidarity, our hair will eternally inspire and connect us. Kev Stoffer,
nothing could link us better than the stars.

All my colleagues in the Department of Education (past and present) have been
wonderful sources of edification. They are too numerous to mention Fellow graduate
students urged me to reach for the sky, with their friendship, collegiality and concern, I
will not mention names, lest I forget some. However, their humanity will sustain me
throughout my life. Thanks for the work, play, fi'ustrations and sometimes the joy we
shared throughout my program. I do not know what I would have done without their
friendship and support. Members of Hisa! (Never Die) and Uerikuua H. L. I. Hangula
were the “punching bags” for receiving most of my fi'ustrations and emotions in the
process.

Survivors from years of colonialism, annihilation and destruction, this is for you!
I relish the wonderful collective and extended family tradition that paved the way for all
our successes. Our fallen heroes, I will always miss you but strive to represent you. Last
but not least, thanks to all the other professors, staff, fi'iends, and fellow students who
contributed in various ways to my completing this dissertation and who helped in making

my years at Michigan State University a worthwhile experience.

viii

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LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS - ACRONYMS ......................................................... xiv
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
Overview of the Study’s Main Goals and Questions ................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 4
Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 1 1
Research Questions ................................................................................................. 13
Significance of the Study ......................................................................................... 13
Background — Historical and General Description of Namibia ................................. 16
The Distribution of Regional and Ethnic Groups in Namibia ................................... 21
CHAPTER II
ENDURING PATTERNS OF INEQUALITIES BASED ON
REGIONAL AND ETHNIC DIVISIONS WITHIN THE STATE ...................... 27
Background Literature on Educational Inequalities in
Namibia, Africa, and Globally ........................................................................... 27
Theories of the State ................................................................................................ 31
The Definition of State Qua State ....................................................................... 33
Conceptual Behavior of the State ....................................................................... 37
The Concept of the State in Africa ........................................................................... 39
Colonial African State and Education Policies and Practices .................................... 42
Postcolonial State .................................................................................. 44
Theories of Ethnicity in the Ideology of the State ..................................................... 50
General .............................................................................................................. 54
Africa ..55
Southern Africa ................................................................................................. 57
The Construction of White Ethnic Closure and Maintenance of the
Status Quo ......................................................................................................... 59
Ethnicity, Race, Class, and Inequalities in Settler States .......................................... 61
Explanatory Interlude .............................................................................................. 65

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METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 68
Brief Introduction .................................................................................................... 68
Access to Schooling According to Various Ethnic and Regional Groups .................. 68
The Fieldwork Situation and Type of Data Collected ............................................... 70
Interviews .......................................................................................................... 72
Group Interviews ............................................................................................... 75
Observation by Shadowing Two Leaders ........................................................... 79
Other Relevant Sources of Data ......................................................................... 81
Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 82
Scope and Delimitation of the Study ........................................................................ 85
Ethical Concerns ...................................................................................................... 88
CHAPTER IV
GOVERNMENT POLICY IN RELATION TO POVERTY, UNEQUAL
RESOURCES, AND PROFESSIONAL IMPACT ............................................... 92
Theme: Poverty and unemployment prevail, and the government is
committed to alleviating these problems .................................................... 92
Theme: Good quality education is restricted by facilities, infrastructure,
capital, resources, and technological limitations ........................................ 99
Theme: Unqualified and underqualified teachers with varying
learner-teacher ratios, lack of incentives for qualified teachers,
transportation, ethics, and un-discipline affect the quality of
education ................................................................................................. 1 19
CHAPTER V
SOCIOECONOMIC EQUALIZATION IN AN UNEQUAL
MULTI-ETHNIC AND MULTI-LINGUAL NAMIBIAN SOCIETY .............. 142

Theme: Equalizing input of resources is not enough; this still results in unequal
educational outcomes. Overcoming educational inequalities requires
effective management and political commitment and accountability ........ 142

Theme: Regardless of the govemment’s policies of education for all,

Reconciliation, and Namibia as one nation, nevertheless socio-economic
status, regional, ethnic and residential divisions inhibit access to quality

education and equality of educational opportunity for all ......................... 155
Theme: How education policy has reinforced socioeconomic status barriers to

education ................................................................................................. 168
Theme: Language policy is a problem that contributes to unequal educational

opportunity and exacerbates ethnic divisions ........................................... 179

 

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APPENDICES
Appendix .1
Appendix I
Appendix 1
Appendix 1

BIBLIOGRAI

CHAPTER VI
PEOPLE’S AWARENESS OF AND EFFORTS TO OVERCOME THE
[NHERITED APARTHEID LEGACY FOR RECONSTITUTING THE
SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORDER FOR EQUITY .................... 203

Theme: Persistence of educational inequalities is due to the inherited,
divisive apartheid legacy that manifests itself in many realms of
post-apartheid Namibian society ............................................................. 203
Theme: The marginalized know the educational inequalities in relation
to access and quality that affect them; and they seek parity in relation

to valuing education in various ways ....................................................... 210
Background Information on characteristics of the two interviewed groups ............ 227
CHAPTER VII
SUNIMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENTATIONS ....................... 236
Overview of the Study ........................................................................................... 236
Summary of Major Findings .................................................................................. 239
Prevalent Myths and Realities ................................................................................ 241
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 243
Implications for Further Research .......................................................................... 249
Summary of Recommendations ............................................................................. 251
APPENDICES
Appendix A — INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ............................................................ 254
Appendix B - GROUP INTERVIEW PROTOCOL .............................................. 255
Appendix C - LEARNER TEACHER RATIOS ................................................... 256
Appendix D — DENSITY OF 7 — l3 YEAR-OLDS NOT AT SCHOOL ............... 258
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 259

xi

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Table 1
Government Expenditure on Education in Rands, 1974/75 and 1975/76 ........................ 10
Table 2
Namibia Population by Language Group ....................................................................... 24
Table 3
Number of Learners in Each Region, 1990-1995 ......................................................... 105
Table 4
Selected Gini Coefficients .......................................................................................... 166
Table 5
Six to Eighteen Year-Olds of Different Language Groups Not at School, 1991 ........... 183

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1
Geographical Position of Namibia in Africa ................................................................. 17

Figure 2
Political Geography of Southern Africa ........................................................................ 18

Figure 3
Ethnic ‘Homelands’ According to the Odendaal Plan .................................................... 22

Figure 4

Namibia’s Postcolonial Thirteen Political Regions and Their Concentrations of
Population and Schools, 1995 ...................................................................................... 208

xiii

 

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LIST OF ABREVIATIONS — ACRONYMS

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MNC
NAMCOL
NAN SO
NANTU
NDP

NEC
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SAQMEG
SIDA
SSA
SWANU
SWAPO
UNESCO
UNICEF

WBG
WTO

Education Policy for Sub-Sahara Africa
Economic Structural Adjustment Policy
Human Development

Human Development Index

lntemational Monetary Fund

Living Standard Measurement Study
Ministry of Basic Education and Culture
Ministry of Higher Education Vocational Training Science and
Technology

Multinational Cooperation

Namibia College of Open Learning
Namibia National Student Organization
Namibia National Teachers Union

National Development

National Education Certificate

Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit
Namibia Institute of Social and Economic
Namibian Dollar

Primary Teacher Certificate

Southern Afi'ican Development Cooperation
Southern Africa Quality Measurement Education Group
Swedish lntemational Development Agency
Sub-Sahara Africa

South West Africa National Union

South West Africa Peoples Organization
United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization
United Nations Children’s Fund

United Nations Institute for Namibia

World Bank

World Bank Group

World Trade Organization

xiv

ޤ_v

 

 

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Overview of the Study’s Main Goals and Questions

This study explores the enduring inequalities of access to educational opportunity
and equitable distribution of educational resources experienced by various regional and
ethnic groups in Namibia. Bradshaw and Ndegwa (2000) appropriately observed that

Since gaining independence from Pretoria in 1990, the Namibian

government has attempted to reverse the decades-long educational neglect

caused by apartheid. Beyond expanding access to schooling, the SWAPO-

led government hopes to expand access to secondary schooling,

desegregate White schools, and reduce race-based disparities in school

quality at all levels.
Despite these good intentions and efforts the legacy of restrictive, unequal, and elitist
apartheid education system has continued to haunt post-colonial policies and practices in
Namibia. As a result, access to quality education is still denied to the majority of the
population.

I define quality education here as that received in schools that have qualified
teachers, adequate equipment, and a reasonable student-teacher ratio, and that are well
resourced in terms of buildings, laboratories, books, library, water, electricity, and all the
necessary conditions that facilitate a good learning environment. At independence in
1990, Namibia had inherited eleven different educational administrations based on ethnic
and regional divisions with different funding and resource allocation. The Ministry of

Education and Culture (1993, p. 21) states that

The transition between the eleven education systems and authorities of the
past and the single Ministry of Education and Culture is a continuing
challenge. Societal expectations remain sharply divided. On the one

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hand, the majority marginalized in the old system demands the redress of

unequal allocations and social disadvantages: education for all. On the

other hand, there persist concern, even fear among the privileged minority

that this redress may lead to declining quality in education and other

adverse effects for them and their children.

The educational disparities in Namibia are reflected in a lack of facilities in most
schools (especially in the rural areas), poor teaching quality, high failure rates, and
differential budget allocations to regions. In addition to the deep-rooted inherited
inequalities, new inequalities exacerbate the lack of good quality education for the
majority and enhance social stratification in Namibia. I therefore address the question,
“Why do educational inequalities persist along regional and ethnic lines in post colonial
Namibia?”

Large numbers of children from deprived communities have been left out, and
those who manage to have access to schools have been left behind in the upper grades of
all-age schools. Successive colonial administrations have prevented the majority
population from receiving an education that would enable them to compete in the labor
market, and the postcolonial administration has grappled unsuccessfully with the severe
inherited limitations of the provision for access to schools, as well as economic resources.
Cohen (1994, p. 4) posed the relevant question of whether “when a majority-rule
government came to power, could they be relied upon from an ideological standpoint and
would they be professionally competent to carry out the innovations needed after
independence?” In a general sense, the patterns of inequality have tended to persist,

although the details have changed. This study examined the differences between rural

and urban areas, as well as the relation of social class and school achievement; I have

 

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concluded that the rural majority tends to have fewer resources that lead to their weak
performance in schools.

Some of the issues that have been identified and extensively explored in this
dissertation relate to rights guaranteed in the constitution, such as the right to equality of
opportunity, the empowerment of the previously disadvantaged, and the right to be taught
in one’s own language. All these translate into sociopolitical, educational and ideological
struggles by various stakeholders in the educational establishment. According to Brock-
Utne (2000, p. xvii),

These struggles not only shape educational policy and practice; they also

are dialectically related to more general relations of power among social

classes, racial/ethnic groups, gender groups, and nations. Thus, the

politics of education and the political work accomplished through

education are ways in which existing social relations are reproduced,

legitimated, challenged, or transformed.

This introductory chapter is about policy, practice, and legislation. It sets up and
contextualizes the issues that are examined in other chapters of the dissertation, moving
from the premise that education begins with policy formulation. It has been said that the
education system of a country reflects what the country values and holds dear. The
proliferation of education policies, laws, acts, and discussion documents in Namibia since
1990 mirrors the state of hope, desire, and urgency to move away from a painful,
divisive, destructive, and self-defeating apartheid education system. The vision of the
new government from 1990 is articulated in the new constitution and in the Ministry of
Education and Culture policy document “Towards Education for All, a Development

Brief for Education, Culture, and Training,” and in numerous other local, national, and

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As a historical consequence of structural inequalities in access to education,
knowledge, and resources, students from some minority groups and deprived regions in
Namibia face persistent barriers to educational opportunity. From the colonial experience
it is known that the apartheid educational distribution was divisive and institutionalized
along racial, regional, and ethnic lines to serve the hegemonic aims and objectives of the
apartheid regime (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1993; Brock-Utne, 2000; Young,
1994; Amukugo, 1993). Yet in independent Namibia, as in many other African
countries, education has come to be considered a basic human right, to be available to all
people. Article 20 of independent Namibia’s constitution provides that

All persons shall have the right to education. Primary education shall be

compulsory and the state shall provide reasonable facilities to render

effective this right for every resident within Namibia, by establishing and

maintaining state schools at which primary education will be provided free

of charge. (Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, 1990, p. 12)

In spite of the constitutional mandate and in the face of this educational “bill of
rights,” some regional, “racial,” and ethnic communities remain under-represented at the
primary, secondary, and tertiary levels and have less access to the country’s educational
opportunity at all levels. This unequal participation, therefore, raises fundamental issues
that deserve close examination.

According to Melber (1997), “Resources continue to be concentrated in those
regions that have received higher allocations in the past, and many schools are still
without basic infrastructure such as teachers’ housing, water, and equipment” (p. 24).

This directly contradicts the well-enunciated government policy as stipulated in “Toward

Education for All” of the Ministry of Education and Culture (1992, p. 25), that “to

provide education for all, we must expand access to our education system. For that we
need not just more schools but schools and other education programs where learning is
truly accessible to all Namibians.” However, access, equity, or development in general,
whether it is educational, political, social, or economic development, Adedeyi (1991, p.
2) argues, “is a process of interaction between human and material resources and the
intervention of the application of technology for the purpose of producing goods and
services to satisfy the needs of all the people.”

At independence the Namibian government unified the eleven educational
administrations. All learners can attend any school of their choice. In reality, however,
the majority of parents cannot afford to send their children to well-resourced schools,
which charge high fees. According to the UNDP (1998, p. 20),

Rural households have, on average, only one third the income of their

urban counterparts. As family sizes in rural areas are generally larger than

those found in urban areas, rural dwellers have even smaller per capita

incomes, equivalent to only one quarter of those in urban areas.

This problem is also recognized in responses from some of the government
educational officials who were interviewed. For example, one of the questions asked
what the new government has done to eliminate the apartheid legacy of unequal and
inaccessible education. The majority of respondents were concerned about “access to
education without quality” and “inequality in resource allocation” as the dilemmas after
independence. Mungazi and Walker (1997, p. xxiii) emphasize that “as critically
important as it is, educational reform must be initiated within the environment of

fundamental change that must take place in the social system.” This means that the

political system has to change to embrace the general concept of reform itself. This study

 

 

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sought to address the vexing question of why, in spite of reforms, economic growth, and
poverty, equity at the national level remains a cause for concern.

In stark contrast to schools in and around Windhoek and other major towns, most
schools in the densely populated but rural north, where most of the historically
disadvantaged population resides, suffer from a chronic lack of resources. Many schools
lack a basic infrastructure, i.e., buildings and shelter. In schools that have water and
sanitation, books and resource centers are lacking. Many respondents indicated that in
this regard, electricity and laboratories are “luxuries” inconceivable in some rural
schools. Many schools also lack qualified teachers and basic instructional materials and
equipment.

Despite high grth rates in school enrollments since independence, Namibia’s
education system is still unable to provide even minimal quality education to the majority
of its school children, as evidenced by high failure rates and low learner achievement.
The realities are that 25% of the students will not complete primary school, and 32% of
adult Namibians remain illiterate.

Inequality in education reflects social and economic realities in postcolonial
Namibia. Inequality remains endemic in all arenas of Namibia after a decade of post
apartheid policies and practices. The UNDP-UN report (1998, p. 5) shows that

The richest 10% of society still receive 65% of income, leaving only 35%

for the remaining 90%. In other words, half of Namibia’s population

survives on approximately 10% of the average income, while 5% enjoys

incomes that are five times the average.

Generally, as one moves from the south to the north, the regional human

development indices decline. The northern regions this study concentrated on are at the

bottom of the development list. Land ownership and use are the most visible signs of the

 

brutal colonial and apartheid past of Namibia. Issues of equity confront many areas in
Namibia. Some regions have average class size twice those of other regions. This study
was designed to contribute to the understanding of the changing Namibian education
system and its fledgling role in the nation building process.

The importance that the government and the people of Namibia attach to
education as a means of national development cannot be overstressed. Since
independence, on average, the government has spent about 18 — 20%, and in some years
as much as 25%, of its annual recurrent budget on education. Communities have
contributed materials and labor force liberally to build schools. School fees are regarded
as a first call on family incomes. Unemployed parents do indeed sell their livestock and
even land to send their children to school and to keep them there. In many cases pupils
walk long distances to school, and endure many hours of coaching in order to cross the
hurdles of external examinations. The importance of formal schooling as a lever of social
and economic advancement is almost everywhere fully embraced. Namibians have
always placed a great deal of faith in education. This is evidenced by the way parents
strive to send and keep their children in school. As Sadovnik et a1. (1994, p. 1) indicate,
“Schools have been viewed as providers of opportunity for social mobility, as places that
nurture and develop the hearts and minds of children, as antidotes for ignorance and
prejudice, and as solutions to myriad social problems.” The returns from education take
generations, and the upgrading of teachers’ qualifications and schools is a long-term
process. Nevertheless, there is an ultimate link between educational performance and

economic efficiency.

 

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The accomplishments of Namibia in the field of education since independence
have been remarkable. In terms of quantitative expansion, for example, the number of
school children who leave school having completed the primary cycle rose from 57% in
1989 to over 96% in 1999 Brock-Utne 2000. The number of secondary schools has
grown tremendously throughout the country. The University of Namibia enrollment has
increased yearly since independence. By and large, the University and other tertiary
institutions, as well as primary and secondary schools, have coped well with the
tremendous difficulties caused by political instability, globalization trends, and economic
hardships.

Yet, in spite of this public zeal and relatively heavy public expenditure on
education, the gap between social demand and public supply is still very wide and in
some cases critical. For instance, only about 60% of the children of primary school age
are able to receive more than a few years of schooling, and there is such a narrow
bottleneck at the end of primary school that the stream of young people for whom neither
secondary education nor employment outlets are available is a major problem.

At the same time, the government and the people, as well as professional
educators, have expressed concern about the inequitable education system and its failure
to meet the needs of society. Education is failing to promote a sense of national unity,
self-reliance, social justice, and equity, and is failing to impart scientific and
technological knowledge, cultural values, literacy, and a sense of social responsibility.

All levels and sectors of Namibian society value education for both its intrinsic
worth and its practical utility in strengthening the individual and community. Society

invests tremendous resources in education based on the belief that education leads to

 

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personal and economic opportunities and to economic and social development.
Moreover, since independence, education in Namibia has taken the largest single share of
the national budget. However, access to educational opportunity is still lacking for some
people in the country, especially historically marginalized ethnic groups. Consequently,
education in Namibia is a contested terrain and it is highly politicized. The Ministry of
Education and Culture (1994, p. 1) indicates that

At independence Namibia inherited an education system best

characterized by five key features. First, the system was unequal and

fragmented along racial and ethnic lines. Second, there was a lack of

access, or unequal access to education and training at all levels of the

system. Third, the system was inefiicient in terms of low progression and

achievement rates and high wastage rates. Fourth, the curriculum and

teacher education programs were irrelevant and ineffective to the needs

and aspirations of the individuals and the nation. Fifth, there was a lack of

democratic participation within the education and training system.

Learners, teachers, parents, administrators, and workers were excluded from the
decision-making process. On the whole there was an extremely unequal financial
resource allocation for the different educational administrations. The colonial
government spent ten times as much on a learner in a school in the White administration
as it did on a learner attending a school under the Owambo administration. The Owambo
administration is one of the apartheid eleven administrations that were based on ethnic
and regional divisions. The Ovawambo people are half of Namibia’s approximately 1.7

million population (see Table 1, which shows the disparities in the then different

administrations).

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Table 1

Government Expenditure on Education in Rands, 1974/75 and [975/76

 

 

 

 

 

Fiscal Year Fiscal Year Expenditure
Ethnic Group l974/75 1975/76 Per Pupil 1975
White 12,351,000 14,451,000 614.94
Coloured 3, 156,700 4,160,000 163.00
Black 7,374,000 9,135,000 68.38

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Thomas, 1978.)

The unequal financial allocation naturally resulted in inequalities all through the
system. The legacies of colonial education continued in post-colonial Namibia. Most
changes have been quantitative while quality is lacking for the vast majority, and many of
the changes have actually exacerbated inequalities. Generally, educational systems are
change resistant; undoing the legacies of apartheid is a lengthy, costly, and difficult
undertaking. The continued inequalities and discrimination in Namibian schools are
evident in a number of factors, including the low quality of teachers in terms of formal
education and professional training in some schools, especially in rural areas and under
served regions. The Ministry of Education and Culture (1994, p. 5), for example,
indicates that “in 1991 Rundu region had 49%, whereas Windhoek in the Khomas region
had 82% qualified teachers. Since then the disparities between regions have increased in
this respect and in 1993 only 44% of the teachers in Rundu were qualified.” There are
schools, mainly in towns and privileged areas, which enjoy the services of highly
qualified teachers, have a low student-teacher ratio, and have better resources in terms of
books, libraries, buildings, laboratories and other educational resources.

The continued lack of access to educational opportunity for some groups is due in
part to the apartheid legacy. However, this condition can also be attributed to the

emerging elite who after independence assumed positions of power and are working

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towards its consolidation and maintenance, and thus are in the process of perpetuating
inequalities. Zvobgo (1997, p. 40), writing on postcolonial Zimbabwe, holds a similar
view and concludes that “educational disparities during the colonial period were based on
race but the current inequalities are rooted in the class structure of society and the
unequal distribution of resources to various regions.” The new elite, consisting of
government officials and the business community, have joined the former oppressors and
created a class based on economic status, income or affordability. These are the groups
enjoying the privileges of the best—equipped schools, which the working class and the
disadvantaged of society cannot afford. Jauch (1998, p. 107) states that “the realization
of equity will require large amounts of money to be spent on the provision of adequate
facilities and qualified staff to rural schools. Students in rural areas will, otherwise,
remain at a competitive disadvantage compared to their urban counterparts.” The same
can be said about disadvantaged schools in urban areas.
Research Objectives

In exploring and analyzing the continued lack of access and unequal educational
opportunity available to various regional and ethnic groups in Namibia. This study paid
particular attention to the inequitable distribution of educational resources, as well as to
the ways in which inequalities in education manifest themselves along regional and
ethnic lines.

Within the framework of this study’s explorations necessary historical
background on the development of regional and ethnic divisions is presented. This will
enhance the understanding of the ways in which education contributes to the creation of

the inherited colonial social order, as well as to contradictions within that process. In its

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“National Policy Options for Educationally Marginalized Children,” the Ministry of
Basic Education and Culture (1998, p, 32) suggested that “the inclusion of issues related
to the education of marginalized children should be a feature in both in-service as well as
pre-service education of teachers, and in workshops and seminars for other education
staff, social workers and other stakeholders.” The study examined the extent to which
ethnicity and region restricts access to educational opportunity.

There is tremendous historical and contemporary evidence showing ethnic, race,
class, gender, regional, and even age tensions and contestations within Namibia.
Nevertheless, this study limited its focus to the unequal access to education opportunity
based on region and ethnicity. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to explore,
analyze and document the crucial issues of inequitable educational distribution and
limited access to educational opportunity, which continue to perpetuate social
stratification in Namibian society. Analysis of these inequalities cannot, however, be
understood without looking into the historical factors, which partly contributed to the
current educational and social inequalities.

This study also was designed to help the stakeholders involved in education learn
more about the current situation over the entire country, with regard to social
stratification and the whole spectrum of minority group education among all
marginalized communities. The study was intended to lead to concrete recommendations
to sensitize not only the government but also other stakeholders to work towards
sustainable solutions to the plight of minority ethnic and regional groups. I compared

how the educational problems found among various groups relate to the general

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development problems minority ethnic groups face, and I suggest in which ways
stakeholders could intensify the dialogue or provide answers to these crucial problems.
Research Questions

This study investigated why educational inequalities continue to exist on regional
and ethnic lines given ten years of independence and the unequivocal support for equal
education for all as enunciated in the constitution and government policy documents.
The primary research question which guided this study, was:

0 In what ways do inequalities in education manifest along regional and ethnic
lines and to what extent, why, and how do regional and ethnic divisions
continue to restrict access to educational opportunity in postcolonial Namibia?

The subsidiary questions were:

0 What forms do the inequality take? For example access to fimding,
availability of facilities, teacher training, financial resources, staffing,
equipment, school buildings, and language policy?

0 What political, social, and economic factors explain these inequalities?

o What evidence if any exists that the disenfranchised minority groups are
aware of the educational inequalities? In what ways do they seek educational

parity?

0 Does social background account for a higher proportion of the variance in
achievement than between school differences in resource inputs?

0 Which factors peculiar to region and ethnicity improve or constrain access to
schooling and affect the quality and nature of education provided?

0 What political (state), social (regional and ethnic) and economic factors
explain persistence of these inequalities?

Significance of" the Study
Previous studies of education in Namibia fall short of examining the aspect of
inequalities on regional and ethnic lines, particularly the new inequalities that have

resulted from policies and practices of the independent government. The vital roles of

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actual structures; personnel involved in the control, administration and policy of
education; and the involvement of the marginalized communities themselves have been
overlooked. There has been little recognition of the efforts of marginalized ethnic groups
in Namibia. There is limited knowledge about their experiences, and lack of keen
understanding about how they survive in the numerous ethnic communities they
represent. This research aimed to fill the gap and in so doing has broken new ground.
For the first time there is an attempt to link policy and practice on the provision, control,
and focus on regional and ethnic challenges of post apartheid inequities.

The significance of this dissertation is that it provides an opportunity for the
voices of the educationally marginalized and the often-ignored socially stratified
communities’ to be heard. The data collection and analysis styles employed in this work
assisted me in relating information on the culture, context, and history of various groups’
and education officers intentions, potential and work. Furthermore, this study attempted
to interrogate the experiences of both the marginalized communities and the government
employed education officers who both have various views about persistent educational
inequalities along ethnic and regional lines. The study also fithhers scholarly
understanding of educational inequalities and clarifies ethnic myths and realities that play
out in the process of nation building process in Namibia.

The study provides additional information about some of Namibia’s hitherto
overlooked minority regional and ethnic groups who were neglected during the colonial
demarcations and also during the current post colonial dispensation. This work is also
meaningful because there are no Black Namibians who are looking at this topic in this

way, which places the issues of educational inequities and ethnic and regional disparities

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at the center. I am one of the few Black scholars not only addressing these important
issues, but also suggesting further research for in-depth understanding. Hopefully, the
lessons learned from this study will contribute essential reference and insight to other
educational as well as national leaders, policy makers, and researchers in Namibia,
Afi'ica, and beyond who are just beginning to look at regional and ethnic experiences of
educational inequalities. Jiobu (1990), for instance, states, “Ethnic issues are becoming
increasingly prominent, both in the United States and around the world (p. 1).”

Finally, this study is also important as a case study for other researchers interested
in identity and deprivation, indigenous cultures, and social stratification on regional and
ethnic lines across the globe. Most other similar studies’ reluctance to embrace the
notions of ethnicity, race, and class as socially constructed elevates this study to an
important position. It is noteworthy to examine how interaction with the respondents
revealed reality that is shaped by social, ethnic, political, gender, cultural, economic,
racial, color, and language issues formed and solidified over time. It is also crucial to
hear the respondents speak for themselves about their struggles in defining inequities and
ethnicity from their own perspective within these social constructs. And it is crucial to
learn how being from another ethnic group with a different home language may result in
different experiences and understanding of these experiences. Perhaps more than any
other social variables, regionalism and ethnicity impact the policies and practices of
governmental institutions in Africa today, which makes inquiry into these factors of

utmost importance in contemporary Africa.

15

Background —1

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Background — Historical and General Description of Namibia

Education in Namibia is greatly influenced by its geography, population, socio-
economic, and political experiences. All of these shaped the education systems and the
inegalitarian educational distributions discussed in this study. Namibia became an
independent state on March 21, 1990, after more than a century of colonial rule. Namibia
was colonized first by Germany, from 1884 — 1915, then by South Africa, from 1915 —
1990. The country was declared a mandate of the League of Nations in 1915 after its
initial German colonizers lost all their colonies in Africa. The mandate of South West
Afiica, as the country was formerly known, was regulated by the Principal Allied and
Associated Powers. Harlech-Jones (1997, p. 9) clarifies that

The question of authority over Namibia, and the legitimacy of South

African rule in the territory, dated back to the disbanding of the League of

Nations and the founding of the United Nations shortly after the Second

World War. In 1915, South Africa militarily occupied South West Africa

(as Namibia was formerly called) by defeating the German colonial forces

that occupied the territory. When South Africa established its control over

the territory, confirmed by the granting of a mandate by the League of

Nations in 1920, it inherited a country in which the indigenous inhabitants

had been devastated and dispossessed in wars against the German colonial

forces.

Early in the twentieth century German genocide against the inhabitants
consolidated German colonial power and placed the prime grazing land under White
control. During the I960s, as the European powers granted independence to their
colonies and trust territories in Africa, pressure mounted on South Africa to do the same
for Namibia. In 1966 the United Nations General Assembly revoked South Africa’s
mandate. Intense negotiations with South Africa, the liberation war, and international

pressure led to the beginning of Namibia’s formal transition to independence in April

1989. During the eleven months’ transition, political prisoners were granted amnesty,

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discriminatory legislation disappeared, South Africa withdrew its forces, and thousands
(more than 42, 000) of refugees (including the author of this dissertation) returned to
Namibia under the UN auspices of Resolution 435. The first multi-ethnic elections took
place in November 1989, and by Febmary 1990 the Constituent Assembly had drafted
and adopted a constitution.

The third largest land area in southern Africa after Angola and South Africa,
Namibia covers 824, 392 square kilometers. Situated on the west coast of southern
Africa the country is bordered by Angola and Zambia in the north, Zimbabwe and
Botswana in the northeast and east, South Africa in the south and the Atlantic Ocean on
the western coastline.

Figure 1

Geographical Position of Namibia in Africa

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Cohen, 1994.)

17

 

 

 

 

Figure 2

Political Geography of Southern Africa

 

 

 
 
    
 

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The Namib Desert, arid and desolate with high, shifting dunes with a width
varying between 80 and 150 km, extends along the entire coastline. The name Namibia
was derived from this oldest desert in the world. With a population of 1.6 million people,
Namibia has one of the lowest population densities in the world. The population is
scattered all over the country, with the largest concentration in the northeast, north, and
northwest. According to Mbamba (1982, p. 28), “The altitude varies from 1000 to 2000
meters, forming a diversified landscape of mountains, sand valleys and gently undulating
plains. The Kalahari Desert lies along most of the east of the territory.” The Kalahari is
a semi-arid desert composed of monotonous plains covered with thick layers of terrestrial
sands, and limestone, various shrubs, and grasses grow in scattered areas.

At independence, the new Namibian government inherited eleven educational
administrations, designed and demarcated by the apartheid regime according to the
different ethnic, racial and regional groups. Some ethnic groups were not recognized
during the colonial period of division. These were either lumped together with others or
just left out by colonialists. These ethnic, racial, and regional groups had unequal access
to formal education during colonialism.

Other basic facts: capital city, Windhoek; GDP, US$28 billion, GDP Per Capita,
US$1,860; literacy - 76%. Namibia is one of the most unequal societies in the world. It
is a more unequal society than countries such as Brazil and Bangladesh (UNDP 1990).
The richest 10% of the society receive 65% of income. Conversely, the remaining 90%
share amongst themselves only 35% of national income. The inter-census annual

population grth rate between 1981 and 1991 was 3.1 % (Republic of Namibia -

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Central Statistics Office, 199427). By the beginning of 1999 the population grth rate
stood at 3.4 % according to one of the interviewees for the study.

Despite the high priority the post-independence government has put on education,
spending 25% (in 1993) of total government recurrent expenditure on that sector, the
historically disadvantaged communities still face a combination of problems pertaining to
unequal access to educational opportunity, poor teacher quality, lack of facilities, student
quality, and high drop out rates, especially in rural schools in the outlying regions.

The government of Namibia has been successful in improving some of the
infrastructure, and in raising the enrollment rates, particularly at grades 1 - 3, where
repetition rates and drop out rates have been severe. Improved educational infrastructure
and less emphasis on formal selective mechanisms have resulted in reduced drop out
rates, especially during the first years of schooling. In 1990, for example, over 70% of
school leavers were finishing at or before the end of primary grades, and almost half of
these after grade one. By 1994 this had fallen to 50%, with a marked reduction in the
number leaving after grade one (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1996). Similarly, the
number of qualified teachers is increasing, albeit slowly.

However, despite these overall improvements and progress aimed at spreading
development to previously disadvantaged communities after independence, the White
population lives better, remains richer, and is better educated. Resources continue to be
concentrated in those regions that have received higher allocations in the past, while in
less well resourced regions many schools are still without basic infrastructure such as
teachers’ housing, water, libraries, and equipment. Out-of-school rates for particular

communities are still extremely high: over 80% of San speaking children of school going

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age are not in school; the average for other language groups is less than 20% (Ministry of
Basic Education and Culture, 1996).
The Distribution of Regional and Ethnic Groups in Namibia

Before independence, the boundaries between regional and ethnic groups were
reinforced by geographical separation and by an administrative and social system, which
used ethnicity for many purposes. The UNDP analysis of human development for
Namibia has revealed a pattern of inequities along regional, linguistic, gender, and urban-
rural lines.

Ethnic categorization was the principle upon which access to educational
opportunity, along with other economic and social services, was patterned and organized.
Mbamba (1987, p. 43) points out that “the geographic distribution of the population in
Namibia was determined by the apartheid laws and regulations which, while allowing
temporary labor migration, restricted non-White population to the ‘reserves’ or
‘homelands’ or ‘Bantustans’ areas.”

For the sake of clarity and proper explanation of the factors that led to the current
unequal distribution of resources, it is necessary to give the colonial and post colonial
distributions of both human and natural resources. For purposes of administration and
control, Namibia was divided into northern and southern sections, with the ethnic
homelands clearly demarcated and the rest of the fertile farmland reserved for the White
population. (See next page, map of Namibia showing homelands). These demarcations
were also known as White Stan and Bantu Stan, or the police zone and the semi-
autonomous reserves. The northern section contained only Blacks’ reserves, which were

exclusively for the Black population; Whites and Coloreds were not allowed to settle

21

 

there. The map shows the general ethnic and regional population distribution in apartheid
Namibia.

Figure 3

Ethnic ‘Homelands’ According to the Odendaal Plan

   
       

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(Source: Cohen, 1994.)

22

 

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The homelands were administered and controlled by White European
representatives of the Bantu Affairs Department of the South African government. The
map above is a clear indication of the lack of understanding for and misrepresentation or
limited categorization of various ethnic groups in the country’s regions. In all these
regions, for example, the various Khoi-San ethnic groups shared the habitat with other
ethnic groups but were not shown or represented.

The rest of the country, which was the major portion of fertile land and with the
most natural resources, was then referred to as the police zone. This zone was solely
earmarked for the White settlers and for pockets of Colored and Nama (Nama are a light
skinned pe0ple whose language is closer to the staccato San languages) settlements.
Nama is one of Namibia’s ethnic groups which, due to their lighter skin color, the
colonial regime granted second-class position equivalent to the Coloreds. The current,
post independence distribution of people, mainly by the thirteen political regions and
seven educational regions as well as by language groups, still leaves out minority ethnic
groups who are unaccounted for or are lumped together with the main recognized ethnic
groups. Language is often centered on particular regions of the country, but urban
migration has led to many languages being spoken outside their speakers’ home regions.
The table below shows the distribution of the population by language spoken at home.
The category “Afrikaans” includes people of European descent as well as many of mixed

origin whose mother tongue or the language used at home is Afrikaans.

23

Table 2

Namibia Population by Language Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 10,941
Afrikaans 13 3 ,3 24
German 12,827
Nama-Damara 1 75,5 54
Tswana 6,050
Otjiherero 1 12,916
Lozi/Caprivi 66,008
Oshiwambo 66,008
Other 66,008
San 14,503
Rukavango 136,649
Total 1,409,920

 

 

 

(Source: Population and Housing Census, 1991.)

The current government, as described by the respondents, aims to discourage ’
ethnicity by not openly having ethnic categories. Nevertheless, the inherited system,
which did not change in terms of settlement of various ethnic and regional groups, was
systematically divided according to ethnic and language groups. Specific concentrations
of ethnic groups still live in their former homelands, which are referred to as communal
lands in post-colonial Namibia. According to the second Delimitation Commission
(1998, p. v), “Thus far, Namibia’s population is predominantly rural based. About 69%
of the country’s population live in rural areas, and only 31% in urban areas.” Since most
of Namibia’s population is rural, people who live in towns and in the city go back to their
respective reserves, villages, or regions to settle or visit. Schools in specific regions will
teach in the language of the area for the first three grades as per government policy.
However, there are dilemmas about parents’ reluctance for their children to learn
languages other than their own in the preliminary grades. This in turn restricts movement

of professionals and other workers from region to region. There is denial of ethnicity;

24

most government officials interviewed expressed the fact that at independence, after
abolishing the eleven educational administrations, ethnic categories are discouraged.
This is partly an attempt to create a homogenous “one Namibia one nation” (a concept
tried in many postcolonial societies in vain) by the government, in an era of growing
ethnic and regional awareness that offers contradictory characteristics in Namibia’s
nation building process. The Second Delimitation Commission (1998, p. v) emphasizes
that

The sparcity of the population, compounded by the country’s immense

land surface area, creates difficulties for communities in securing the

reception of government services. The prevalent inadequate

infrastructure, especially of roads in the regions, makes it difficult for

communities to reach the administrative centers from where government

services are rendered.

Not only does the incidence of poverty vary considerably from one region to the
other, its profile in terms of dimensions varies also. According to the UNDP (1989)
report, in terms of poverty, Otjozondjupa is the most representative region of the whole
of Namibia. It comprises the richest commercial ranching and farming areas, as well as
the least developed district of Tsumkwe, inhabited by the most deprived population
group, the San. Kunene, however, is by far the most neglected region in terms of
education, based on the number of schools in that region, qualified teachers, resources to
those schools, and the people’s nomadic/pastoral lifestyles. “Like the Ovahimba, the
Ovaherero in these areas need their children for herding their livestock and other chores,
and some children may thus not be attending school, or are taken out of school for

periods when their manpower is needed for the family economy” (Hvidsten and Kavari

l997,p.ll)

25

 

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Among the indigenous Black groups, there are no large differences except for the
San and other minority groups like Ovazemba and Ovankhumbi, who are by far the most
disadvantaged. Although the different Black communities have more or less similar
levels of human development, a small Black elite has emerged since independence and is
likely to continue to grow. Differences between urban and rural areas mirror
discrepancies along other lines. The majority of those in rural areas are involved in
subsistence agriculture. They have lower than average literacy rates, access to education,
health care, and employment opportunities. This leads to high levels of inequities and
deprivation with concomitant low levels of human resource development.

The Ministry of Education and Culture (1993, p. 34) states that “equality and
equity are of special importance to Namibia. Our country is emerging from a sad history
of racial discrimination and inequality. Continued privilege based on region, race or
ethnicity is not acceptable.” Unfortunately, inequalities still persists at various levels. A
comprehensive rural development strategy must form a major part of future efforts to
eradicate or at least alleviate inequitable distribution of educational and other resources
and promote sustainable development for various ethnic and regional groups in Namibia.

The next chapter deals with the literature and the explanatory theories used for

this study.

26

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Chapter II

ENDURING PATTERNS OF INEQUALITIES BASED ON REGIONAL AND
ETHNIC DIVISIONS WITHIN THE STATE

Background Literature on Educational Inequalities in Namibia, Africa, and
Globally

This chapter reviews literature and theoretical frameworks for understanding the
state, ethnicity, and educational inequalities from various global perspectives. The state
and ethnicity were central to the planning of this study because educational inequalities
are a product in Namibia, as in other African countries, of the state as manifested along
regional and ethnic lines (gender and social class are also important). It is asserted here
that educational inequalities exists in every country that has a formal education system,
and that educational inequalities can be better understood in the context of understanding
the concept of and fimction of the colonial and postcolonial state. It is also especially
important to understand socio-political, as well as regional and international,
developments (Samoff, 1998; Appadurai, 1996; Young, 1994).

Analyzing the complexity of unequal access to educational opportunities for
ethnic and regional groups calls for the consideration of multiple conceptual frameworks
and data sources. This study drew on various bodies of literature based on theories of the
state. According to Hartshome (1999, p. 6), “The state is not an impartial provider of
education. The particular political social and economic context in which education exists
is used by the state to achieve purposes which it considers to be advantageous or

expedient.”

27

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The other bodies of literature drawn on were theories of ethnicity including those
about Africa. Young (1994, p. 234) documented that “asymmetric with the colonial state,
subject societies acquired an array of ethnic fault lines far more pronounced than those in
the pre-colonial world.” These theories explain the nuances and elaborate the different
perspectives of the making and unmaking of ethnicity in the African continent. Rothchild
(1997, p. 4) suggests that “ethnicity acts as a pole around which group members can
mobilize and compete effectively for state controlled power, economic resources etc.”

On the flip side, ethnicity is the mechanism of patrimonialism — the method by which
relative weak and under-resourced post colonial states maintain power and a semblance
of legitimacy.

The chapter explores the state’s origin and definition, then moves on to the
colonial state and society. Basically the colonial state was weak, and thrived on race and
class, as well as ethnicity, in a divide and rule manner. Exploration and explanation then
moves on to the post-colonial state, which inherited the “weakness” and “softness,” and
thus lacks capacity and legitimacy. As a result, the aspirations and expectations of both
the people and the state are not met. The chapter expounds the inevitable patrimonialism,
at both group and individual levels, which accentuates ethnicity. This seems to be
important for various groups as they compete for “voice” in the political state arena and
the distribution of resources in the civil arena. To mediate multi-ethnic and pluralistic
cultural interests, the state must mediate competing interests by becoming more liberally
tolerant of competing cultural frames (Bradshaw and Ndegwa 2000, p. 316).

These approaches were important and relevant to this study as they suggested

more in-depth understanding of the endemic educational and social stratification

28

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problems experienced in Namibia, which are caused by multiple factors in the
educational, cultural, social, economic, and political spheres. Additionally, the literature
review examines the intersection of ethnic, race, class, and regional dichotomies to
present a comparative analysis of the colonial state and its neo-colonial successor, the
post-colonial state. Young (1994, p. 45) suggests that “exceptional features of the
African colonial state, arising from the exigencies of its own reproduction, reproduced a
singularly difficult legacy for the post-colonial state.” The concept of reproduction
enhances the post-colonial state to be the major manufacturer of not only educational
inequalities but also the unequal distribution of resources in all spheres of its operation.
In this literature review it is important to explore how the dynamics of inequalities are
demonstrated in the ethnic, regional, class, and general social stratification of Namibia.

The existing Namibian educational literature indicates that the problem of unequal
access to educational opportunities has not been fiilly explored (Mbamba, 1982;
Tjitendero, 1976; Pakarae-Kandjou, 1985; Ellis, 1984; Kamatuka, 1988; Amukugo, 1993;
Ministry of Education and Culture, 1993; Kustaa, 1997; Melber 1997). Most of these
works recognize the existence of inequitable access to schools and the skewed allocation
of educational resources. Particularly noted are leamers’ outcomes such as the high drop
out, repetition, and failure rates for Black students, especially in outlying regions where
distances between schools and villages are enormous and are key factors rather than
ethnicity.

There is a need to provide research accounts that explore and conceptualize
educational opportunities or the lack of then in Namibia. Jauch (1998, p. 102) reminds us

that “the uneven allocation of resources during colonial rule left Namibia with gross

29

 

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are“

inequalities between former White and Black schools, as well as between rural and urban
schools.” Factors that contributed to the foundation of a dysfunctional elite colonial
educational system that kept many Black children out of school, or prepared for failure
those who were enrolled in school, deserve to be emphasized. In so doing, policy makers
and the powers that be can have guidelines for determining future policies and practices
aimed at equitable resource allocation to various ethnic and educational regions. The
challenge to equalize educational opportunities through equitable resource allocation
requires carefial investment in time and budget reallocation.

At independence, equitable access to schooling was identified as an aspect of
education that warranted special consideration because of Namibia’s history of
discrimination and inequality. The Ministry of Education and Culture admits that
spending on some students far exceeds that on others. These inequalities can only be
eliminated by making all schools universally accessible and using the available resources
optimally (Ministry of Education and Culture 1993). This has, however, been
problematic due to various reasons. Educational inequalities on ethnic and regional bases
in Namibia are a direct result of the restricted and divisive form of education that German
and South African colonizers provided the colonized people of Namibia. This was in line
with the divide and rule policies and practices of colonialism imposed on the population.
Historically, educational inequalities are, in part, the result of the way in which formal
school systems in both rich and poor countries have developed into social institutions that
unequally distribute credentials and resources to unequally empowered social groups
(McDermott, I989; Nkomo, 1990; Brock-Utne, 2000). The argument here is that

inequities in education as they have affected the native people of Namibia were the

30

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outcome of the policies and practices of restricted and inferior colonial education.
Policies that were designed on notorious regional and ethnic lines have denied education
to nationality groups in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

Despite government attempts to change these policies and practices at
independence, their deep-rooted legacy and the conditional compromises for
independence, as well as the new inequalities as a result of socioeconomic class, resulted
in inherited inequalities that persist in the post-colonial dispensation. This chapter
provides a discussion of the relevant international literature in which educational
inequalities, social stratification, and ethnic divisions are conceptualized as social,
economic, and cultural dilemmas of or within the state. Existing primary and secondary
sources on Namibian education are utilized in order to strengthen the explanatory power
of the theoretical perspectives on educational inequalities discussed in this chapter. The
persisting educational inequalities on ethnic and regional lines, the dynamics of race,
class, and gender, and the endemic social stratification in Namibia can be fially
understood by exploring and understanding the nature of the colonial state and post
colonial state.

Theories of the State

The state is central and relevant to this study because Namibia appears to be a
very state-permeated society. People regard the state as powerful, and extensive
penetration of state power into people’s private lives is often tolerated fatalistically,
regarded as normal, or even advocated as appropriate. State power is regulative and
controls all aspects of the state machinery. In spheres as diverse as education, health,

business, and transport, the state has laid down rules and norms, and has attempted to

31

 

 

 

 

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police them. Yet the Namibian state also seems a huge, sprawling, uncoordinated,
internally divided machine. It has, on occasion, seemed to lose control over some of its
segments, especially at the geographical and institutional peripheries. There have been
several competing centers of power: central, regional, and local levels are often not well
synchronized; different departments may have conflicting goals; different geographical
regions influence government officials with different social ethics; and officials from
different ethnic groups often interpret their tasks and interests in conflicting ways. All
these result in the Namibian state having too many internal tensions.

It is also necessary to emphasize the importance of the state to this study because
the state sets education policy, and the state is the major provider, funder, and controller
of education. The state distributes resources unequally, and the state also contributes to
“ethnicity” through patrimonial practices and clientilism favoring one group over others.
Overall, explanations for present conditions in society, especially in Africa, are lodged in
the state, in state policy, and in reactions to state actions. Rothchilld and Chazan (1988,
p. 121) explain that

State centric approaches have stressed the centrality of the state as a

historical actor, the key collective agent of macro-political processes. This

perspective views the state as the central organ for the extraction and

distribution of resources, the determination of binding principles for

society, and the maintenance of external and internal security, social

harmony and political and economic well-being.

This is fiandamental to understanding the way the state has developed in post-
colonial Africa. It is vital to emphasize that the state in Africa is an extension of the
colonial state based on European models implemented since colonialism. It is also

necessary to note that in spite of its premier position in education policy formulation and

implementation, the state can no longer be viewed as the sole or the only influence of

32

 

 

 

 

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social, economic, and political exchange. The state encounters pressures from
stakeholders and interest groups like socio-economic classes and ethnic, regional, as well
as global economic structures, thereby constantly shifting social reactions to the state and
to each other at various local, regional, national and transnational levels.

The Definition of State Qua State

The question of the origin and definition of the state is one that has been of
concern for centuries. Functions of the state differ from state to state depending on
education, the nature of politics, or the ideology that is operative, and also on the
composition of and the way various ethnic groups operate within a society. According to
Sicker (1991, p. 19),

The questions of the origins and intrinsic character of the state have

therefore been considered as issues of great theoretical significance, since

they can affect the perceived legitimacy of existing states and their

governments, and have been considered in the writings of some of the

most important thinkers in the history of political thought.

Accordingly, the question with which the political theorist must grapple is how it
came about that the political authority of the state exists and is so universally accepted as
natural to human society. Among the various, numerous, and at times contradictory
definitions of state, a somewhat serviceable notion was postulated as a generalized
proposition by Willoughby (1928, p. 14), who contended that “Wherever there can be
discovered in any community of men a supreme authority exercising a control over the
social actions of individuals and groups of individuals, and itself subject to no such

regulation, there we have a state.” This idea was recast by Wolff (1970, p. 11) into the

concise definition, “The state is a group of persons who have and exercise supreme

33

 

 

 

 

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authority within a given territory.” By contrast, Pulszky (1988, p. 9) went considerably
further than the preceding definitions with the following assertion:

That moment of the organization of every society in which it presents

itself as independent, dominant and capable of asserting its own conditions

of life by force, forms always a distinct phase in the process of

association; and whenever any particular society assumes this form it

appears as the state. The state is properly a law-creating and law-

maintaining society, which proclaims and asserts the conditions of its

existence in connection with its own conduct and that of its subjects,

through commanding, permissive, and prohibitory rules.

Pulszky’s introduction of the element of force into the definition of the state is
particularly noteworthy. There can be little doubt that the ability to mobilize and apply
force is a significant feature of the state throughout history. In modern times there has
been an evident tendency for the state to assume an increasingly absolutist role in the life
of society, irrespective of its form of government. Lippmann (1929, p. 30) stressed that:

A state is absolute in the sense that it claims the right to a monopoly of all

force within the community to make war, to make peace, to conscript life,

to tax, to establish and disestablish property, to define crime, to punish

disobedience, to control education, to supervise the family, to regulate

personal habits, and to censor opinions. The modern state claims all these

powers and in the matter of theory there is no real difference in the size of

the claim between communists, fascists, and democrats.

In contrast to the presumed similarity of governmental structures in the earliest
stages of state formation, in the course of their actual development states tend to assume
widely divergent forms because of their unique historical experiences, geographical
configurations, ethnic composition, economic foundations and other relevant factors.
There is not, it seems, a single universally agreed upon definition that captures the

essence, function, and completeness of the state. For the purpose of this study, to

understand the overwhelming nature of the state I briefly refer to Young’s ‘attributes’ and

34

imperatives. According to Young (1994, p. 25), the most satisfying definition he
encountered, by Dyson, triumphs by its comprehensiveness, if not its verbal economy:

Besides referring to an entity or actor in the arena of international politics,

state is a highly generalizing, integrating and legitimating concept that

identifies the leading values of the political community with reference to

which authority is to be exercised; emphasizes the distinctive character

and unity of the “public power” compared with civil society; focuses on

the need for the depersonalization of that power; finds its embodiment in

one or more institutions and one or more public purposes which thereby

acquire a special ethos and prestige and an association with the public

interest or general welfare; and produces a socio-cultural awareness of

(and sometimes dissociation from) the unique and superior nature of the

state itself.

Despite the differences in various definitions, there are certain aspects, words or
phrases which seem to capture common characteristics of the state. Some of them will
reappear in the following attributes and imperatives by Young: Territory - The state is a
territorial entity. Population — The population of a state is not only subordinated to its
rule but also organized into a formal set of statuses stipulated by the polity. Sovereignty
— Internally viewed, refers to the amplitude of state authority over its subjects. Power —
The aggregation and accumulation of power is inherent in the state. Law — Everything
touched by the state is transformed into law, which is crucial to the bonding of state and
civil society. The state as nation - In conventional discourse the word nation and state
are joined by a hyphen or used interchangeably, as if synonyms. The state as an
international actor -. In enacting its external role the state must ensure its survival and
preserve its independence in a violent arena. The state as idea - The whole policy
process of the state is best understood as a mere performance, “constructing the political

spectacle” in order to conceal the patterns of inequality and exploitation that the state

upholds through its power.

35

 

 

 

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Following are the six imperatives developed by Young, which I also consider
necessary to explain the characteristics of the state and are relevant to support the claims
of the study: Hegemony - All states are continuously engaged in a struggle to ensure the
supremacy of their authority. Autonomy — The quest for autonomy within the global
system of states is perpetual, governing policy choices for states large and small.
Security — Some form of national security council, whatever its title, is to be found at the
institutional core of any state. Legitimacy - Weber with good reason places patterns of
legitimation at the core of his nation of the state; absent this property, the state is in a
condition of extreme vulnerability. Revenue — The revenue imperative is the bedrock
postulate of state behavior. The state, in pursuit of its revenue imperative, is cast in a
predatory role. The revenue imperative is essential to nurturing all other imperatives.
Revenue enhances the ability of rulers to elaborate the institutions of the state, to bring
more people within the domain of those institutions, and to increase the number and
variety of collective goods provided through the state. Accumulation - This is a
determinant of state behavior that becomes clear only in the modern era. Merchandilism
became absorbed into the reason of state in the sixteenth century; from that point on, state
managers could readily grasp the urgency of fostering expansion of the economic base,
from which the state derived its revenue. Thus, the commitment to accumulation has
become institutionalized as a constant; what has shifted over time is the recognized
means of accomplishing this goal. Young (1994, p. 39) emphasizes that “The delicate
mission of the state is to sustain conditions in its economic management conducive to
investment, while simultaneously pursuing revenue-consuming distribution policies

indispensable to its legitimation.” For many developing countries, especially the African

36

 

 

 

 

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states the current dilemma of polity management in many ways hinges on the
accumulation imperative.
Conceptual Behavior of the State

To attribute the words ‘omnipresent’ and ‘omnipotent’ to the concept of the state
may sound comparable to God but it certainly sounds like an exaggeration of the concept
of the state. Nevertheless, considering the potential overall power, hegemony, and
control of every aspect of society by the state, it seems appropriate to emphasize its
supreme sovereignty over the infrastructure — roads, schools, electricity and other social
services and the superstructure the legislative, executive and judiciary in Namibia’s case.
This is what Young referred to as ‘state as actor’ using all the state apparatus, power and
hegemony. My conception of the state as such does not necessarily overlook different
models of the state. The state can be argued to be a form of government, which could be
democratic, autocratic, socialist, authoritarian, military or police. It can be seen that all
these forms of states are derived from who rules, who is in the superstructure, who
actually governs, and who sets the rule of the game of running the affairs of the physical
entity called the state (Zvobgo, 1997, p.4).

Central to the notion of “state as idea,” rising above its visible institutional
machinery, is the discovery of a reason embedded within it. According to Meinecke
(1957), the classic exegesis of Machiavelli opens with the reason for the state (the logic
that governs state action):

Whatever the circumstances the business of ruling is . . . always carried

out in accordance with the principles of raison d ’etat. Raison d ’etat may

be deflected or hindered by real or imaginary obstacles, but it is part and

parcel of ruling. It is not realized, however, as a principle and an idea

until a particular stage of development has been reached; namely when the
state has become strong enough to break down those obstacles and to lay

37

 

 

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down its own unqualified right to existence in the face of all other vital
forces.

The modern state indisputably meets this qualification. In its original
Machiavellian sense, raison d ’etat essentially sprang from the desire to accumulate and
maintain power. The ultimate objective of the state is to ensure its own reproduction
through time. Power in the usefiJl conceptualization of Giddens, quoted in Young, “is
regarded as generated in and through the reproduction of structures of domination.” This
structuration of power, bracketing time and space, rests both on material (allocative) and
ideological (authoritative) resources (Young, 1994, p. 21).

On the basis of Weber’s definition, the state consists of the government or
legislature, which passes laws; the bureaucracy, or civil service, which implements
government policies and decisions; the police, who are responsible for law enforcement;
and the armed forces, whose job it is to protect the state from aggression. Apart from
these functions, the state is supposed to play a crucial role in almost every aspect of an
individual’s life, be it economic, political, religious, or educational. The state is supposed
to come up with a notion of which all citizens are in favor. But of course the state, as
already pointed out, is not neutral. The state normally is dominated by the interests of the
dominant group of people in that given state. But that domination does not necessarily
have to be expressed in a cohesive form. The domination can be exercised in such a way
that the lower groups, in the final analysis, come to share in the perception of what is
good, the perceptions that are shared by the dominant group of that state. The state’s
responsibility is to provide security for its people, social amenities, education, health,

employment, infrastructure, and systems which enable citizens to function productively.

38

 

 

 

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The Concept of the State in Africa

A number of important questions are raised when- conceptualizing the state in
Afi'ica. The concept itself has been interpreted from different perspectives by a variety of
players, stakeholders and academics for a very long time since the 15th century. It is
necessary to look at various definitions which have been offered over centuries in a
variety of fields and disciplines. Consequently, it is important to look at and understand
the implications of these definitions to the state in Africa and how they shaped its
evolution which continues to be influenced by various local and global forces.

The concept of the state raises a number of fimdamental questions in postcolonial
Africa. The concept itself has been interpreted fiom various premises over centuries.
Munro (1996, p. 113) phrased it this way: “The state is pivotal to the political future of
African countries. Even in the most abject cases of political chaos in Africa, some
institutional form of political and administrative organization exists which calls itself, and
is recognized as, the state.” Around the world, not least in the industrialized West, the
state has been challenged both from ‘below’ and from ‘above’ by ethnic, religious,
regional and other pressure groups, by international stakeholders and actors,
supranational bodies and institutions, and indeed by the state elite itself.

It is also necessary to look at the form of the state cherished by African
nationalists during their struggle for independence, and compare it with the state that
eventually evolved. For such an exercise to succeed, we need to consider, first, the
colonial philosophy of statehood; secondly, the impact of colonialism on the African

subjects; thirdly, the educational, social and economic background of the African

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political agitators; and fourthly, the decolonization method adopted by the European
colonizers (Zvobgo 1997, p. 6).

In his preface to the classic survey, A fiican Political Systems, edited by Fortes
and Evans-Pritchard and first published in 1940, Radcliffe-Brown concludes on the
following note: “The political organization of a society is that aspect of the total
organization which is concerned with the control and regulation of the use of physical
force” (Fortes and Evans-Pritchard 1987, p. xxiii). This definition derives a very clear
inspiration from Max Weber’s definition of a ‘political community’ as “a community
whose social action is aimed at subordinating to orderly domination by the participants a
tenitory and the conduct of persons within it, through readiness to resort to physical
force, including normally force of arms” (Weber 1978, p. 901).

Weber’s original discussion was concerned with identifying the distinctive
features of the modern state, which he defined as a type of political community
possessing a monopoly of the legitimate use of force in addition to the association with a
‘territory’ highlighted in the quotation. Radcliffe-Brown, however, had to extend his
discussion to include ’stateless’ segmentary societies. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard
proceed to explain that authors in the volume charged with studying such societies — as
distinct from what they defined as ‘primitive states’ like the Zulu or the Bemba — were
unable to base their analysis on a description of governmental organization but were
“forced to consider what, in the absence of explicit forms of government, could be held to
constitute the political structure of a people” (Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, 1987, p. 6).
For the modern definition, Zvobgo (1997, p. 6) argues that

The modern definition is that the state is a form of political association
which, in the main, enjoys the unique right of being able to use legitimate

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cohesion over a particular territory. The rights and duties of office holders

of the state are set down in law including constitutional law. Many regard

it as a means of achieving national unity and throughout history, several

writers have attributed a mission or wider purpose to the state over and

above its individual parts. In real practice, it is difficult to define precisely

what constitutes the state unless it is simply seen as a set of public rules

and offices and there is considerable disagreement over what it is or

should be.

Machiavelli believed that the power of the state was a single whole and could be
centrally controlled irrespective of whether a particular state was a monarchy or a
republic. If people are corrupted, Machiavelli preferred a situation where the state
needed a single ruler with a strong hand, ready to be ruthless in preserving order.
Machiavelli’s definition of the state was modified by Hobbes, who limited liberty in a
state to make way for authority. He believed that man is largely selfish, roughly equal in
strength and liable to compete with each other in satisfying their wants. He goes on to
say that the authority of the sovereign must be absolute and undivided; otherwise there
may be conflict between holders of different offices. Absolute rule may be oppressive
and autocratic, but Hobbes concludes that at least it secures man from the worst evil, a
state of war. Across Africa, this seems to be the dominant pattern stemming from the
colonial legacy of the 19"I and 20‘h centuries. This is evident in virtually all of African
states.

Marxists viewed the state as a condition of class exploitation. They had three
assertions about state characteristics, that the state arises when society is divided into
classes, that the state is an instrument of class rule, and that when society becomes
classless there will be no need for a state. Although most African countries at

independence did not have attributes of being Marxist states, they used this Marxist view

when they set up state structures in order to consolidate their position of control.

41

 

 

 

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To fully identify and comprehend the disparities in African states, these
definitions and explanations are necessary as they give evidence about the
institutionalization and or maintenance of inequalities in the provision of various policies
and practices. The state in Sub-Saharan Africa as parasite, as predator, even as vampire:
such language emerged in article and book titles around 1990 and dots the current
literature. The French scholar Jean-Franscois Bayart touched a common metaphoric
nerve most deeply with his 1989 book about Afiica’s Politics of the Belly. It aptly
translated the idiom of the “body politic” in Chinua Achebe’s sense from A Man of the
People.

Colonial African State and Education Policies and Practices

As indicated earlier and will be alluded to throughout the study, the colonial state
preceded and was the basis of the post-colonial state in Afi'ica. In Namibia, from the
early years of colonialism, the existence and expansion of education has been dependent
on state fiJnding. This was crucial, as the colonial regimes perceived education of the
colonized as potentially a threat to their agenda and establishment, but also, most
importantly, as an instrument to firrther specific colonial goals and objectives. “Initially,
education for Black Namibians was justified in terms of its vocational utility. For the
most part, its task was to prepare people for the specific jobs that German and then South
African rule requir ” (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1993, p. 2). The
manifestations of dominance, subjugation and divisions are clear in the colonial state and
in its crisis-ridden education, which reproduces inequalities. The colonizer practiced a
policy of ethnic and racial “separate development” (apartheid) which culminated in the

establishment of “homelands” Bantustans for most Namibians. For the majority of the

42

 

 

 

 

 

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indigenous population of Namibia this policy became a policy of deprivation, social and
economic injustice, political suppression, persecution and, for many, legal prosecution.
Discrepancies between Black and White in the fields of education, medical care, social
services, and others contributed to severe disadvantages for the majority of the Black
population (Totterrneyer 1991, p. 3). Class differences predominantly based on region,
ethnic, and racial criteria consequently still characterize Namibian society.

In considering the Afiican colonial state in comparison with the broader universe
of imperial formations, Rothchild and Chazan (1988, p. 41) reflect on three major
specific features that stand out: Firstly, the conquest of Africa was much more
competitive than that in any other major region. In Africa the scramble was concentrated
and intense, and in many areas involved multiple competitors for given territory.
Secondly, the colonial state-building venture in Africa included in most areas a far more
elaborate and comprehensive cultural project than was the rule in Asia or the Middle East
(although the new world was comparable). Racialist ideas were much more ideologically
elaborated than they had been in earlier centuries at the time of African colonial
occupation. The European ruling class had a more pronounced conviction of its own
cultural, biological, and technological superiority, and held a more systematically
negative view of the Africans. Africa was a tabula rasa (except for Islamic areas), a
fitting field for the surge of evangelical energy welling up in the Christian Churches. The
disposition to remake African society was less pronounced on the part of the British than
the others, but it was present in all. Thirdly, colonial expansion in Africa occurred at a
historical moment when European states were far more comprehensive and elaborated

than was the case in earlier centuries. There was, of course, a deepening of the colonial

43

 

 

 

 

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state in Asia in tandem with the elaboration of the state at home. But this proceeded by
degrees, and lacked the intensity of first encounter, which characterized colonial state
building in Africa (Rothchild and Chazan 1988, p. 40).

According to Young’s discussion, given vast differences in the historical
development of the modern state in Europe and North America, in comparison with Sub-
Saharan Africa, the perspectives and theoretical constructs developed for analyzing the
state in the former areas are not always applicable to the analysis of the contemporary or
colonial African state. Nevertheless, a discussion of theories of state is necessary and
instructive given the fact that colonial African states as “superstructures” were European
imports.

Therefore, considering all these observations as indicated in this chapter, the state
(colonial and post-colonial), in spite of its premier position in the policy process, was not
totally autonomous. It encountered pressure from interest groups (socio-economic
classes, ethnic regional and religious), and was limited by the realities of the domestic
and international economic structures. Certainly the presumption of the perennial aspect
permeates reason of state. Exceptional features of the African colonial state, arising from
the exigencies of its own reproduction, produced a singularly difficult legacy for the
postcolonial state.

Postcolonial State

The theoretical model of postcolonial analysis has been extended, as issues of
ethnicity, gender and social class, have moved center stage. Whether informed by or in
opposition to colonial discourse theory, critical and historical inquiry has begun to focus

on the material fabric of postcolonial societies, in which the memory and the legacy of

44

 

 

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the colonial encounter interact with other elements (Fhlathuin 1989, p. l). Colonizer and
colonized are fixed in a relationship of dependency and inequality. Scholars from a
variety of perspectives and approaches have converged in describing African states in
such terms as “fictive states” (Sandbrook 1985), “quasi-states” (Jackson, 1990) “shadow
states” (Cruise O’Brien, 1991). The African state as a category might also be described
as a “personalized state” in the sense that it has been characterized by paternalistic forms
of government shaped by the personality of one key individual player (Jackson and
Rosenberg 1982a). The phenomenon of the personalization of the state must also be
closely linked to various other characteristics of African states.

Expansion of education and the growth of the state sector at independence were
particularly remarkable features of the Afiican state, as more and more people were
absorbed into the state apparatus as a strategy to maintain political support.
Consequently, schools were built to provide access in order to fitlfill the state promise of
education for all. Brock-Utne (2000, p. 20), for example, explains that “increased
primary school enrolment was one of the direct results of a significant development in
post independence Africa.” Post colonial African states have also, almost universally
though again to varying degrees, exhibited the characteristics that have earned them the
label of ‘prebental’ or ‘rentier’ states, referring to a means of allocating resources
collectively to a group (at times identified as a “ruling class” or “ruling alliance”) with
preferential access to the state. The particular forms of prebentalism that have
characterized African states have left them permeated by clientelistic networks, in which
patrons reward clients with positions that can be converted into sources of private

accumulations (Joseph, 1987). This strategy can also serve the interest of facilitating the

45

 

 

 

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consolidation of power of a regime and hence of maintaining political stability for a
period of time. As a result of this process, however, the very exercise of state power
inhibits economic growth, and thus the state eventually undercuts the very basis of its
own survival.

Two aspects summarize the history of Africa since independence. These are “the
search for political stability” and “the search for economic development.” The state in
sub-Saharan post-colonial Africa as parasite, as predator, even as vampire: such language
emerged in article and book titles around 1990 and dots the current literature. The French
scholar Jean-Francois Bayart touched a common metaphoric nerve most deeply with his
1989 book about “Politics of the Belly.” The mainstream reveals a good deal about the
birth of the independent African state, and the mixed signals about its current health. The
colonial system had used the weapon of racism effectively to keep Black Africans at the
bottom of the ladder of development politically, economically, and socially. The post-
colonial state has been variously described as an instrument of the international
bourgeoisie, thus a dependent formation (Leys, 1975; Mandaza, 1986); a tool of the
ruling political classes and the bureaucratic/administrative bourgeoisie (Shivji, 1980); a
“predator” or piranha feeding off societal elements; an organization for prebendal,
patrimonial and patron-clientilist relations; a tool for militarized and ethnic/kinship-type
modes of economic surplus extraction; and an extractor of obeisance from the mass
publics, the extreme cases of which has given rise to that monstrosity Mobutu in former
Zaire, Houphuet Boigney in Ivory Coast, and Bokassa in Central Afi'ican Republic
(Callaghy, 1990; Chazan, 1988; Herbst, 1992). Further, the post-colonial state has been

defined, variously, as a relatively autonomous entity, or a site/theater in which ethnic and

46

 

 

 

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class conflicts play out, and or resolve themselves (Herbst, 1990; Hyden, 1990, 1992;
Sachikonye, 1986); and as a connective link in the hierarchicalized global division of
labor (Wallerstein, 1974, 1979, 1988, 1995; Balibar, 1995). State managers play key
roles in organizing and directing the economies of social reproduction and accumulation,
and consequently the elaboration of identities and consciousness of the population.

It is a matter of argument whether afler liberation/independence the triumphant
nationalist fully appreciated, at first, the immensity of the prevalent problems and that the
struggle to find solutions to them was going to prove more difficult and more long lasting
than the campaign against the colonial masters. At independence, the newly established
African governments, including Namibia at her independence in 1990, adopted
democratic processes and, as such, constitutionalism and democratic principles were to
be the guidelines. However, with the handing over of power, constitutionalism came to
be generally something that had to be centered on the relationship between power and
law. The post colonial state had to reflect commitment to good government principles
and rules, but in reality the very constitutions which provided the framework for
democratic processes were soon destroyed or violently abrogated by elected presidents
who became dictators, and by military personnel. This has had some impact on the
features and character of the post-colonial state in Africa’s development (Zvogbo 1997,
p. 8). In Namibia for example, the mling party amended the constitution for the
incumbent president to run for president for a third term. This sent shock waves both
nationally and internationally, but again it represents the concept of personalized rule.

The state is not synonymous with government, although in the developing world,

particularly in Africa, the two are often treated as one by politicians. The difference

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between the state and government is a distinction that should be made clear from the
beginning. The state includes all infrastructures ofien referred to as superstructure. The
state is much larger than government. Government is what administers the state and
includes branches of the Judiciary, the Executive, and the Legislature i.e. the law courts,
cabinet and parliament. The government acts to mediate between the state and its
subjects and operates by using the apparatuses of the state. Any party and the
government have limited life spans. In a democracy, the life span of a government
usually extends to two parliaments or two elected bodies. In most of the African states,
the life of government is unlimited as there are no easy means of changing governments
because of dictatorial political leaders and their ruling parties. The state, on the other
hand, is supposedly permanent and not subject to the rise and fall of any political party
from power.

It can logically be argued that the political parties in Africa have not yet
understood that they cannot be states and that, at best, they can only be parties in
government and not the entirety of government itself This inherent (political party equal
to government and state) misconception in African political parties has contributed to
poor governance which is party-centered, instead of good governance which is state-
centered, and some of the consequential problems which prevail across the social fabric
of African countries today. The point of this study is that the nature of state and
government in Africa determines the nature of national policies and programs that
emerge and the delivery of services to the people.

The theories and characteristics of states are necessary to understanding the way

states in Afi'ica have evolved, how they operate and in particular how they plan and

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deliver services to the people. They help me to explain the philosophies that guide states
in planning and implementing educational services and the rationale behind those
services. Throughout the study I examine and discuss the link between the state and
education. The post-colonial state inherited the weaknesses of the colonial state and thus
perpetuates inequitable distributions of virtually all services to the population. Theory
and data show that the cultural, constitutional, and economical weakness of the state is
directly attributed to the acute lack of resources, capacity, and legitimacy. Bayard argues
that “In Africa as elsewhere, the state is a major manufacturer of inequality. The
‘development,’ which it boastfully claims to promote, and in whose name it attempts to
ban political competition and social protest, plays its part in this process (Bayard 1993, p.
60). The colonial African state failed to deliver per the aspirations and expectations of
people or perhaps failed to fulfill its obligations. Thus, it turn to patrimonialism (at both
individual and group level), which in turn accentuates ethnicity on which basis groups
compete for VOICE, in political and economic state arenas. The patrimonial framework
encompasses the concept of clientilism, a system of decision making that is based on an
exchange of substantive favors, legal privilege, or protection from punishment among
political actors. The patrimonial state, whether in its populist stage or a rigorously
authoritarian manifestation, relies on corporatist forms of organization to ensure the
dominant position of the state over society. It has been defined by Roett (1992, p. 35) in
the following way:

A system of interest representation in which the constituent units are

organized into a limited number of singular, compulsory, noncompetitive,

hierarchically ordered and functionally differentiated categories,

recognized or licensed (if not created) by the state and granted a deliberate
representational monopoly within their respective categories in exchange

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for observing certain controls on their selection of leaders and articulation
of demands and supports.

The term ‘patrimonial state,’ as used by Roett, is more appropriate, I believe,
because it conveys a more comprehensive image of politics and society as they are found
in Namibia today. The term has the advantage of focusing on the national political
system and its continuation over time. Control and domination are essential ingredients
of the actions of the patrimonial state. The weakness of state is not just constitutional and
cultural but more so economical, whereby it lacks resources, expertise and capacity then
turns to patrimonialism.

It is not that the leaders or elite who control the state are reluctant to offer
education to all or provide education equally to all, but the issues of lack of capacity in
infrastructure, capital, and resources limit the state from equal distribution of services to
all. The theories of ethnicity will expound the social, economic, political and
philosophical complications and clarifications.

Theories of Ethnicity in the Ideology of the State

As has been indicated earlier in the study, state, ethnicity, educational inequalities
and societal social stratification were the key concepts in the formulation of this study. In
order to grasp the dynamics of socio-economic, political and cultural interactional
processes incarnated in the materialization of the ethno-tribal creed, it is necessary to
have explanatory theories that deal with issues and questions related to ethnic identity
and how it is generated and shaped. There emerged in recent decades a number of
theoretical attempts dealing with different dimensions of societal issues related to ethnic

interactions, stratification, and identity.

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Theories of ethnicity are not, however, homogenous; one may divide them into
two contrasting schools of thought: the primordialist and the modernist schools. While
the modernist school argues that ethnic groups will disappear with modernization, the
primordialist school believes that ethnic groups are based on primordial sentiments of
solidarity that continue into modern and post-modem eras. Between the primordialist
and the modernist schools of thoughts is the “perenialist” school, also called
instrumentalist or situationalist. It perceives ethnic groups as based on “social” human
characteristics, but they are perennial (Lema, 1993, p. 22). I understand him as referring
to ethnic groups as everlasting.

Against this theoretical diversity, one notices that underlying much of the
confusion in ethnicity studies is the absence of a commonly accepted definition of the
concept of ethnic group among scholars. Each one of the scholars has made their own
definition of the concept in accordance with their own ideological and theoretical
perspectives. The concept of ethnicity is wide and substantially addressed by various
scholars. Shils (1957), who is among the scholars advocating the primordialistic
position, defined ethnic attachment as most commonly arising from ties of blood and
shared common territory. He argues that

Ethnicity, ethnic identity is perceived as a primary bond; it expresses the

original primitive solidarity with those one is related to in kinship, ties of

blood, language, religion, customs, etc. In other words, territorial bonds,
kinship ties and value systems form the central basis for ethnic integration.

Ethnicity for the primordialist becomes then a matter of natural nearness

that creates social ties, rather than a matter of social interaction that

creates primary nearness and bonds.

The subject of contention between the primordialist and the perenialist schools is

whether an ethnic group should be defined objectively through a number of social criteria

51

 

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or subjectively by its members. While the primordialist school, with an objective
definition, interprets ethnicity (ethnic identity) as a primary sentiment of solidarity, the
perenialist school defines it subjectively, looking at ethnicity as a transitional
phenomenon, situationally expressed. Discussing the differences between the two
approaches, Isajiw (1974, p. 115) noticed that

In contrast to the objective approach by which ethnic groups are assumed

to be existing as it were “out there” as a real phenomenon, the subjective

approach defines ethnicity as a process by which individuals either

identify themselves as being different from others or belonging to a

different group or are identified as different by others.

Although there is a divergence of views, a critical analysis of the main ideas
advanced by the two schools indicates that they are not completely incompatible. There
are in fact advantages of fusing them into a composite definition. For example, both
positions emphasize the importance of culture in the understanding of an ethnic group.
They share the view that ethnic groups are cultural groups that can be defined in different
ways.

As I understand it, ethnic group identity is not a question of either/or, it is a
transfer/transient phenomenon. Taking that position, my approach becomes a composite
one combining both primordial and the modernist definitions. This view, particularly as
expressed in the works of Peterson-Royce (1982) and Horowitz (1985), influenced much
of the analysis in this study. Horowitz’s (1985, p. 64-70) conceptual abstraction of short
and long term changes of ethnic identity as a question of widening ethnic group
boundaries through assimilation and differentiation is an idea that I refer to.

In this interpretation the change of ethnic identity in terms of assimilation can be

seen as a process of amalgamation or incorporation. The colonial state in Namibia used

52

 

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this strategy to divide the people. For example, the Ovahimba and Ovaherero became
two separate groups, and the different San groups were all lumped together under the
name Bushman. The Ovankhumbi, who are not recognized as one of the Namibia’s
authentic ethnic group but are lumped together with other larger groups, although they
practice their own culture and speak their own language, are clear manifestations of the
misappropriation or misapprehension of ethnicity. Lema (1993, p. 24:) discloses,
“Ethnic identity change may also occur in the shape of differentiation or proliferation. A
change of ethnic identity through differentiation means that a group is divided into its
component parts.” That is the situation for the majority of socio-cultural groups in post-
colonial African states. Ethnic proliferation, however, refers to a new group that arises
without its parent group, or to a group losing its identity. In Horowitz’s view these are
the processes erasing boundaries between ethnic groups and creating new identities.
Ethnic groups are also typically class stratified and the class identities of a
group’s member cut across their ethnic identity. “Current historical discourse suggests
that much of the processes involved in the evolution of collective identities cohere around
two organizing principles: class and ethnicity. Both are significantly shaped and defined
by the state which serves as a primary arena for social interactions” (Lema, 1993, p. 24).
As advanced in the preceding analysis/discussion, the ethnic marking, the ethnic
management, and the adoption of the ethnic based collective identities took place both in

the colonial and post-colonial state and were orchestrated by the state apparatus.

53

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General

Ethnic issues are becoming increasingly prominent both in the United States and
around the world (Masao Jiobu 1990, p. vii). That may be a strong assertion, but
impressionistically, at least, it encompasses events such as the minority - majority
conflicts in the United States, Armenian conflicts in the Soviet Union, the Basque
conflicts in Spain, the Hutu — Tutsi conflicts in Burundi-Rwanda, and the discrimination
of the San in southern Africa. Several far flung places with different cultures but having
in common ethnic unrest suggest that ethnicity has taken on more importance than
scholars have heretofore realized, and with that importance has come prejudice,
discrimination, hostility, inequality, and, sometimes, death. Several explanations have
been offered for the persistence of ethnic inequality, ranging from the purely
psychoanalytic to the purely rational-economic.

Ethnic identities are in general articulated around ancestry, culture, and language,
which are subject to change, redefinition, and contests. Thus we cannot talk simply of
‘ethnic groups.’ Rather, we should understand ethnicity as a social process, as the moving
boundaries and identities which people, collectively draw in their social lives. Central to
this process is the production and reproduction of culture, of acknowledged ancestry and
the use of language as a marker of social difference and the emblem of a people. The
social relations and classifications include political and economic relations that have an
ethnic dimension, and this dimension is activated or suppressed in a wide variety of
contexts.

At the level of individual action ethnicity is a signal of identification. At the

social system level ethnicity refers to the “systematic and enduring social reproduction of

54

 

-
e.
to

ti»
he

0’

basic classificatory differences between categories of people who see themselves as
culturally discrete” (Eriksen, 1993, p. 10). These categories are not stable or permanent
orderings of people or symbols. Three important modalities on which ethnicity varies are
scope, scale, and formality. The scope of ethnic identity may reach from the most local
to the global, the scale may vary from the macro-social to the interpersonal exchanges of
micro-social life, and ethnicity may be a matter of regular but informal practice or
formalized into legal and constitutional principle.

Africa

In all African countries, politicians and bureaucrats make fiequent claims to the
effect that they are concerned with the well-being of all citizens and not with that of any
particular ethnic group. In fact policy makers never openly admit that they make policy
decisions that reflect preference for their ethnic group or that they discriminate against
others.

The reality, however, is that ethnic attachment is alive and well in Africa. To be
sure, individuals still consider themselves as members of particular groups and they are
proud to be members of those small groups. According to Kimenyi (1997, p. 21), “While
they may consider themselves loyal members of the nation, they also identify with
particular groups. There is no question that most Africans are patriotic with respect to
their nations. Equally so, however, they are patriotic and loyal to their tribal groups.”
There are clear cases and situations when individuals identify with a particular state or
nation state (for example, during times of war with other countries). However, many of
the issues that confront persons on a day-to-day basis, e. g., schools, labor markets,

businesses, and so on require that individuals identify with a smaller group. This group is

55

 

often the ethn
only importan
the state in At

Toap
regional lines
Africa As or
years ago t‘ol‘;
boundaries or
boundaries h‘
l'nity's princ
inriolability
They remain
bfl‘keen 5‘an
0\‘ahirnba pt

Namibia L;

 

often the ethnic group. Thus, the institution I refer to as ‘ethnic group’ in this study is not
only important but it also allows the reader to understand the dynamics of ethnicity and
the state in Africa.

To appreciate the argument about the persistence of inequalities on ethnic and
regional lines, it is necessary to understand the complications of ethnic diversity in
Africa. As noted earlier, the map of Africa largely reflects boundaries drawn over 100
years ago following the 1885 Treaty of Berlin. Although it is well accepted that colonial
boundaries did not take into account ethnic or cultural boundaries, the inherited
boundaries have remained largely intact. This conforms with the Organization of African
Unity’s principle of inviolability of colonial frontiers. Although the principle of
inviolability has held, for the most part there is nothing special about the boundaries.
They remain as unnatural as they were at the time of partition. For example the boundary
between Angola and Namibia separates the Kavango, Ovawambo, Ovankhumbi and
Ovahimba people, placing some in Angola while their families are across the border in
Namibia. Likewise, the Maasai of Kenya are separated from their families in Tanzania.

Ethnic units differ in various ways. In most cases, the most “objective”
noticeable difference between two groups is language. More often than not, ethnic units
will differ in various aspects including their history, language and customs. While
groups living close to each other may have several similarities in their ways of life, they
also have characteristics that make them distinct. Whether the difference between ethnic
groups is large or small, the point to keep in mind is that each ethnic group considers
itself different and fiequently identifies with a particular region (Knight, 1984, p.12).

Each ethnic group resides in a particular area and fairly meaningful boundaries separating

56

ethnic territories can be drawn. Also, some African countries are geographically large.
Namibia’ population is, for example, sparsely scattered over vast areas, making it
difficult for the government to serve local communities effectively. Frequently, far —
flung local communities feel totally isolated from the central government.

Southern Africa

For social scientists working in Southern Africa the breakdown of apartheid
creates a need to consider whether the moment for abandoning the concept of ‘ethnicity’
or at least for ‘fresh and independent’ approaches to ethnic relations (Fosse 1992, p. 4)
has come. Particularly for some scholars working with Southern African hunter-
gatherers, ethnicity now seems more like a stifling problem than an identity or a cultural
and tradition upholder. Having overcome the political channeling of ethnicity by
apartheid, people seem to feel free to reconstruct separate ethnic and cultural identities,
which are no longer seen as threatening to national identity.

At present, ethnicity’s most conspicuous role is political. This is not entirely new.
Ethnicity has long been one of the factors determining political choices in Africa, as it
has in many parts of the world. Given the nature of African societies, it would have been
strange indeed if this were not so. It was the case even before independence, when many
of the anti-colonial nationalist movements were founded on an ethnic base. Political
movements claiming to represent ethnic constituencies and forging cultural symbols into
ideological weapons have appeared everywhere, particularly in southern Africa.

Ethnicity has emerged as a major contender for political power. Its claims are
strengthened by the populist movement for democratization, respect for human rights,

and grassroots development. It could be best to view ethnicity in a state as a functional

57

indigenous institution, and to study the functions it performs at particular junctures in the
history of the state in Africa. Markakis (1996, p. 301) appropriately observed that

Commonly ethnic political movements struggle for political as a means of

securing access to material and social resources. Since independence, the

state throughout Africa has controlled the production and distribution of

resources, and state power has been the best, if not the only, means of

obtaining them. Ruling groups use the state apparatus to defend their

privileges, while others struggle to gain a share of state power in order to

gain access to resources. This makes the state both the object of the

struggle and the means wherewith it is waged. It also makes a mockery of

the currently fashionable concept of 'civil society’ with its presumed

dissociation of state and society; at least when it is applied to Africa.

Ethnic political mobilization at this level has a corrosive impact on the post-
colonial state. The Western unitary, centralized model, with its presumption of exclusive
authority and assumption of cultural homogeneity, has proved a misfit. For any process
of reconstruction to succeed in southern Africa, it will have to address the claims of
ethnicity for a share of state power. The reconstruction model is often equated with the
concept of democracy, which is widely promoted as the panacea of Africa’s multiple
problems. Nevertheless, Africa, especially southern Africa, with its inherited apartheid
legacy, manifestly lacks the material and social foundations for western style democracy.
The experience of the post-colonial state proves that. According to Bradshaw and
Ndegwa (2000, p. 303),

African Policy elites rarely voice the earlier debates over how social

relations within schools might become more democratic, what educational

“quality” actually means in a multi-ethnic context, and whether the school

should primarily serve an assimilationist agenda to help integrate labor

markets.

Within multi-ethnic societies, such as those in southern Africa, we see localized

chiefs and regional or provincial leaders challenging the central state, seeking a federalist

political structure organized along ethnic and regional boundaries.

58

 

The Cons

Na
were large
Black -\V
-malting 1
White set:
culture re-
emergenc
soczal fort
mechanis:
conflictin
than a cer
Oterlords
White na:

Tl
kliOWn 35.
poilllCal e
instance.

also I0 the

The Construction of White Ethnic Closure and Maintenance of the Status Quo

Namibian social formations, since the advent of colonialism in the mid-18005,
were largely defined in specific sociocultural and ideological asymmetries erected around
Black -White cleavages of politics, race-ethnic, class and gender. The possession of war
—making technologies facilitated the subjugation and domination of indigenous groups.
White settler intrusion and subsequent involvement in the construction of a resident
culture responsive to its own (and imperialist) interests created the conditions for the
emergence of inequitable but symbiotic exchanges among modernizing and indigenous
social forces. White ethnic groups, through legal and extra-legal social closure
mechanisms, sustained the educational and political economy based on anarchical and
conflicting interventions into the existential modes of indigenous populations for more
than a century. The settler economic model founded by the Whites and their imperial
overlords was based on domination and racial exclusionary principles, commitments to a
White nationalist economy, and global capital accumulation (Arrighi, 1973).

The intractability of the problems of the racial division of labor in Namibia (then
known as South West Africa) easily surpasses the South African and USA apartheid
political economies (Harris, 1995; Hacker, 1992; Wilson, 1987). In the USA for
instance, process of racial closure led not only to the civil disturbances of the 1960s, but
also to the explosion in Los Angeles in 1992. Hacker (1992) sees the renting of the USA
social fabric from the vantage point of political stmggles aimed at capturing some power
by Blacks and other minority groups. Such a perspective informs, to some extent, the

happenings in the Namibian social, cultural and political economies of transformation.

59

 

Typically
social sui
paths of;
class. an;
particula
on perm.

its mu

3
(1C)
-——a

and accr
an rsion
educate
{Wuhan
l.

KNOWle
JUSltfy ;
Willi R

“We?

Typically, racialized planning has remained a key methodology in the distribution of
social surpluses and other largesse wherever and whenever White Europeans cross the
paths of people of color (Davidson, 1992). Thus, as Blaut (1993, p. 33) argues, color,
class, and culture tend to intersect and cohere in manifold ways: certain cultural groups,
particularly Europeans, tend to form “a single ethnogeography and ethnoscience” based
on permanently held beliefs, which then go on to erect a “cohesive” category that protects
its privileged location throughout the world. In Africa, Davidson (1992) calls the whole
thing “The Black Man’s Burden” in a title to his book.

To a large extent, the educational and political economies of social reproduction
and accumulation emerge on the basis of some degree of “color” and or ethnicized
divisions, which might in turn engender explicit economic, social, political and
educational marginalizations, and peripheralization of subordinated racial-ethnic
formations. Implicated in the “ethnoscience” above are also analyses of processes of
knowledge formation and modern (White) rationality, which ideologically anchor and
justify social inequalities (Said, 1990). To some extent, Said’s (1990) rendition coheres
with Foucault’s (1977) notion of the reproduction of “normal”/disciplined” subjects
through a variety of mechanisms, as suggested above.

Namibian social colonial historians have tried to excavate one of the benign
features of colonization without ever attending to its anomalous effects — at least for the
conquered peoples. There seems to be a pervasive tendency to obfuscate the material
embeddedness of cultural and racial-ethnic divisive policies, and thus to argue
effortlessly that Marxists are wrong everywhere. Marxism could be wrong or right but

the crux of the matter is why all these ever take place. For instance, the often-repeated

60

“civilizing mission” and “White benevolence” theorems are nothing but ideological
justifications for barbarism and unbridled levels of human exploitation. Fortunately, they
always generate intense counter-hegemonic and oppositional stances (Ranger, 1970).
Indeed the countervailing strategies of the indigenes may serve as a ploy to restore the
status-qua ante, if not to extract some benefits fi'om the modernizing economy (Ranger,
1985)

Popular pedagogies vis-a-vis indigenous groups, such as participation, self-
determination, and economic democracy, are anathema in nearly all discourses of
colonial and postcolonial existence (Nyerere, 1966; Sachikonye, 1987; Cheater, 1993).
Thus, to any revolutionary regime, the deracialization and reconstitution of the societal
base are imperatives that can only be ignored at the risk of further confrontations - which
this time might pit categories of people from the same camp against one another. The
racist and ethnic confrontation in Namibia lasted throughout the colonial period and left a
legacy that the post-colonial establishments will wrestle with for a long time.

Ethnicity, Race, Class, and Inequalities in Settler States

Whatever their variations in historical genesis and development, settler societies
like Namibia, Australia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, South Africa, or Canada, to mention
some, share certain common features and challenges pertaining to the coexistence of
. diverse indigenous and migrant collectivities. Furthermore, these commonalities stem
from the foundational claims made by European migrant groups intent on settlement and
on building self-sustaining states independent of metropolitan centers. Further
similarities pertain to the settlers’ political domination over the indigenous populations as

well as other racialized minorities (Stasiulis and Yuval-Davis, 1995, p .1).

61

In many settler societies, including Namibia, the dominant groups have been
forced to relinquish their dominance, sharing in the more general global decline in
colonialism. In some classifications, however, they are considered to be just one of
several sub-types of colonies (together with occupation colonies, mixed colonies and
plantation colonies — see Fieldhouse, 1966; Fredrickson, 1988; Shafir, 1989).
Nonetheless, as Weitzer (1990, p. 24-5) argues,

Because settler states represent ‘home’ to a dominant group, the

intransigence of settlers regarding both indigenous resistance and

metropolitan or other external pressures for change complicate the

transformation of these states. Change in the form of accommodation of

the claims of indigenous peoples and non-dominant migrants offers quite

different challenges in ‘settler societies’ than those involved in the

decolonization of ‘conventional’ colonies where the imperial power has

not rooted itself through settlement.

On another level, the cleavages and conflicts that characterize settler societies can
be found in virtually all contemporary societies which have involved encounters between
indigenous and migrant groups, and successive waves of free and coerced migration
corresponding to different phases of capitalist development and political upheavals.
Several authors have viewed settler societies as extreme examples of ‘plural’ societies,
characterized by profound cleavages along racial, ethnic, and religious lines (Kuper and
Smith, 1969; Weitzer, 1990, p. xi). Although these are not necessarily settler states, the
current conflagrations in the former Yugoslavia Rwanda-Burundi, the fierce national and
ethnic struggles in the former Soviet Union, and the racist violence perpetrated against
‘foreigners’ across Europe exemplify such judgements.

If settler societies are societies in which Europeans have settled, where their

descendants have remained politically or economically dominant over indigenous peoples

and where a heterogeneous society has developed in class, ethnic, and racial terms, then it

62

 

cle

becomes clear that settler societies must be seen as corresponding to plural and historical
entities rather than as having clear and fixed boundaries. Comparatively, settler states,
for example, Namibia, South Afiica, and Zimbabwe in southern Africa, are more
“developed” than the “normal” colonies. This is partly due to reasons that Stasiulis and
Yuval Davis (199521) suggest:

Whatever their variations in historical genesis and development, settler

societies share certain common features and challenges pertaining to the

coexistence of diverse indigenous and migrant collectivities. Furthermore,

these commonalities stem from the foundational claims made by European
migrant groups intent on settlement and on the building of the self-

sustaining states independent of metropolitan centers. Further similarities

pertain to the settlers’ political domination over the indigenous

populations as well as other racialized minorities.

Moreover, the extent to which a society is a ‘settler society’ is contested by the
de-colonizing movements of various ethno-national groups within. Settler colonization
may play a more formative role in state formation and nation building in some periods
than others (Stasiulis & Yuval-Davis, 1995, p. 3). Different settler societies have ties to
different colonial powers and forms of imperialism, as well as to diverse social
movements. They have different demographic ratios of indigenous, European, non-
European and mixed populations. Settler societies were characterized by a much larger
proportion of settlers with European origin, for permanent settlement than the other
colonies.

Settler states developed much more elaborate political and economic
infrastructures and achieved defacto or dejure political independence from the
metropole (Weitzer, 1990, p. 26). Curiously, most of these societies maintained relations

of dependency with their original ‘sponsors,’ even as they achieved considerable political

and economic autonomy from European colonial powers. Comparative analyses of settler

63

states he
econom
authors
hi prof

\l'eitze

states have led to various insights into states that have developed relatively advanced
economies in conjunction with colonial and other hierarchies of privilege. Several
authors have viewed settler states as extreme examples of ‘plural’ society, characterized
by profound cleavages along racial, ethnic, and religious lines (Kuper and Smith 1969;
Weitzer, 1990, p. xi).

Settler states like Namibia also have utility for multinational corporations who
have profited immeasurably from the appropriation of indigenous lands and from the
cheap and divided labor of racially, ethnically, and gender segmented labor markets.
Hegemonic myths are both defended and contested in the competing claims of indigenous
peoples, racially/ethnically dominant settlers, and other migrants over such issues as land
ownership and use, sovereignty, state representation, and institutional and cultural
pluralism. The political, economic, legal, and symbolic ramifications of these competing
claims are apparent in the current movements of indigenous peoples in different settler
societies to reclaim land and political rights usurped over centuries of European
settlement. Land claims negotiations, litigation and constitutional struggles, as well as
forms of direct action such as blockades, are being pursued to these ends (Jhappan, 1991,
1993). They are also evident in the anti-racist movements and politics of empowerment
of racial and ethnic minorities who seek citizenship rights that are on a par with
hegemonic settler groups, and policies that redress historical and contemporary forms of
exclusion and oppression.

The various movements for social transformation, and for empowerment and
resistance to colonial, racial, and ethnic domination in settler societies, reflect the

complexities of these societies. The settler experiences, which marked Namibia for over

64

 

 

Er

a century, modified the internal dynamics of the pre-colonial society. Furthermore, its
impact on both Germany and South Africa, as former colonizers, and Namibia did not
disappear with independence of the colony in 1990. Privileged political and economic
relations exist between these states and a number of cultural links are the legacy of
German and South Afiican colonialism in Namibia. Some of the long-term consequences
of the encounter include the immigration phenomenon. Many Germans and South
Africans settled in Namibia and some Namibians settled in these countries. Also notable
is the German and South African media in Namibia. An unfortunate legacy of
colonialism is the increasing reference to Namibian youth as “trilingual illiterates,” that
is, people who are not able to speak German, Afiikaans, or now English correctly. Some
ethnic identities resulted fi'om the mixture of the settler colonists and the local inhabitants
that added another layer of apartheid divisions therefore, socioeconomic inequalities and
stratification.

Ethnicity is central to the discussion of the state and its incapacity to provide
education or resources thereof inequitably to various ethnic groups within the state. The
following explanatory interlude serves to emphasize and explains the actual role of the
importance of understanding ethnic dimensions and ethnicity theories in this study.
Explanatory Interlude

The postcolonial theories of ethnicity in the ideology of the state that I have
discussed in this chapter are what guided me at various points and situations throughout
the work. Since the inherited regions in Namibia were demarcated along ethnic lines in
the divisive apartheid system, the theories of ethnicity were helpful in understanding the

enduring legacy of apartheid. I cannot agree more with Zou and Trueba (1998. p. 429),

65

 

 

pl.

9.
10

who argue that “questions of ethnic identity necessarily lead to concerns with schooling,
the state and social justice.” Given the deeply ethnically divided Namibian society, it
was relevant to use ethnicity theories because they also illuminate the realities being
played out in current independence education policies and practices, and they are relevant
to understand the socio-cultural context for the study.

However, the focus and central concentration of the results reported here are on
educational inequalities on regional lines. In Namibia, however, regions and ethnic
identities have been and continue to be inseparable. Therefore, although not the central
focus here, ethnicity cannot be ignored in a comprehensive account of how and why
contemporary disparities in education resources, opportunities, and outcomes are a
lingering legacy of apartheid.

Post-colonial state governments do realize that education is essential to
sociopolitical and economic development. In spite of partisan ideology, these
governments are committed to provide good quality education to all people as enshrined
in their constitutions and in the Human Rights Conventions of the United Nations.
Although it is an ever highly contested terrain, education is generally regarded as key to
all amenities. Carnoy and Samoff (1990, p. 7) argued that “in studying developing
societies, the focus is on education because the most important reason is that the leaders
of these states themselves attribute great importance to education as part of the means of
achieving social transformation.” Postcolonial governments have empirical, political,
and moral imperatives to address national inequalities in all aspects of the citizenry.

However, there has always been and continues to be crisis after crisis in the

education dispensation. Among the leading factors that lead to endemic problems of

66

 

inequalitn
postcolon
Emplemen
infrastruc
usually hi
unequal p

Pt
resources
proiider ;
to pro id.
onentatio

Tl

Sildh'lnq

inequalities are the crises of resources, capacity, and legitimacy. In most cases,
postcolonial governments have insufficient resources to effectively execute and
implement education according to intended plans. These governments lack adequate
infrastructure, bureaucracy, and institutional framework to meet their obligations. The
usually high expectations of the citizenry are thence not fulfilled, which is reflected in the
unequal provision to various regional and socio-economic groups.

Post-colonial states are compelled to make choices in the distribution of scarce
resources to different sectors in the process of maintaining legitimacy. As the largest
provider and policy advocate, the future of education depends on the state’s commitment
to provide the much-needed resources and providing a new supportive ideological
orientation.

The chapter on rationale and methods will further show the importance of

studying regional relations in the study of inequality.

67

 

 

Brief lnt

educatior
ln this ch
olaccess
the resear
sources. a
assisted r
Olhemise
Starchligl
complexi-
dl‘namics

iticss tn

 

 

Chapter [II

THE RESEARCH DESIGN, RATIONALE, AND METHODOLOGY

Brief Introduction

Research questions in this study are based on the overarching question of why
educational inequalities persist along regional and ethnic lines in post—colonial Namibia.
In this chapter I provide a rationale for the methods used, preceded by a brief explanation
of access to schooling according to different regional and ethnic groups. Then I describe
the research design, regional and ethnic divisions in Namibia, the participants, the data
sources, and my data analysis procedure. The triangulation method used in this work
assisted me in the convergence of very different theories to throw light on aspects of
otherwise murky issues. The analogy in Roe’s (1998, p. 101) words is “that of multiple
searchlights intersecting in the night sky.” My goal has been to understand the
complexities of educational inequalities, as a result of social, economic, political
dynamics, and cultural and regional stratification in post colonial Namibia.
Access to Schooling According to Various Regional and Ethnic Groups

Regarding the desire to place all children into school, the choices involve issues
such as affordability and implementation. More importantly, access involves a
conception of the quantitative expansion of schooling, which is connected to the
qualitative dimension of schooling. The argument made throughout this dissertation in
general and in this section particularly is that the issue of access should be conceptualized
within the constraints of the context of transition. The colonial legacy left an educational

gap along different regional and ethnic lines; as a result, post-colonial countries find

68

themselves wrestling with the quantitative expansion of schooling. Bradshaw and
Ndegwa (2000, p. 316) talk of “new policy debates that flow from the two paradoxes of
how school expansion has led to erosion of quality and why the new debates over school
effectiveness and local governance are difficult to contain within the Durkheimian
concepts of the modern state.” The inadequate resources coupled with competition with
other state sectors, thus, result in perpetual inequalities for various regional and ethnic
groups.

The deprived majority, mainly the Black population in Namibia, look to the new
political dispensation to deliver living conditions based on universally accepted norms of
human rights. With the shift in state power from the apartheid state to a legitimate
democratic state which is committed to deliver these basic needs, it is presumed that state
policy will be directed at overturning the apartheid planned and implemented
development distortions. Kallaway et al. (1997, p. 81) have commented on this:

Education is a basic human right. Schooling should be fi'ee and

compulsory for all children. The struggle for liberation from apartheid

thus placed the demand for the provision of universal access to schooling

firmly on the agenda.

Introduced in 1958 in Namibia, Bantu Education was imposed on the small
Namibian population. Given this circumstance Namibia faces a massive task in its
attempt to implement a program to provide universal access to schooling. The expansion
of schooling is most likely to happen in historically under- resourced areas, i.e., Black,
rural, commercial farms, and former homeland areas. A major challenge for access
revolves around the qualitative dimension of schooling. A commitment to equal access

will have to take into consideration the quality and type of schooling provided when

placing all out-of-school children into school. Providing schools of poor quality, as is

69

currently p
in the con
to reinforc-
Re
ethnic bot
deference
apartheid
led to reg
Bantustar

320)

Black grr
Wording
schools u
and C0111]
ail'l‘iCtSl Cl

The Fiel

March
the COile

POIms in

currently prevalent in Namibia, contributes to existing patterns of educational inequality
in the country. Quantitative expansion, de-linked from the notion of quality, would tend
to reinforce existing inequalities in presently disadvantaged schools.

Recent research in southern Africa illuminates the importance of regional and
ethnic boundaries that the study diagnosed. Kallaway and Ndegwa state that ethnic
differences in school achievement have been documented in Namibia, the second
apartheid society where racial and ethnic groups were geographically segregated. This
led to regional differences in the extent to which racial education authorities and
Bantustan administrations invested in school expansion (Kallaway and Ndegwa 2000, p.
320).

Ethnic segregation in Namibia’s schools, not just Black — White, but also between
Black groups, remains stark because the inherited apartheid infrastructure was divided
according to ethnic orientations. Most Oshindonga speaking children in the north attend
schools with enrollments that are almost entirely from this ethnic group. Even in towns
and commercial centers, Black Nama — Damara children attend schools that are made up
almost exclusively of this particular ethnic group.

The Fieldwork Situation and Type of Data Collected

This study is based on a wide range of written and oral source material, field
research, and use of available data. I employed a process of triangulation, which involves
the collection and cross checking of confirmatory data from multiple sources at different
points in time, and through the use of multiple but integrated methods (Levy and Hollan
1993). Consequently, Singleton et al. (1988, p. 360) state, “Given the limitations and

biases inherent in each of the main approaches indeed inherent in all research

70

 

procedu
approac
confide
the line

(1939,]

interpret;
Trustwor
111d cont
l‘alidtt.

“is‘thoc'

procedures—Abe best way to study most research topics is to combine methodological
approaches.” The virtue of triangulation, in the face of complexity, is that it builds
confidence that I am on the track of something relevant or useful for my analysis. “When
the findings of different methods agree, we are more confident,” as Bruwer and Hunter
(1989, p. 17) conclude. Cook (1985, p. 46) is more explicit:

...when results are demonstrably stable across populations, settings, and

times, external validity is enhanced. . .when results are stable across

multiple potential threats to causal inference, internal validity is enhanced.

And when interpretation of the meaning of relationships in theoretical and

value terms is common across a wide variety of perspectives, objectivity-

defined as intersubjective verifiability-is enhanced.

According to Denzin and Lincoln (1994, p. 508), “The foundation for
interpretation rests on triangulated empirical materials that are trustworthy.”
Trustworthiness consists of four components: credibility, transferability, dependability,
and confirmability (these are the constructionist equivalents of internal and external
validity, reliability, and objectivity; Lincoln and Guba, 1985). I deployed different
methods such as interviews, exploration of census and other data, group interviews, and
document checking to validate the findings of the study.

The sources and techniques I used are as delineated below:

0 Documents: Primary and secondary sources include archival records, census
and statistical data, curriculum guides, government gazettes, academic
journals, annual ministerial reports and NGO reports and discursive
documents: books, international journals, the intemet, and all possible relevant
sources of information accessible.

0 Two different interview protocols were used, fifty-five minutes each for
senior education officers and one and a half-hour each for the focus groups.
All interviews were tape-recorded. All interviewees signed and dated the
consent letters. The purpose of the interviews was to establish in detail the

reasons and magnitude of the inequalities, what forms the inequalities take
and whether there is awareness and action from all the parties involved, i.e.,

71

lnten
ln
l3 in M
dnonors
dunngth
shady
\hnnnn
the 11). en
response
infects
IECOIdec

educanc

the state, the government through the education officers, and the identified
marginalized groups.

0 Analytic field notes of emotions, gestures, temperament and other verbal and
non-verbal detail not captured on tape recorder or visible to the ordinary eye
during interviews.

Interviews

In total 20 high-ranking education officers from the two Ministries of education,
13 in Windhoek with different portfolios, responsibilities and roles, and 7 regional
directors of education, were interviewed. At the time the interviews were conducted
during the first six months of 1999, educational dispensation in Namibia was divided and
shared between these two Ministries; the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture and the
Ministry of Higher Education, Vocational Training, Science and Technology. I selected
the twenty officials from both ministries of education to have a broader perspective of
responses and avoid bias from any of the ministries. Each interview with education
officers was face to face and lasted for fifty-five minutes to an hour, and has been
recorded on a cassette tape recorder. Interviewees consisted of chief education officers,
educational planners, regional education directors, and inspectors. Authorization was
sought from and given by the permanent secretaries of both ministries with the approval
of the respective ministers.

Due partly to the limited time of six months and limited funds available for data
collection, I restricted my interviews to the twenty senior education officers who
basically represented the state or government. Because of their being articulate and
educated members of the Namibian community/ministries, all interviews with the

education officers were conducted in English. After the authorization to interview by the

Ministries, fitrther selection through personal contacts, suggestions from colleagues, other

72

 

educatio
order to
met the 1
refers to
accordir
identity
because
also her
stratific
names
were it
and ge
each 1

region

education officers, local and international NGO’s and district officials took place, in
order to have as many broad based, experienced, and knowledgeable participants who
met the criteria as possible. According to Strauss, (1987, p. 39), “Selective sampling
refers to the calculated decision to sample a specific locale or type of interviewee
according to pre-conceived but reasonable initial set of dimensions (such as time, space,
identity) which are worked out in advance for a study.” Thus, participants were chosen
because they were not only knowledgeable about issues of educational inequalities but
also because they were informative on socioeconomic class, regional and ethnic
stratification. From the approximately forty names identified, I selected those whose
names were mentioned more than twice. I also tried to employ selection criteria that
were inclusive, i.e., more or less incorporating officials from all regions, ethnic groups
and gender as employed by the Ministries. Other informants were twenty members, ten
each, from the two identified marginalized community groups the Hai/ /Om of Oshikoto
region at Oshivelo and Ovankhumbi of Kunene region near Ruacana.

My interviews were both structured and semi-structured in that I asked a number
of standard questions and several follow-up questions. In parts of the interviews, I
allowed the respondents to speak freely about their experiences, perceptions, and views
about inequalities, regionalism, ethnicity, and education, with my follow-up questions
sometimes depending on the nature and direction of their comments and clarifications.

The questions included in the structured interview were designed to get at the
particular information that, based on my reading of the literature and on the specific
purposes of this study, I felt I would need properly to address my research questions.

Bogdan and Biklen (1992, p. 96) confirm that “the interview is used to gather descriptive

73

 

data in
subjec
listenii
variety

the int

"hihri
the sat
insigh

in thei

redilct

data in the subjects’ own words so that the researcher can develop insights on how
subjects interpret some piece of the world.” The interviews involved asking questions,
listening, expressing interest, cooperation, feelings, and recording what was said. A
variety of probes were utilized to expand each participant’s responses to the questions in
the interview protocol.

Other policy researchers like Forest (1998, p. 330) have similarly used this type of
“hybrid technique” in combining semi-structured and fully structured questions within
the same interview. I found that this was the best way in the Namibian case to gain
insight on the intricacies of the educational policy process and the perceived complexities
in their educational work life.

Semi-structured interviews are particularly appropriate for research into micro-
level organizational behavior because they provide the opportunity to draw upon the very
detailed knowledge and expertise which interviewees typically possess about the policy
environment in which they operate and about the policy issues under scrutiny. It is
important to establish the interview agenda (themes, topics) for the unstructured segment
of the interview. But then one needs to be prepared to seize the opportunity to learn more
about a given topic if it is being discussed in detail, even if that topic was not on one’s
interview agenda but is nonetheless relevant to key issues under investigation. Clearly,
this requires maximum flexibility and ad hoc reactions on the part of the interviewer that
are not required in the more formally structured segment of the interview, but that can be
immensely profitable from the information acquisition point of view.

It was indeed this combination of topic-specific flexibility with the ability to

redirect the interview back to the planned agenda when necessary that shaped my

74

 

 

approacl
however
patterns
houndar
eduaho
handles
ohcanc

Gro

among;
Nannhn
moon

mthen.
uaofd
OPtiont
0raper.
thsCa“

COMdel

edWZUC
inmbm

“pellet

approach to the unstructured portion of the interview in this study. At the same time,
however, the standardized questions enabled me to learn a great deal about generalized
patterns of inequalities and problems that emerged repeatedly across regional and ethnic
boundaries. Those questions focused on principal ongoing problems, the extent of
educational marginalization, and the way the officers and/or government assesses and
handles that situation. Overall, I enjoyed remarkable access to the various senior
education officers I targeted for interviews.

Group Interviews

Other informants of the study participated in two group interviews I conducted
among people from what I claim to be among the two most marginalized communities of
Namibia, the Hail /Om (Bushmen) in Oshikoto region and the Ovankhumbi in Kunene
region. These communities were contacted through their leaders and their representatives
in their own regions. Denzin and Lincoln (1994, p. 364) appropriately observed that “the
use of the group interview is not meant to replace individual interviewing, but it is an
option that deserves consideration because it can provide another level of data gathering
or a perspective on the research problem not available through individual interviews.” In
this case, group interviews were appropriate because only the marginalized themselves
could eloquently speak from their deprived experiences.

The marginalized groups were identified through documents that revealed their
educational marginalization, and my experience and knowledge of the groups. Before I
started the doctoral program I worked for the Namibia Red Cross Society and UNICEF-
Namibia. With both of these NGO’s, I worked with rural communities, and I

experienced the socio-economic and educational deprivation of these groups. One

75

interview consisted of ten Hai/ /om people from the Oshikoto region specifically at
Oshivelo, and the other group interview consisted of ten Ovankhumbi people from the
Kunene region around Epalela area. (During the time of the interviews, there were
national debates as to whether the area around Epalela is part of Kunene region or should
be regarded as part of Omusati region.) The group interviews lasted for an hour and a
half each and were also recorded on a cassette tape recorder. For the group interviews,
contact with their local leaders (like chiefs, headmen, King, and community leaders) was
necessary before permission was granted to interview them. One of the many
characteristics is that both groups are educationally marginalized and consisted of a
mixture of gender, teachers, parents, and a few school-age children. The group
interviews were both conducted in English, with translations in Afrikaans and their
respective languages, that is, Hai/ /0m and Oshinkhumbi. For the Hai/ /Om, a
community leader translated and for the Ovankhumbi a school principal, who is also a
community leader, translated.

Knodel (1993, p. 34) indicates that “the group interview is a tool that social
researchers should consider utilizing, particularly as a strategy to obtain
phenomenological data in natural settings.” Even when group sessions are held with
different subsets of the population, as is the case with the two groups interviewed in
Namibia, it is often important to ensure that the groups all share common characteristics.
Some major characteristics which, the two groups focused on share, for example, is
educational marginalization. These two groups are both predominantly found in
particular rural regions, the Oshikoto and Kunene regions respectively, in the country.

Both these groups are minority ethnic groups in terms of numbers. A group is a selection

76

 

damn
owes;
than

homogo

thsma
regional
Numb;
dmnh
inwmh
mem
imnut
debate;
mmma
teem

lhmnl

of people who are invited to respond to researchers’ questions, findings from earlier
studies, policy documents, hypotheses, concerns and the like. They may comprise people
who are a cross-section of the population, or as is the case for this study, different
homogeneous groups, comprising two ethnic groups from various regions in Namibia.

Ovankhumbi is one of Namibia’s diverse and pluralistic communities. Because of
the small number in Namibia, this group was at the verge of incorporation into other
regional groups during the colonial era. However, the few Ovankhumbi who are in
Namibia and identify with their culture speak Oshinkhumbi language, and the majority
identify themselves as part of the greater Ovankhumbi Kingdom along the Kunene river
in southern Angola. Besides few in urban areas this group is predominantly in Kunene
and Omusati regions northwestern Namibia. 1 agree with Earth (1969, p. 300), who
insists that “much of the controversy over regional/ethnic boundaries is cast in terms of a
debate about history and politics.” The Ovanklhumbi group, just like the Hai/ /Om,
complained about their educational and other socioeconomic deprivation. Both groups
were also vocal about their lack of land and poor facilities where they currently find
themselves.

Hai/ /Om are usually classified as the San or “Bushmen.” The terms Bushman
and San, which have developed into ethnonyms over the centuries, have been subject to
considerable debate. The pre-independence term ‘Bushman’ continues to be used in
many contexts. Dela Gorgendiere, King and Vaughan (1996, p. 150) point out that “The
post-apartheid SWAPO government, very likely informed by North American literature
on ‘Bushman,’ uses the term San as a seemingly non-discriminatory term in some official

documents and communications.” Being lumped together under one label did not benefit

77

these different ‘Bushman’ groups. However, these groups may out of political
consideration adopt this overarching label. There are more than six, known various San
groups in southern Africa.

From the perspective of overseas donors and development agencies the San often
appear to be the prototypical indigenous minority group of Namibia. Gordon (1992, p.
25) documents that, “the Hai/ /Om, lKung and other groups who were categorized as
‘Bushman’ were prosecuted during the German colonial period and dispossessed of their
land during the apartheid era.” Being recognized today as forming the San, a single
group, seems to have advantages in attracting development aid. However, it also contains
the danger of perpetuating a marginal status without any long-term benefits for the
groups mentioned. The changing ecological and climatic conditions compel these groups
to demand equitable access to an education that will enable them to cope with the new
conditions and ever changing circumstances.

It was necessary to interview these two Ovankhumbi and Hai/ /Om groups to gain
in-depth understanding of how the marginalized perceive themselves and/or seen by other
groups. It was also important to know what their perceptions are about conventional
education and what they are doing as groups or individuals within those groups to
improve their equitable educational access and attainment. Generally, there are
similarities in these two groups educational limitations, and therefore, great consensus in
most of their responses. Both groups, for example, expressed understanding the
importance of education, and thus value to their children of receiving a good education.
But the lack of equal educational opportunity and inequitable allocation of resources

prevents their dreams from being realized.

78

 

Sc
interview
and diver
Arksey at

\\

di

th

cc

CL

C:
relationsh
“ital forn
ideas are
may be m
i“formal“
munrerba
Mime 0f
"O”‘Verba
members
and alrGas
Ohm-m

I 1
each for t
SChooks ir

m‘depth ‘

Some of the necessary and important decisions I had to take to carry out the group
interviews included who should be in the groups, the total number of groups, their size
and diversity in terms of gender and age and experiences, as well as their location.
Arksey and Knight (1999, p. 75) found that

When the group is a naturally occurring social group, then things can be

discovered by talking with all members together that could not be gleaned

through one-to-one interviews. The researcher may observe the process of
consensus formation and of the rules by which disagreements are played

out.

Group interviews can and do show something of the dynamics of social
relationships amongst group members, for example, who gets to speak and who does not,
what forms of speech characterize different members in the group setting, and whose
ideas are listened to. Other advantages of group interviews are that the story that emerges
may be more complete as interviewees fill in each other’s gaps and memory lapses. The
information obtained may be more trust-worthy as bias in one account may
counterbalance that in the other. For instance, I gained insights into the interactions and
nature of power relationships between group members through observation of verbal and
non-verbal modes of communication. It was possible to witness how various group
members support, negotiate and influence each other, as well as manage disagreement
and areas of tension.

Observation by Shadowing Two Leaders

I shadowed one from each group, a principal and a community leader separately,

each for two days, mainly in order to understand the dynamics of disparities in their local

schools in the Oshikoto and Kunene regions. This included brief classroom observations,

in-depth questions, and discussions as we walked around and they showed me the

79

 

 

 

premises
by visitin
educatior
what rese
all the set
becomes
research i

nored,

I h
re‘ealed. a
Potentialle
undeTSIan(
nor have S
messageS .
commumt.
ClaserOmj
Commumt:
eQLllt); and
entailing 51

I .

premises and responded to queries. Research in the form of shadowing and observation
by visiting sites is an important tool in the research methodology of triangulation and of
education policy analysts. Neuman (1997, p. 361) rightfully advises that “a great deal of
what researchers do in the field is to pay attention, watch, and listen carefially. They use
all the senses, noticing what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. The observer
becomes an instrument that absorbs all sources of information.” Observing in field
research is ofien detailed and tedious work. Consequently, Silverman (1993, p. 30)
noted,

Good field researchers are intrigued about details that reveal ‘what is

going on here’ through careful listening and watching. Field researchers

believe that the core of social life is communicated through the mundane,

trivial, everyday minutia. This is what people often overlook, but field

researchers need to learn how to notice.

I had to record such details because I figured significant information might be
revealed, and it was. It is also better to err by including everything than to ignore
potentially significant detail. These shadowing sessions enabled me to observe,
understand, and question the meaning of some subtle actions and behaviors, which may
not have surfaced from the interviews. I was able to understand verbal and non-verbal
messages through their activities. From this exercise of shadowing and observing these
community leaders, I learned that working for equitable social amenities happen behind
classrooms, schools and national institutions. It is a continuous struggle to transform the
community and environment to create support for education. In addition, working for
equity and social justice must involve the participation of all the concerned stakeholders,

entailing sharing of decisions and sharing of power with others who are also affected by

the decisions taken.

80

thec
inch
thei
taco

Ali 81'.

(IN.
head.
rnate

unco'

raglan

\y

Other Relevant Sources of Data

I acquainted myself with most educational and other socio-economic activities in
the country to gain broader perspectives and understanding of pertinent issues. This
included attendance at official meetings of educational forums crucial for understanding
the institutional dynamics, organizational culture, interpersonal relations, and political
factors that defines the education perspective. This led me to travel to various regions to
attend meetings involving educational deliberations on several occasions at different
points during the data collection period. I also found it crucially valuable to personally
attend and observe meetings of the Presidential Commission on Education at the
headquarters of the Ministries of Education and some held at the University of Namibia
(UNAM). While in the regions, I also attended educational meetings at regional
headquarters and at schools. I found that these site visits, combined with the interview
material and the documentary evidence, proved an indispensable methodology for
uncovering the actual practices and behavior of the educational establishment in Namibia.

Informally I also had an opportunity to have beneficial and informative
discussions with researchers and professors at the University of Namibia (UNAM), and I
participated in their seminars, meetings and workshops. While in Windhoek, I worked
closely with two professors at the University of Namibia (who served as mentors) and
shared an office with one of them. Their insights, expertise, and experiences were
invaluable for my understanding of the issues pertinent to educational inequalities as well
as to ethnic, regional, and social stratification in Namibia.

The evident paradox in most of these deliberations is rapid school expansion, on

regional and ethnic lines, at the expense of quality. In addition to poverty, which seems

81

to be the m2
economic ic
(2000, p 3C
where mass
intent to rep
out and or c
subservienc
obvious def
policies and

Brat
racial, ethni
Problematic
falter dram;
D“! Anal}

Qua
Since l USE
documints.
informatio‘,
that are fele

394) ObSer.

l0 Sllmulatp

interaction

 

 

 

to be the main obstacle to equal educational opportunity, competing political and
economic ideologies have been rekindled in post apartheid Namibia. Fuller and Caldwell
(2000, p. 300) indicate that “where apartheid was practiced, we saw a dramatic case
where mass expansion, with little concern for improving quality, was used as a tool with
intent to reproduce stratification and inequality.” Apartheid regimes had aimed to cool
out and or quell opposition and political resistance. In addition, apartheid imposed
subservience and lack of quality on the majority population, which resulted in the
obvious deficit of qualified human resources to effectively implement post apartheid
policies and practices.

Bradshaw and Ndegwa observed that over the long term, the deeply ingrained
racial, ethnic, and class divisions created during the decades of apartheid rule remain
problematic and could engender more serious conflicts if economic development efforts
falter dramatically (Bradshaw and Ndegwa 2000, p. 110).

Data Analysis

Qualitative research by nature and scope tends to produce large amounts of data.
Since I use multiple methods, i.e., interviews, collection and analysis of various key
documents, observation, and group interviews to gather the data, I ended up with a lot of
information and evidence. This required sifting through to extract the most salient details
that are relevant and meaningful to answer the research questions. Neuman (1997, p.
394) observed that “as a researcher organizes evidence, he or she uses theoretical insights
to stimulate new ways to organize data and for new questions to ask of evidence.” The
interaction of data and theory means that I went beyond a surface examination of the

evidence to develop new concepts by critically evaluating the evidence based on theory.

82

 

Both theon'
because the
the regiona
The
ways of hat
found vvhile
formal anal
analysis mu
direction.“
manageable
differences.
collecred m-
the d313, arr
Categorize a
the reSUlts n
The
v'efbarjm "a
identified! P.
[be remainir

I

 

immiew a;
"l

Inlen.iew v.

 

Both theories of state and theories of ethnicity that I used in this study are relevant
because they help to explain the inequitable characteristics and behavior of the state and
the regional/ethnic cleavages within it.

There are many different styles of qualitative research, and there are a variety of
ways of handling and analyzing data. It was beneficial for me to reflect about what I
found while in the field as part of the analysis, although strategically I left the more
formal analysis until most of the data were in. Bogdan and Biklen suggest “some
analysis must take place during data collection. Without it, the data collection has no
direction.” Analysis involved working with data, organizing it, breaking it down into
manageable units, synthesizing it, and searching for patterns of similarities and
differences. The ultimate analytic task is interpreting and making sense out of the
collected material. I therefore used analytic field notes and transcription and coding of
the data, arranged and categorized for effective use. I used the Excel program to
categorize and consolidate the various themes. It was very important and helpful to link
the results to theory.

The first step in analyzing the interviews of the education officers was obtaining
verbatim transcripts of each interview with the twenty education officers and the two
identified, marginalized ethnic groups. I transcribed almost half of the interviews, and
the remaining half was transcribed professionally. To ensure the complete accuracy of
each interview that was professionally transcribed, I listened to the tapes of the entire
interview again and edited the transcripts as necessary. Each speaker’s comments in each
interview were numbered for easy reference. The next step in the process was to begin to

organize the data to facilitate its analysis. I made a chart that outlined the background

83

information provided by each interviewee about education and resource allocation, access
to education, regional and ethnic limitations, and/or advantages and future prospects for
education in Namibia. I then pulled together into separate documents all the interviewees
responses to each of the interview questions. Putting all interviewees’ responses together
in one document on a given question facilitated the process of looking for themes in the
data and for similarities and differences across interviewees. I also considered how
articulate the interviewees were in expressing their ideas, because some were much better
than others at explaining themselves clearly and in more detail. I listed all their remarks
that appeared relevant to the guiding research question of the study. I wrote my own
brief commentaries on their remarks, noting important ideas, contradictions, and possible
themes, and also raising questions for future thought and analysis. Throughout the
process I wrote regular memos to myself about emerging issues and what I was learning
on a continuous basis. These memos provided a time to reflect on issues raised in the
setting and how they relate to larger theoretical, methodological, and substantive issues.
As my research proceeded, these memos became more analytical in linking my findings
to other situations and the data.

Finally, I tried to be as sensitive as possible to distinctions of region, race, sex,
ethnic, religion, and age and to other major social divisions so as not to exclude certain
perspectives. Ultimately, data analysis, according to Neuman, means “a search for
patterns in data — recurrent behaviors, objects, or a body of knowledge” (Neuman 1994,
p. 427). He also stresses that data analysis involves examining, sorting, categorizing,
evaluating, comparing, synthesizing, and contemplating the coded data as well as

reviewing the raw and recorded data.

84

ea;

In r

def}.
anal j

categ

doing.
SIFUCIU
were m

Scope 1

available
ethnic gr
dialects.
gmemme
faCtor ma}
inaccllracie
EdL
because Edi
idemogical.
Can bl’ no p

opportune.

 

As the final step in my analysis of the interviews, I analyzed the responses for
each question separately, looking for possible patterns or themes across all the interviews.
In my analysis a pattern or theme became a category when I developed a working
definition to distinguish which responses could be included. This final step in the
analysis process involved reading and re-reading the interview responses because as new
categories emerged from my analysis, I would revisit previously analyzed interviews to
seek additional evidence to confirm or disconfirm the new category. Sometimes, in so
doing, my definitions of the categories had to be revised. Because these were semi-
structured interviews, obviously most of the categories were shaped by the questions that
were asked.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study period is from colonial to post-colonial eras. Reasonable data are
available for this period. However, data is available on only some of the regional and
ethnic groups. The Khoi-San, for example, consists of several groups with different
dialects. These were all lumped together as “Bushman” or “San” by colonial
governments, a dilemma that unfortunately continues in the post-colonial practices. This
factor may have caused some documentation problems, thus opening the research to
inaccuracies and mismeasurement.

Educational development by itself cannot alleviate social and economic crises
because education does not operate in a vacuum. The matrix of cultural, social, political,
ideological, and economic forces in which it operates shapes education. This study alone
can by no means resolve the deep issues of access, provision, equity, and educational

opportunity for all in Namibia. The study, however, serves to analyze, evaluate, and

85

 

document
nature). tal
for educat
Ali
the northe
Namibia
but also w
hold true f

enhance ti

Ballantine
lne
cor
grc
anc
Th:

on all diffe

marginanz
more 13me

Case smote

 

 

document educational policies and practices and suggest ways of improvement (for the
future), taking into account the existing social, cultural and economic setting, the demand
for education and the new political contradictions.

Although this study focuses primarily on two marginalized ethnic groups based in
the northern regions, there are many similarities with other regional groups throughout
Namibia. A number of differences also exist not only in different parts of the country,
but also within specific regions, yet it is possible to determine certain patterns that may
hold tme for all regions and to suggest policy options for all regions with a view to
enhance the process of equitable and accessible education for all in the country.
Ballantine (1989, p. 296) maintains that

Inequality in the educational system reflects inequality in society. By

controlling the type of education and knowledge available to various

groups in society, the dominant group can maintain its position of power

and perpetuate inequalities.

This limitation of the study, then, is also that its scope does not allow it to focus
on all different regional and ethnic groups and the activities and interactions of all
marginalized groups. There is generally less attention paid to ethnicity, compared to the
more prominent focus on regional inequalities. Perhaps future research on groups and
case studies will address these omission. It is vital that similar research be carried out in
other regions, as well as in the rest of the country, in this relatively new area of research
in Namibia.

Although the interviews did provide in-depth and richly textured responses to, and
descriptions of, a complex process, the interview process was also limited. In the case of

government educational officials, inspectors, and regional education directors, political

difference in affiliation may sometimes have acted as a restrictive element. In some

86

 

cases. th
given to
problem
the time
antagoni
especial]
be vvillin
a more a
members
subjects
Stake in 5
Clarify at
bMuse i
"Be Selec
YOU hear
adVanCe I
Careful Se
ellher m6}
WOuld thu
Di
raise qUes
and Settip;

 

cases, the researcher, being an ex-ruling party member, may have affected the answers
given to specific questions by the ruling party affiliated respondents. Many of these
problems can be understood within the political climate that prevailed in the country at
the time of research. The sensitivity of the topic may have led to the risk of stirring up
antagonisms and conflicts of interests. Comwell claims that “if the research topic is
especially sensitive, or there is any likelihood of provoking friction, individuals may not
be willing to disclose detailed, honest information to the interviewer and instead provide
a more acceptable, ‘public’ response” (Comwell 1984, p. 86). For group interviews,
members may collude to withhold information from the interviewer. While I used
subjects as a resource, it was important not to defer to them completely. They have a
stake in seeing things in a particular way that might interfere with their abilities to help
clarify and analyze. I also tried not to reveal how much I was learning to certain subjects
because it could lead to their withdrawal. Bogdan and Biken (1982, p. 161) advise, that
“Be selective in choosing helpers. While not everyone should be asked, and while not all
you hear may be helpful, key informants, under the appropriate circumstances can help
advance your analysis, especially to fill in the holes of description.” Regardless of
careful selection for this study’s informants, most government employees in Namibia are 3
either members of or closely affiliated with the ruling party (SWAPO). Most of them
would thus naturally refrain fi'om exposing the powers that be upon whom they depend.
Different methods have their own shortcomings. A whole spectrum of scholars
raise questions like how internal validity, objectivity, and generalizability to other cases
and settings can be enhanced. The method of triangulation also has its limitations. First,

it can be time consuming and expensive. Denzin (1970, p. 312) cautions that

87

“restrictions of time and money make it impossible to employ multiple observers,
multiple methods, and multiple data sources.” It took me over two years to analyze the
data and write up the dissertation, as it required full immersion in the theory and its
application. Second, successful triangulation is neither a necessary nor sufficient
condition for effective policy-making. The same holds for any analysis in the face of
pervasive complexity and uncertainty. Another problem with triangulation is, ironically,
bias. While triangulation helps correct for the bias in any one instrument, care has to be
taken to ensure that the biases are not in the same direction (see Cook, 1985, for a
detailed discussion of this issue). In spite of the limitations, the study, especially in terms
of its broad flame of reference, flilfilled the major aims as outlined.
Ethical Concerns

The various pertinent yet formidable issues concerning ethical responsibility are
of importance not only to note but also to acknowledge and explain how they are dealt
with in the study. A qualitative study that involves interviewing will naturally have to
deal with the consent of subjects, anonymity that protects them from harm, and the right
to their withdrawal and privacy. Some issues and questions to do with ethical concerns,
for example, how researchers avoid inadvertently manipulating subjects. How much
control over writing the results that subjects can have is valid and important to ask
regarding participants’ right to informed consent.

Lofland and Lofland (1995, p. 26) state that “ethical problems, questions, and
dilemmas are an integral part of the research experience as much as they are a part of the
experience of everyday life.” It was important for me as a researcher to receive consent

from subjects after I carefully and truthfully informed them about the research. I also

88

saw to it that subjects were protected from harm. I made sure to inform my subjects
thoroughly well in advance about the study and about the procedure of the interviews and
possible follow up interviews for clarifications in case it was necessary. Researchers
need to be aware of all types of harm and minimize them at all times (Neuman 1997, p.
446). I also informed the participants that the interviews would be tape-recorded and that
they had a right to refrain from answering any particular questions and to request that the
tape recorder be turned off at any time. Consequently, I assured my subjects that all data
and tape recordings would be kept confidential according to the Michigan State
University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) regulations,
and that their identity would not be disclosed in the final report. I emphasized their right
to withdraw at any time, and or to decline participation without any repercussions or
penalty.

Research that explores political, cultural, economic, ethnic, regional, and social
factors, is a daunting exercise that requires ethical responsibility fi'om the researcher
throughout the process. Neuman (1997, p. 443) argues that “the researcher has a moral
and professional obligation to be ethical, even when research subjects are unaware of or
unconcerned about ethics.” Before, during, and after conducting a study, a researcher has
opportunities to, and should, reflect on research actions and consult his or her conscience.
I have honored, respected, and abided by maintaining this code of ethics throughout this
study. Confidentiality, anonymity, privacy, and moral responsibility that protect subjects
from harm are maintained throughout the process of this study as per UCRIHS

specifications and recommendations.

89

A researcher who considers ethical concerns takes into account the consequences
of research for the lives of those being studied. But there are no fixed answers to various
questions. A researcher must evaluate each case, weigh potential harm against potential
benefits, and bear the responsibility for the decision. Research subjects may face various
types of harm and experiences. For example an interview may create anxiety and
discomfort among subjects who are asked to recall unpleasant events. The researcher
must be sensitive to any harm to subjects, consider possible precautions, and weigh
potential harm against potential benefits. Another risk of harm to subjects is that of a
negative effect on their careers or incomes. For example, a researcher conducts a survey
of employees and concludes that the supervisor’s performance is poor. As a
consequence, the supervisor loses her job. According to Neuman, a fundamental
principal of social research is “never coerce anyone into participating; participation must
be voluntary. It is not enough to get permission from subjects; they need to know what
they are being asked to participate in so that they can make an informed decision”
(Neuman, 1997, p. 450).

Finally, I believe that the ethically sensitive, thoughtful, and knowledgeable
investigator is the best judge of whether his/her research is justified. It is wise and
necessary to acquaint oneself with the problems, debates, and dilemmas associated with
the particular research carried out. Punch (1994, p. 89) stresses that “in essence, most
concern evolves around issues of harm, consent, deception, privacy, and confidentiality
of data.” At minimum, the researcher must desirably be familiar with the code of ethics

of the discipline in which research is conducted.

90

I counter checked to ascertain that my interviewees and prospective participants
were consulted and debriefed about the study in advance. I informed them about the
length of the interviews and the likely follow up sessions that would reflect on their
educational experiences. I asked them to critically think about how they think about
educational inequalities, and how they have addressed crucial issues of regionalism,
ethnicity-racism, class, gender, and social stratification in their practices as educational
officers and/or as members of marginalized groups in the past and the current context,
and how they visualize it for the future.

The participants were also informed that the interviews would be tape-recorded
and that they had the right not to respond to any particular questions and to request that
the recorder be turned off at any time during the process. Furthermore, I assured them
that all data and recording would be kept confidential and that their identity would not be
disclosed in the final product. Their right to withdraw and to not participate at any time
without penalty or other consequences was guaranteed.

In the next three chapters I present the findings of this study as a set of nine
themes, accompanied by supporting evidence, which I identified in the course of my

overall analysis.

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Chapter IV

GOVERNMENT POLICY IN RELATION TO POVERTY, UNEQUAL
EDUCATION RESOURCES, AND PROFESSIONAL INIPACT

Theme: Poverty and unemployment prevail, and the government is committed to
alleviating these problems.

This theme addresses some of the most sensitive yet also most overlooked
concepts of poverty and unemployment in Namibian society. This section, overall, is
about the existence of poverty in Namibia, and the government’s efforts to alleviate it.
There have been no in depth studies in Namibia specifically designed comprehensively to
measure poverty, deprivation, unemployment, income distribution, and standard of living
in the general population. Yet these factors seem to be among the crucial determining
factors of not only educational inequalities but also inequalities in income, health, and
knowledge. The Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) (1997, p. 16)
discussion paper put the situation in Namibia quite succinctly by stating that

While poverty in Namibia is typical of many African countries, with poor

households concentrated in rural areas and large income differentials

between rural and urban areas and between male and female headed

households, a striking difference lies in the extreme disparity of income

between ethnic and language groups in Namibia.

The measurement of poverty is first designed to bridge first and third worlds and
to afford a basis for cross-national measurement. The UN (1995, p. 57) defines absolute
poverty as “. . .a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs,
including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and

information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.”

Consequently, according to the UN, overall poverty takes on various forms, including

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...lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable
livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to
education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from
illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments and
social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by lack of
participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life. It
occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries,
pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods
as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or
conflict, the poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of
peopled who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and
safety nets.

The limited information available about these factors in Namibia comes from
sources such as the UNDP (1998, p. 11), which defines the eradication of poverty as
follows:

The underlying assumption in constructing the Human Poverty Index is

that poverty would have been eradicated in a society where: every new-

born child is assured of an adequate diet during the first five years; every

youngster is trained to read and write; every citizen has access to safe

drinking water and to health care and survives to the age of forty years.

The Namibian government is expected to prepare a national poverty eradication
plan to alleviate the plight of the majority who are in dire need. Measurement of the
problem of poverty, and of the effects of specific policies on trends in poverty, is neither
as reliable nor as exact as it should be. There are technical or scientific problems, but
also political problems, that demand to be solved. Both measurement and analysis are
being politicized to an extent that is becoming unacceptable. As this respondent an
education officer in the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture insisted,

As I indicated earlier, we came to realize that the magnitude of the

problem of specifically marginalized groups is so much. Now when we

talk about marginalized groups, we are really talking about the poor of the

poorest. In this connection we are not considering all the other say,

African ethnic groups that were because of apartheid given a budget that

was not sufficient. We are talking about those who were used as semi-
slaves on farms etc. {Respondent # 6}

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When, for example, there are competing measures of poverty, with political
interests mobilized behind each of them, there is a temptation to leave the meaning of
poverty ambiguous, or so arbitrarily and crudely defined as to be less than useful. Again,
if poverty is not monitored exactly, and changes in specific policies are not related to
trends in poverty, it becomes difficult to establish which changes are, and are not,
successful in reducing poverty. Ideologically preferred policies, some of which need to
be eliminated, are not placed under sufficient scrutiny.

In Namibia the differences between the rich and the poor are becoming more
extreme everywhere, at the same time as goods and certain services are becoming
available cross-regionally. There has to be rigorously collected comparative evidence to
decide matters of poverty and unemployment; after all, there are endless problems of
‘degree’ even if the basic contention is accepted.

Poverty alleviation is one of the four main aims of government (National Planning
Commission, 1995); the other three are to reduce inequalities, to create employment, and
to promote economic growth. Indeed, these four objectives are intertwined, and the
second two are pre-conditions for achieving the first two. While reducing income
inequality does not seem to be a sufficient condition for economic growth, the effects of
equality on grth have been found to be statistically significant (Alestina & Rodrik,
1994; Clarke, 1995; Persson & Tabellini, 1994). Two factors identified in early poverty
research as important in the alleviation of poverty and economic growth are still valid
today - the distribution of productive assets, and the rapid accumulation of human capital
through improvements in education and health (Chenery et al., 1974; Lipton & Ravallion,

1995).

94

To achieve its objectives of poverty alleviation and employment creation, the
Namibian government has devoted a large amount of resources to sectors such as
education and health, and to policies promoting industrialization. Although government
policies are generally oriented towards poverty alleviation, there could be some
improvements in the targeting and efficiency of the expenditure. It is hard to keep up
with the flow of published reports about poverty and unemployment at a global level. In
the 1990s investigations of the persistence and even growth of poverty proliferated. One
major illustration is the mounting stream of World Bank reports. By 1999 the Bank had
published more than 400 technical papers, more than 400 discussion papers, nearly 150
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) working papers, probably more than 200
country studies, and many other reports and papers on macro-economic, environmental,
urban management, education, and sustainable development issues — many addressing
poverty in different forms (Pandazis & Gordon, 2000, p. 213).

According to the UNDP (1998, p. 16), “In most regions of Namibia the most
effective way of reducing poverty as measured by the Human Poverty Index (I-IPl), is the
improvement in access to health services.” The large number of people who have to walk
long unacceptable distances to get health care or education constitutes a problem that
overshadows all the other dimensions of poverty in most of Namibia, except in the
Khomas, Okavango, and Omusati regions. In Khomas, which has by far the best and the
most accessible health services, the largest poverty burden is represented by a very high
proportion of underweight children, perhaps a result of a large influx of migrants to the
peri-urban squatter settlements. Only Hardap has a similar problem with malnourished

children. In Okavango and Omusati, the health problems are overshadowed by the

95

 

 

. poorly developed water supply systems, which also hold a grip on poverty in Okavango
and Caprivi (UNDP 1998, p. 16). One of the respondents, a regional education director,
said the following:

Children in the rural areas have to walk on foot even during the cold

season, during the rainy season, the streams and the Oshanas (swampy

areas) are hall of water. These kids have to walk, some of them even ten

kilometers on foot, that means to go and to come back from school. And

then another thing is also that the parents there, they are also quite in

poverty, because some of the settlements don't have lighting, electricity or

solar power or whatever, so when the children come back from school,

there is no way out. {Respondent # 16}

Complementary to any economic development policy for regions, there must be
comprehensive social initiatives and policies policy which deal with and attack the causes
of poverty and underdevelopment, especially in the historically deprived rural areas
which are referred to by the above respondent. Totemeyer (1992, p. 47) appropriately
argues that “any regional planning in Namibia has to address the reduction of existing
interregional disparities and thus to contribute to a more equitable distribution of wealth,
opportunities and development. Inequality and poverty should be eradicated.”
Development aimed at eradicating poverty would reflect a process of progressive change
plus growth from which a whole society could benefit equally.

Therefore, both the respondents and the broad literature believe considerable
efforts could be made to contribute towards more social equality and general
improvement of the socio economic fi'amework. A study conducted for the 1993/94 first
review of Swedish/Namibian co-operation concluded that “the success of all efforts to
fight poverty and to address the vexed issues of unemployment in the final analysis will

hinge on the political will of the Namibian government to pursue some difficult courses

of action” (Oden et al, 1994, p. 117).

96

 

The following respondent, an education officer from the Ministry of Higher
Education Vocational Training Science and Technology, reckons that “the large majority
of Namibians do not have an adequate income to provide their children with adequate
food, shelter, security, medical care, clothing, and all you need to live a decent life.” He
quotes figures and depicts farm workers’ children to be out of the economic function. To
him these differences perpetuate ethnicity as the inherited legacy of apartheid manifested
in many ways:

The parents earning between three hundred and six hundred Namibian
dollars, some of them less, up to two hundred dollars cannot afford good
schools. I am not even talking about the children of farm workers, they
are out from the beginning. But if you talk about, let us say the average
kid from a parent earning less than a thousand Namibian dollars, there is
no way that, that child will get into school A or school B because the
parents naturally won’t afford. For the new rich in government, it’s
nothing to pay for their children, their salaries allows that. For somebody
earning three hundred dollars, while even at state schools you have to pay
three hundred dollars or more per trimester, that is a month’s salary for
some people, let alone the unemployed it is difficult. If you are a high
income earner, say for instance you earn ten thousand Namibian dollars a
month, before tax, I mean if you have to pay ten thousand Namibian
dollars just for school fees, most people will be totally angry. But it’s the
same effect on that person earning the lowest salary. So there is no way,
and then you have to pay for a taxi. It costs a few hundred dollars for
transport for each child. I mean that is just out. So that is a subtle way of
keeping I will say ethnicism and inequity, because of this insidious policy
that was followed by apartheid South Africa. You know people are still to
a last degree separated. I think the new towns, the new communal areas,
some areas are more open, but I don’t know how long this legacy will still
last. Also, the people who move to the improved affordable locations are
among those who earn money to be able to afford these new houses.
{Respondent # 14}

Ultimately the problems that causes the deep-rooted inequalities to continue are
multiple and varied.
In most regions, poverty is manifest in terms of inadequate access to material

wealth, measured as lack of surplus income beyond what is needed to feed the family.

97

However, poverty is less prominent as a crisis than one might expect in most regions.
The reason is that poverty is overshadowed by many other factors and dimensions. One
respondent, a regional education director, contended that the rich of the society assist the
government in funding projects for the schools attended by their children. The poor of
society cannot participate in supplementing school budgets because they cannot afford to.
Their meager income and savings would rather be spent on basic aspects of survival:
The inequality is still there because the parents of those who had they still
have. The parents still have, they are still rich, they are still well to do.
The children of the parents who were poor, I think they are still struggling,
so, then the schools where these rich children go, apart from the their
portion which the government, the ministry contributes to the budget the
rich parents also have the means to support and supplement the shortages
that can be observed in the school. But the schools which were
disadvantaged right, they still struggle, why? Though the distribution
from the government is equal, this part which the parents are supposed to
be supplement, that is still lacking there, because the parents are still poor.
So that inequality is still there, and is likely to take long to get rid of it,
though the policy say equal, but the reality on the ground is quite different
because of the factors that I refer to, and also the legacy of apartheid of
course. {Respondent # 8}
The respondent did not beat about the bush but rather said it as he sees and

experiences it. He was elaborate on how poverty, and thus inequalities, are bound to
continue for a long time.

The following theme demonstrates how, despite the government’s efforts of
educational and other policy commitments, the inequitable human and natural resources,
infiastructure, capital, and technology lead to persisting unequal educational access and

outcomes.

98

Themg: Good quality education is restricted by facilities, infrastructure, capital,
resources, and technological limitations.

This theme addresses related issues of the government’s commitment and efforts
for educational equity, versus lack of sufficient infrastructure, technological limitations,
and the low quality of most schools; thus, the inability to provide education for all the
children on an equal basis. This theme also identifies non-proportional budget
allocations and lack of financial resources and facilities to be determining factors in the
provision of access to education, or lack of it, to the majority of the population.

The debate on school physical facilities, home background, and resources
available to individuals is prevalent in most countries of the world. Since the equality of
educational opportunity report by Coleman et al. (1966) and its application to developing
countries by Heinemann (1975), school effects researchers have sought to establish the
relative significance of the school as compared to student characteristics (mainly social
background) in accounting for achievement variation among students. Though not
without critiques, extant research shows that the relative explanatory power of school
characteristics depends on the research context (Marope, 1996, p. 157). Research
findings from developed countries have confirmed those of Coleman that social
background and related variables account for a higher proportion of the variance in
achievement than between-school differences in resource inputs (Comber & Keeves,
1973; Bryk et al. 1989; Heinemann & Loxley, 1983). But in developing countries,
country-level and comparative studies have consistently confirmed the superiority of
school resource inputs in accounting for achievement variation among students (Fuller,

1986; Saha, I983; Schiefelbein and Simmons, 1981; Theisen et al.).

99

Evidence from country-level studies provides details of the specific school
characteristics that affect achievement. These will be explored with evidence from
respondents in this study. In Namibia and Botswana, studies have shown that children in
primary schools with sufficient physical facilities such as classroom space, desks, library,
school hall, and other resources (namely reading materials, qualified and experienced
teachers) significantly outperformed those in less endowed schools (Campbell & Abbot
1976; Kann, 1978; Mwamwenda & Mwawmenda, 1987). The conclusion that
achievement levels are higher in schools with better physical facilities was also true for
Zambian and Malawian schools (Heinemann, 1980).

There is overwhelming general agreement among respondents about the post-
independence expansion of education. Most respondents confirmed that during the
independence period, access to education has improved all over the country. It is the
quality of the expanded education that is problematic and which seems to be limited by
the factors mentioned above and possibly others. Some of the impeding factors are
insufficient infrastructure, technological limitations, and inefficiency; respondents also
repeatedly pointed out that the huge bureaucratic structure, the lack of financial
resources, and the destruction of property through vandalism seem to stifle and constrain
developmental progress.

The way in which plans for greater access, quality, and equity should be
conceptualized is open to question, particularly in the light of the constraining economic
conditions which impact negatively on the amount of handing available for educational
reconstruction. In this light, therefore, placing all children into school and providing

equitable distribution become major challenges, especially when the issue of the quality

100

of such schooling comes under dispute. With more money allocated to the quantitative
expansion of formerly deprived Black schooling, less money was available for privileged
White schooling. Well-resourced White schools with parent communities that could
afford to pay school fees were thus enabled by state policy to preserve a privileged
schooling system.

Educational inequalities are pervasive and far-reaching, and it would be
disingenuous to suppose that they can be eradicated easily. Respondents had various
responses to the issue of access, equity and the quality of schools. There is general
consensus among respondents about the acute lack of infrastructure and lack of funds and
facilities to be among the main causes that restrict good quality education to most of the
population. The impact is felt more in the hitherto deprived schools, both in urban and
rural areas, where schools make do with meager resources and infrastructure.

This particular respondent from the MBEC acknowledged that access to schooling
is to a great extent achieved. Namibia does have more school going age children in
school than her SADEC regional counterparts. Consequently, he emphasized how
differentiated that access can be between the range of privileged schools, the deprived
schools, and those at the margin. He also pointed out that the phenomenal expansion of
schooling that led to the high accessibility lacks the desired quality. He posed several
questions about the types of quality in the different schools:

There are problems but we have over 90% of children in schools — I don’t

know really how truthful that statement is. Access - doing very well,

better than most of the African countries. Enrolled more kids than any

other country in the SADEC region.

But now access to what quality is another question. Access to the same

quality? Access to rural quality? Access to middle level quality? Access
to high quality? That’s one different thing.

lOl

Access to quality, determined by what resources? How much of resources
do exist in those access plus schools?

How different is the quality of schools accessed by Black children to those
accessed by White children? We should not blindly talk about access.

Access is good we have too many kids in schools, but what quality have
we accessed them to? {Respondent # S}

The respondent’s questions certainly have far reaching implications about the
quality of education that is offered in the post-colonial expansion of education in
Namibia. Our knowledge of the extent and changing nature of the educational
inequalities in Namibia is very patchy, and the understanding of the causes of these
inequalities, apart from the known fact of the apartheid legacy, is even much more so. In
a similar vein, the following regional director’s questions and response are threefold. He
inquired about the quality 90% learners in schools have access to and about whether
access has been broadened and deepened throughout the grade levels, and he declared
that there is no equitable access to education:

Well, there has been an effort in terms of increasing the number of
Namibian’s access to education. They have had more access to education,
obviously we have had now I am made to understand that our enrollment
rates are about 90%. That being the case, obviously I might have my own
views about these things. 90% what? How is the system different from
the previous system in terms of inaccessibility that you are referring to and
inequality. Now if you look at the access, it may have broaden but
whether it has deepened I think it’s another issue. We have had a
broadening of maybe access at lower levels. Whether that goes through,
that’s what I mean by whether it has deepened. Whether it goes through
up to higher education I doubt that because if you look at the university it
takes about maybe a thousand between the university and polytechnic one
is looking at about two, three, four thousand. OK, basically two thousand
new trainees every year. So what you are saying is the true situation is
like, and we have graduates of about, I mean in junior secondary school.
You are looking at about twenty thousand or twenty-five thousand. That
in itself shows that there is no deepening in the system. What one can say
is that there is no equitable access to education. I would also like to

102

maybe add that or even use my God-feeling and say that what we have
there, is a situation where people who have always had access to education
are actually continuing to have access to education. {Respondent # 9}

Similar to many other developing countries, education in independent Namibia
expanded quantitatively. It is the qualitative application and provision that has been a
problem because the available resources cannot cope with the high demand of the
expanded education. According to Bradshaw and Ndegwa, “Both the SWAPO (South
West Africa Peoples Organization) and international agencies have committed substantial
resources to expansion of mass schooling and improving quality, especially within the
impoverished northern region. In 1991 approximately 1,234 schools were registered in
Namibia; by 1997 that number has risen to 1,457, an increase of 18 percent” (Bradshaw
& Ndegwa 2000, p. 312). The respondent below, a MHEVST high-ranking officer, tried
to give a clear picture according to his views of the current situation pertaining to quality
in the expanded schools:

The government has been trying to push for quality in the highly accessed
schools, although it might not have been serious enough to do it that good.
The government has been building quite a number of schools, especially
primary schools in the northern regions, and quite a large number of
children in those regions are in schools now. But the quality of schooling
that they receive is another issue altogether. But a number of schools have
been built, especially in the northern regions and especially on the primary
phase. But what I am really saying is that, it is very difficult for the
government to equate regions economically as the policy may indicate. It
is very difficult, and I don’t know why, I do not have the solution to that
or a real answer to that problem. What I really know is that the quality in
the majority schools is very poor or nonexistent. There is this enormous
inequity in resource allocation to various regions and schools, which, has a
detrimental effect on the quality experienced in those schools and regions.
Those poor regions will remain poor, poor schools will deteriorate and
better schools will become even better schools because their quality in
terms of resources, teachers, infrastructure and equipment remain superior.
{Respondent # 11}

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Expanded provision of schooling did not translate into quality schooling. In fact,
recent studies, for example Melber (I997), Brock-Utne (2000), and others focusing on
unequal distribution and literacy, argue that despite the expansion depicted above, no
improvement in the quality of schooling had occurred. According to these studies, regional
inequalities are very striking. 70% of all Black children are schooled in the former
Homelands and rural areas. This forms the most disadvantaged schooling sector; 25% plus
of Blacks’ schooling takes place in massively under-resourced rural schools. Regional
disparities are a very important dimension of expanding access to schooling. It is those
underprivileged regions, which include former Homelands and commercial farm areas,
which will have to be prioritized in the provision of schooling. It is thus apparent that Black
schooling faces severe quantitative and qualitative problems. See Table 3 showing

disparities in education for various regions.

104

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There have been problems related to educational policies and policy-making,
which have had negative influence on the country’s policy implementation and
achievement. The policy declared that education was to become a human right, and
within that framework, sought, among other things, to make primary education
compulsory and free and thus to remove the financial constraints which kept the majority
of children out of school prior to independence. This MBEC officer put it this way:

Things are still in the pipeline, they are trying but then there is these

blockages some of the management teams who are not willing to try to

phase out these problems. Like for some of the schools there are different

things. Schools in towns it seems to be that they are not government

schools. Because the town schools the learners are forced to pay school

fees or school fund whatever name. Then it is so strict. If you don’t pay it

you are not allowed to attend any class, while the government policy is

“school is free from grade one up to seven or from the age of one to

sixteen. Then when it comes to the rural areas, those people are not strict

when it comes to paying school fees. That’s why you will find some of

the schools they are not functioning whilst these schools in towns with

these funds they will be able to have some extra classes, even to buy some

books, or to offer computer classes while the others are suffering fi'om

here. Because it seems now they are the ones who are trying to obey the

government by not asking/forcing these people to pay. {Respondent # 7}

The respondent’s concern explains the dilemma and contradiction of policy
formulation versus policy implementation. For many, policy was supposed to orient the
education system to national goals and enhance social justice and equality of educational
opportunity for all in all regions. Education should fight illiteracy, innumeracy, hunger,
and disease, which characterized the lot of the majority population in colonial Namibia.
However, as this respondent, a regional education director, pointed out, the divisions and
expenses for some schools are unaffordable for the majority of the population, which

explains the contradiction between policy and practice:

These people the people who are in positions of government, of power as
well as a lot of other people who have gained economic power during these

106

eight years, have joined the five percent, and that is why I am saying it's
approximately ten percent now. And these are people, simply because of the
fact that they do have the resources, can afford to send their children to
schools where fees are much higher than in government schools. They can
even afford to send their children to private schools, but the declared
statement of government is really not to perpetuate this it's like you said
almost with, but really to ensure that government schools which is schools
for under the auspices of the ministry of education staff will not charge
extravagant fees. So in order to ensure that there will be better access of
children to schools, you will even find that the government has stipulated
time and time and again that it is no longer a prerequisite for enrollment in
schools for children to pay school fees. If they cannot pay school fees, they
can approach the necessary authorities, and they can be assisted, and they
can even be exempt from school fees. Anybody who does this by telling
people or pupils that you cannot be enrolled in this particular schooL simply
because of the fact that we don't have money to pay for school fees, are
really not doing this in the spirit of the education ministry's declared
statement of access and fairness for all. {Respondent # 13}

The contradiction between policy and practice plays out in the well stipulated and
intentioned policies like exemption of those who cannot afford to pay, or government
schools not to charge high fees, yet there is no school without fees and other associated
costs. The declared statement of access and fairness seem to be on paper but is not being
practically implemented. Along similar lines the respondent below, an education officer
in the MBEC, also clearly expressed his dissatisfaction about the disparities between
different schools. He shows that schools are in different categories i.e., very rich and
good schools versus very poor and bad schools. The ethnic category for enrollment and
acceptance is currently overshadowed by the effective demand or ability to pay, a
privilege enjoyed only by the elite’s of society. He also emphasized that Blacks in good
or former White schools are from wealthy families:

During the colonial time those were well off were mostly whites. Now after

independence the elite’s are cognizant of the fact that whites were well off,

these parents can afford their children to go to good schools after

independence, despite the fact that at independence you see, school don't
admit people on the basis of color or ethnicity. But what school does now,

107

or what many schools do now, is whether you have the money to afford you

see. Now, that's why you see that as is happening now, many white learners

still continue to enjoy the privilege of being in a good quality school. Now,

that again, again a second scenario is that, when you look at black learners,

you see who are today in former White schools, either from below business

class, or from petit bourgeois or compradors or so on. You see, therefore

that in itself have substituted that particular phenomena has substituted the

issue of ethnicity. However, ethnicity also, but that to me is still prevalent,

but to me, I feel it is more a geographical accident. {Respondent # 2}

The respondent indicated how the privileged continue to be advantaged together
with the new elite, who consider themselves a different class from the majority population.
In contrast to the previous respondents, this respondent, from the MHEVST, seemed to be
optimistic and seemed to believe that the inequalities can be addressed even though it may
take a long time:

Slowly but sure, the distribution is going to be equal in a sense, but before

you can bring all the schools in Namibia as far as this material and what is

concerned, on the same footing, it will take a lot of years to come.

Because partly of the past, that past inequalities that were so much
entrenched. {Respondent # 19}

The problem of out of school children and poorly resourced schools is not limited
to former homelands but also in many rural areas outside the homelands. After
independence the former Homelands were referred to as communal lands and that is
where the infrastructure is lacking, and also in deprived areas of towns and cities
(ghettoes, slums or squatter camps), which are predominantly inhabited by the Black
population of Namibia. Even towns in Namibia are not totally developed areas.
Townships with predominantly Black inhabitants are grossly underdeveloped.
Windhoek, with its townships Katutura and Khomasdal, is a particular example

(Tottemeyer, 1992, p. 43). Poverty and high unemployment are the two main factors

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that stifle the whole major social adaptation and transformation which is needed to
develop the willingness and capacity to change and grow.

The following respondent, an educational planner with the MBEC, also expressed
optimism about the gradual changes taking place, although he also acknowledged the
continuing disparities according to various regions:

You see, we are in the process. We are in the process, hence we find that the

distribution of the resources in the whole country especially in the

disadvantaged regions are not say equal. But we are in the process of

addressing matters, but currently that isn't done, but you will find the areas,

northern areas they don't have enough schools. They don‘t have enough

textbooks. They don't have enough furniture. They don‘t have enough

qualified teachers. That's because of the past, and also the current resources

disposal to the government. {Respondent # 3}

The effects of the inequalities on children’s life chances mean, in turn, that the
road towards equity based on equality of opportunity is bound to be blocked until these
systematic differences are substantially reduced. It is a general consensus that the
government’s policies, and their new programs, well intentioned as they may be, will do
little to reduce inequalities and may well exacerbate them. The rampant inequitable
distribution of vital resources (for the improvements of conditions) enhances unequal
social and economic conditions that affect educational access and outcomes.

The following respondent, an officer from the MBEC, supported the position of
the government especially toward educationally marginalized groups, although he also
acknowledged that the quality of education offered is questionable. Providing access
alone to schooling cannot be enough. Kallaway et al. (1997, p. 82), for example, argue
that “access without quality improvement in basic general education is a recipe for

disappointment.” This respondent, a director in the MBEC, believes that they, as a

government, are doing much by availing education to various areas of the country.

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However, Kallaway et al. argue for the promotion of well-prepared teachers, efficiency
and sustainability, and democratic governance. This is contrary to accessibility, which
the respondent seemed to think is sufficient for the marginalized communities:

The fact that we are taking education to the people, the fact that we are
establishing these types of schools, in areas, in inequitable areas where
these pe0ple live. The fact that we sacrifice the living standards of our
teachers in following these parents and communities wherever they go. I
think this is one indication that we as the government is contributing
trying to contribute towards the inclusion of all school age children in the
system. It does not matter, as I said before the quality of education that is
available at that specific school is another issue to talk about. But we are
talking about the accessibility of those schooling facilities to those hunting
children who live with their hunting mothers and fathers. The fact that
they could afford to spent an hour or two under the supervision of a
qualified teacher and to be taught, that to me is what I can also term
narrowing the gap or opening up the accessibility of schools to the
marginalized. {Respondent # 1}

The respondent was optimistic about inclusion of all learners into the system and
the accessibility of the marginalized to schools and the provision of qualified teachers.
Nevertheless, Bradshaw and Ndegwa (2000, p. 312) point out that

If the Ministry of Education is successful in its plan to raise the

qualifications of all teachers by the year 2006, the education sector will

consume approximately 46% of the national budget. Such are the fiscal

effects of a suddenly modern state that must gain legitimacy by appearing to
deliver mass opportunity while struggling to exhibit more equal quality

levels.

Several officers pointed out how large an amount education receives out of the
total national budget, but that this huge education budget allocation is not sufficient to
benefit the learners as expected. In response to the question about how educational
resources are allocated to marginalized ethnic and regional groups to assure equitable

distribution, an educational officer with the MHEVST contended that the high budgetary

allocation to education does not go far in alleviating difficulties, especially the

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marginalized leamer’s access to education, or to improve the skewed imbalances within
the system:

That’s a difficult one, I think that is the crux of the matter in the Namibian
education system. 1 think education have been receiving about between 25
- 28% of the national budget. You are talking about a budget of about five
billion so you are talking about a billion actually going to education more
or less and the extent to which that money is utilized for education and to
redress these issues, the inequalities and actually try to access some people
who never had access to education and bring them as it were, mainstream
them. I think I have difficulties with that, I do not know whether there
have been serious efforts to making or rectifying the situation.
{Respondent # 8}

Another officer from the MBEC also demonstrated that misappropriation of the
high education budget, lack of facilities, infrastructure, and the huge bureaucracy cripples
the provision of good quality education. He also expressed concern about the two
ministries of education and the high salaries paid to bureaucrats that could be better used
for resources in schools:

This is what is happening, we are committing suicide. There is another
aspect that is very worrying, we are talking about most of the government
budget goes to education. Or education receives most of the national or
the biggest portion of the budget. But then, there are all these disparities
as you talked about them or as we notice them, especially in the regions at
the periphery. There is a growing concern among people asking about, I .
have been reading in the papers asking as to whether we need both
ministries of education. Because otherwise there is a lot of money also
being paid to a lot of bureaucrats who are sitting in these offices as a result
the budget ends up in salaries rather than maybe improving some things in
certain schools for them to have laboratories, libraries etc. {Respondent #
6}

The same respondent also shared other concern about the misappropriated budget. He also
saw too much money going to teachers’ salaries:

The salary budget of this Ministry is killing us. We are spending 84%
more or less of our budget purely on salaries. Our teachers are the highest
paid in Africa more or less. It consumes so much resources on personnel
cost alone, that we have very little left for books, materials, and ultimately

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the child. That is one of our basic and serious problems that affect all
development. {Respondent # 6}

These various ofl'rcers’ responses reflect a shared concern about the continuing
inequalities based on the budget allocation, which they claimed is not dealt with in an
appropriate and balanced manner.

The crisis in the Namibian education sector is partly due to the larger economic
crisis in Africa. Mounting fiscal austerity, explosive population growth, and tenuous
political and administrative institutions with growing class and regional divisions are
symptomatic and explanatory of the crisis. There seems to be misguided faith in education,
for example, the belief that education will solve all the problems, which does not happen.
This respondent, a director in the MHEVST, touched on the crisis continent wide:

The whole of Africa believes that, educate enough and you will get

development. You go today throughout southern African region or to East

Africa, West Africa, this still proves not to be true. We invest so much in

education and other services like health and housing and we leave little

resources or none for the infrastructure. {Respondent # 15}

There was agreement about the unavailability of technical facilities in most
schools in the country to enable the teachers, learners, or the community to improve their
living conditions. Respondents also talked of different schools having different resources
and facilities, which means that the children of those who can afford it go to the best
schools, and children of those who cannot afford, who are the majority in the country,
receive whatever is available.

Education aimed and institutionalized towards the creation of a single system
based on quality, equality, and equity has to contend with a fundamentally distorted

legacy. The new dispensation has inherited a highly differentiated educational system.

The eleven subsystems catered differently to the various ethnic and race groups. Great

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disparities existed amongst these subsystems. The remarks of the following respondent,
an officer of the MHEVST, showed signs of dissatisfaction and anger:

The fact that the few new elite are allowed to join the former beneficiaries,

just make the urgency of the people to bring about some fundamental

changes, and what we have been fighting for in the liberation for this

country. That fundamental change is not coming about. {Respondent #
10}

The above quote shows the frustration among those dealing with issues of
education and also their helplessness, because there seems to be nothing they can do
about it. The long expected benefits of independence seem to be enjoyed by few and not
realized by the majority. The respondent below, a regional director with the MBEC,
preferred to state it in terms of a different allocation to schools, both in the urban areas
and in rural regions. The main reason the well off of society take their children to good
schools is that those schools offer better opportunities for the learners:

Those schools the formerly advantaged and still privileged remain well

endowed in terms of resources, they remain well off. You cannot compare

them to any other schools. So obviously that, being the situation, why

should the white kids want to go to Katutura? (Katutura is the formerly

and still the Black township in Windhoek). In fact, tell you what, Blacks

have also been going to, and I mean Blacks as opposed to coloreds, have

even been going to colored schools. Because they are better off as

compared to schools in Katutura, or even in the deep rural areas.

{Respondent # 17}

The evident contradiction is that while on the one hand the government policy
enunciated free compulsory education for all, on the other hand the better the school, the
more expensive they are. The impoverished majority population attends schools with
lack of infrastructure, facilities, and resources.

Another way that respondents agreed is that each one of them talked of the

endemic disparities in the education system. This respondent from the MHEVST

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reckoned that the various disparities in schools and regions are responsible for preventing
desired development:

Accommodation and other incentives for teachers are key problems and not
to mention proper classrooms or even sufficient schools. These are the
factors hindering the development of education in the region, and those are
some of the factors, which caused partly the regions to be far behind in terms
of educational development, resources distribution, etc. If we want to
equalize education to similar areas, then we first nwd to provide these
resources to address the people in the region. That's the only time when the
national development in terms of education will take place. {Respondent #
18}

This respondent commented on scarcity of resources and the unequal distribution
of it to various ethnic and regional schools. He emphasized that “if we want to have
competitive schools everywhere in the country, then we need to facilitate their quality for
learning.” Currently a dual system of schooling is being perpetuated: a privileged
schooling sector that serves a minority, and a poor quality schooling sector that serves the
majority of children. The large number of Namibian children not in school is a major
variation. Massive public spending needs to be prioritized to rebuild the apartheid
divided Namibia.

All these are crucial factors that explain the inequities that affect virtually all
aspects of the function of the state, which lead to statements like the following by one of
the education regional directors:

Government policy is very much clear that there shouldn't be any

discrimination in equal access to any school, and we are trying to do this

part, because of economic imbalances got this, the restraining factor. In

clear terms, white man can send his child to one of our prestigious schools

here in Windhoek, let's say Windhoek high school, paying a school fees of

$200 per cover. Whereas any other poor man cannot afford to send his

child, the child would be accepted but he do not have money to pay for

that. He would not have money to pay for the uniform. He would not
have money for transportation. He would not have money for any

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additional requirement. Economic imbalances still remain a distinguished
fact. Those are open, but the monetary status. {Respondent # 9}

The privileged or elite of the society continues to enjoy the best facilities while
the socially stratified plunge deeper into inaccessibility and neglect. A good example is
how information provided by government can mislead the public relates to the state’s
funding of education. When the annual budget is presented, education takes the lion’s
share. However, the public does not seem to know that most of that money goes to meet
teachers’ salaries and administration costs. A very small fraction of it goes to the learner.
The general public is left with the impression that huge sums of money are invested
directly in the classroom and in the improvement of the quality of education itself The
state, through government, is also very good at using language that is subtle and has
important influence on political thought when discussing policy issues. This respondent,
an officer in the MHEVST, acknowledged the psychological impact but at the same time
expounded on how the policy of free education is not practiced:

You are psychologically being worked in a way that at least you feel even,

you don’t belong to such a community. It is a privilege those in the

position who can afford really to take their kids to such schools and

sometimes you try even if you have a principal who is not understanding

and understandable, then you can also be send home to go and collect

money. For our people, the mentality of taking those schools as might be

not theirs. We do our level best even to see to it that it is better to pay

such than even the schools, which are in need in the rural areas.

{Respondent # 20}

Similarly, the following respondent, a regional director with the MBEC,
addressed the crucial issues of limiting ethnic, regional, and residential divide, and the

enduring yet problematic hostel (boarding school) factor. Those who cannot afford seem

not to have a chance for good education:

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It means you continue on the basis of residential area those groups who
are there predominantly primary as well as junior secondary school
because school now go up to grade nine because of facilities. They
continue to be dominated by one or two other cultural groups. If you take
Aminuis now you have the Tswanas you have the Ovaherero there they
can go to any school, there’s no prevention like in the past but if now if
you expect an Omuwambo to go there if they do not live in Aminuis, it is
very difficult. For a secondary school where the medium is English there
is no Option, the government as I said created the opportunity for grade
eleven to be accommodated at the in towns whatever. It is opening up that
one, and the hostel is also a problem, it is one of the limiting factors.
Because if you do not have a place where you can live you suffer. Many
of the kids you have are day scholars they do not live in the hostel, and if
you don’t have parents in that area, or if your parents have no money, even
to live on your own in a way, then it’s problematic. {Respondent # 16}

Namibia faces some serious challenges in overcoming poverty, inequity, extreme income
distribution, and unemployment. While there are many structural constraints, there are
“positive” government initiatives in all these aspects. Nevertheless, the respondent
below, an officer with the MHEVST, had more questions than answers:

To what extent are the non indigenous from those particular regions not
benefiting from education? Because obviously what you have is a
situation where people are actually working for others. Now if you have
people working for others, how do you ensure that the people are working
for others actually do send their kids to school? How do you ensure that
all these kids of parents who are working on the farms are going to
school? How do you control that? How do you demand of me to send my
workers kids to school while you are doing nothing as a government?
How do you do it? How will you ensure that, while we have incidents, I
am not talking about outlying areas no, I am talking of Windhoek. How
do you ensure that kids in Havana (Havana and Ombili + are some of the
many post independence ghettoes/squatter camps) these kids are they
going to school? I drive now and then I go there, you find kids on the
streets roaming about and not attending school. Not because they do not
want to go to school but they cannot afford all expenses associated with
school. {Respondent # 4}

While previous racial and ethnic boundaries, both in rural and in urban areas, continue to
jeopardize policies and practices, they are transcended by the escalating stratification in

class terms as a result of the emergence of the new elite. Tapscott (1991, pp. 3 — 4)

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correctly assessed that “members of the pre-existing White elite are now being joined by
a new class of senior Black administrators, politicians and business people, largely
divorced from the majority of the urban and rural poor.” Reconciliation cannot become
substantive and operative, credible and convincing, while wealth is more unequally
shared and while all have unequal access to opportunities. Tottemeyer (1992, p. 29) hit
the nail on the head; he argued that

A society which is still marked by vast discrepancies and imbalances in
wealth and economic opportunities, and by other inequalities is not the
most fertile ground for reconciliation and reconstruction. Existing gaps
need to be narrowed and closed eventually. At the same time, it is realized
that quick-fix populist economic policies will not produce the desire
redistribution of wealth. Economic justice will not flow overnight and
automatically from present political and socio-economic changes. It will
take time.

The next respondent, a senior officer with the MHEVST, has a number of critical
issues he reckoned are still problematic from inequality of allocation to servicing equipment
and teachers to differential salaries and incentives for teachers:

What has happened is that we are still looking at the side of the school,
and there is still inequality in terms of how much money is paid on those
schools. On the financial base, we still are not aware of this, to me when I
look at it, there is still that problem. Because if we are to service
equipment, if we are to service the teachers that are in that school for
example, if the school in Kavango in the bush there has got ten teachers,
the highest educated person is a diploma. Even salary wise, the money
you pay to that school is not as much as one school that is in Kavango
also, but in Rundu urban town. And the lowest qualified person is a
diploma, but the highest is a master's or honors or what ever. The money
that you are likely to give to that school in terms of the salaries, there is a
difference already, completely, and Rundu might get a school that uses a
lot of computers, it uses a lot of gadgets and so on. Supplying that school
might require a lot of money. {Respondent # 10}

If the inputs are clearly that varied, it can be difficult for outputs to be expected to

be the same across regions or, in some instances, as the education officer above gave as

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an example, in the same region, in this case, the Kavango region. The following theme
explores and explains the impact of teacher qualifications and insufficient incentives on
educational quality and outcomes.

Respondents in this study gave interesting albeit contradictory views on these
issues, which is indicative of the continuous debate in Namibia. According to one
respondent, a regional education director, the majority schools seem still to be suffering
from the shortages of essential resources for them to produce competent learners:

What has been happening in terms of resources and good performance?

Now we realize for example like em, several white schools still continues

to have better resources. For example you hardly hear shortage of

teachers in former white schools. You hardly hear lack of necessary

equipment in those schools, for example, when you look at passing grades

in schools, throughout since our independence, only former white schools

continue to report good passing results. {Respondent # 13}

If the former White schools continue to have good achievement results, while the
rest of the schools in the country are still low in outcomes, then indeed the differences in
the resources they receive must be examined as a possible explanation for the
continuation of inequalities among the different schools. The same respondent, in
answering the question of what the new government has done to eliminate apartheid and
unequal and inaccessible education, and a follow up question about how the inequalities
manifest themselves, claimed,

A lot of things show the manifestations of inequalities. I think, we first

mentioned facilities, books, qualified teachers and other resources. I think

the basics obviously show in a classroom situation, we tend to observe that.

Secondly, questions of passing rates, exam-passing rates. That obviously,

the mere fact that until now mostly only former white schools that used to do

well. Thirdly obviously also, there are also issues of for example, when you

look at this absenteeism when you look at tmancy. All these factors
contribute to the inequitable situation. {Respondent # 13}

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To this respondent it is clear that inequalities in outcomes are due to unequal
resources allocation, and that the schools that were privileged continue to outperform the
rest of the schools in the country due to a conglomerate of factors. He reckoned that
truancy and absenteeism to be among the factors to be considered in addition to resources
input and other factors.

The next theme introduces teacher disparities and to a considerable extent deals
with the specific impact of teacher qualifications. There are a conglomerate of factors
associated with teachers, from their performance in classrooms to their incentives in
order to work willingly anywhere, to transportation and ethical issues that affect the
outcomes of learners in various ways. The general view by most respondents is that a
society that needs good quality education must invest in the training, incentives, well
being, and staff development of teachers.

T_he_m_r_:: Unqualified and under-qualified teachers with varying learner-teacher
ratios, lack of incentives for qualified teachers, transportation, ethics, and
un-discipline affect the quality of education.

This theme mainly deals with issues to do with teachers. Some of the matters that
surround expectations from and performance of teachers are their qualifications or lack of
them, and limited incentives and resources that determine willingness or reluctance to
serve in certain schools or areas. Other factors are retraining to suit post-independence
policies and practices, work ethics and discipline or lack of it, which enhances
inefficiency and hence suspicion, as well as the huge difference between the number of
learners assigned to a teacher in various schools and regions. Teacher housing has been a
discouraging problem for most teachers because many schools prior to independence,

particularly in the rural areas, were constructed without this and other facilities. The

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successive colonial governments also restricted teacher training to limited knowledge in
accordance with upholding White supremacy and domination and the reduction of Blacks
to servants of colonialists.

Systematic segregation and racist notions relegated the education of Blacks to
training as, according to Ellis (1984, p. 19), “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”
This policy led to startling inequalities and disparities in the quality of education services
rendered to the various ethnic groups. Both the German and the South African colonial
regimes in Namibia excluded the indigenous peoples from political decision-making in
order to secure the interests of the European settlers, taking firll control of the political
and socioeconomic development of the country. Education played a major role in
entrenching the privileges of the White minority. Both these regimes strove to keep the
Black majority subjugated by imposing a very restricted curriculum and limited teacher
preparation in order to confine the position of Blacks to the lowest grade.

This conception of what type of education was suitable for Black people
inevitably had an impact on teacher training. Bantu education introduced under the South
African colonial rule confined Blacks to the lowest grades and their ambitions to the
tribal context. Teaching was one of a limited number of options for work available to
Blacks with some schooling. Swarts appropriately documented that the qualifications of
Black teachers, as a result of their restricted education, were lower than those of the
Whites and Coloreds (mixed race), as were their salaries. Since the training of teachers at
the secondary level was inadequate, too few of the teacher trainees had the necessary
preparation for teacher training (Swarts, 1998, p. 9). All the different groups referred to

had their separate colleges of education, which offered programs exclusively for teachers

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belonging to their designated groups and prepared them for teaching in the schools under
their specific ethnic authorities, which controlled them.

Therefore, teachers from different ethnic groups were not exposed to each other
or to the beliefs and values held by other groups. Hargreaves describes this kind of
teacher culture as “balkanized” (1994, p. 10). In the Namibian context, the various
subgroups were Black, Colored, and White, and “deep-seated distinctions of status and
priority” existed among them (Hargreaves & Fullan 1992). While White teachers were
overqualified in pre-independence Namibia, training for Black teachers was designed for
disqualification. Some of the programs, for example, the Primary Teacher Certificate
(PTC) and National Education Certificate (NEC), under—qualified teachers for the work
they had to do. Since these programs relied on the resources that the ethnic authorities
could provide, they were, according to Swarts (1998, p. 40), “very different in terms of
scope, structure, content, sequence, duration, philosophy, approaches, entry requirements
and exit competencies." This brief background is necessary to understand the extreme
experiences that shaped teachers in Namibia.

The theme also addresses issues of inaccessibility of some remote areas especially
during rainy seasons, which inhibits supply of materials and resources or visits by
education officers. Some learners are indirectly confined to specific areas and have to
travel long distances to the nearest school. These are some of the realities which
unfortunately continued in the post-independent dispensation and which are detrimental
to the learners as well as to the teachers who work under unpredictable conditions. The
concerted efforts by the government to transform teacher education and the entire

education system in order to influence and contribute to societal reform aimed at

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equalizing the society are prevalent. Nevertheless, some of the above factors and
evidence from respondents reveal the inherited, and thus endemic, inequalities manifested
in various ways in the post-colonial dispensation. The respondent below, a rural regional
director, talked of multiple problems in spite of government efforts. He reckoned
expansion of education is not accompanied by quality and attributed it to unqualified and
under-qualified teachers:

Well I think there is a multitude of problems, our government may have
strive to open schools for all, and to get as many children as possible to
attend the classroom. Maybe to address the issue of education for all, but
as in most African states, access is being given to learners or children. But
the quality aspect still needs to be addressed, because to get them only in
the classroom is not enough, but get them taught, and receive the best,
that’s education. That is still a problem, because of higher rates of
untrained and under-qualified teachers, we cannot expect any quality
aspect from these classrooms. We can only expect them to be in the
classroom and maybe come out empty, as they entered the classroom. I
think this is the problem at the moment. {Respondent # 12}

This respondent emphasized the need for quality teachers to accompany the
expansion if education for all is to succeed. The respondent below, an official with the
MBEC, was also concerned about teacher qualification and quality. He talked of
disparities because of the level of education and thus different salary scales and
unattractive infrastructure to professional teachers in some regions:

It is only that I am looking at first, teachers, if their salary is different then
there is a disparity, because most of the teachers in the rural school are not
educated, and again the infrastructure is not attractive to professional
teachers. Look at the teacher housing, and those teachers who are
teaching in the rural school, because most of them are not educated, they
may not even look at very posh type of thing. So they go for stick houses,
and definitely even the money the government is spending on that type of
a thing. That is already a disparity because they are disadvantaged in all
these aspects. {Respondent # 7}

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The respondent’s concern about people having to teach because they are from the
area and thus comfortable with what is available, regardless of quality, is alarming.
Similar to the point of the respondent above, this respondent, a regional director,
explained the same phenomenon:

If in Okongo there is no electricity and the teacher won’t be encouraged to
go there, the pupils will end up with an unqualified whatever teachers. That
is the reality today. If you should go away from Enhana to the primary
bush school out there, you can't even bring another teacher from Oshakati
there. You know, I don't talk of locals as well. Because that one would
say where do I live? What tends to happen in the real primary rural areas
is that they tend to take a local who has been trained there as a teacher.
Sort of in breeding process, because that one has accommodation with the
family etc. So that is a big factor in getting equitable teacher distribution.
So is housing and living conditions for them in the rural areas. The
government has not done much for teacher incentives in those areas.
{Respondent # 8).

If that is the system followed then the really remote areas must be really suffering
from qualified teaching personnel. The following respondent, another regional director,
raised critical issues about incentives for teachers and provision of facilities to schools
and regions to attract qualified teachers. He believes that inadequate conditions results in
teachers reluctance to serve:

If the government would really come up with a set of incentives in deprived
areas. First and foremost, look at the regions, take a hard look at the regions,
provides facilities of education in the rural areas. Adequate housing just to
mention it, and yes, give them extra allowances for that, I do believe
government will attract more qualified teachers who can really make
contributions to the region, absolutely, absolutely, otherwise I don't see any
reason why I should leave Windhoek. To subject my family and my
children to the rural area where I will live in a thatched house, rain pouring
everyday, without electricity, without anything, my children getting sick, and
where a clinic is 250 kilometers away, and even do not have a vehicle that I
could just make a call, because the clinic here, I don't see why I should do it
to my family without any incentive. As for the incentive, I will just maybe
comfort myself. That is a situation that really to be quite honest with you
bring such a suffering upon ourselves. That is the situation we have got.

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The government needs to provide incentives to address this situation. There
is no any other way how they can do it. {Respondent # 13}

Clearly the core message here is the lack of incentives and the general conditions
in some areas that restrict qualified teachers to work there. In view of the postcolonial
education system for Namibia, Cohen (199423) contends that

Inequities of the colonial education system and its concomitant effects on

the country’s supply of human resources meant that, once a representative

majority government finally came to power in Namibia, many changes

would have to be introduced to redress past imbalances.

Because education is an integral part of the dynamic forces and processes of any
society, the emerging post independent Namibian values, attitudes, structures, and social
dynamics have contributed to the development of education, including teacher education,
the distribution of teachers, and the benefits that go with their appointments and
placements. The following respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, offered
suggestions of what should be concentrated on to rectify the current situation and warned
of eternal inequalities if not checked:

Broadly speaking, to come to the very vital issues, there are questions of

trained teachers, availability of facilities, training of teachers, so that they can

meet the standards. And then also availability of facilities where particularly

schools were neglected by the apartheid system, would be given the

opportunity to be upgraded to that level where they will be eager to carry the

whole demands in the spirit of the equal democratic system. Failing to look

at and rectify the imbalances of the past will force the nation into a state of

perpetual inequalities. {Respondent # 14}

Not only did he admit that there are disparities between schools and regions, he
also offered suggestions for remedy. A respondent from a remote area an education
director was more specific about the situation of teachers, pointing out a circuit where

most teachers are unqualified. He attributed lack of facilities and incentives for teachers

to affect the quality of education received:

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I think I am having some statistics here, especially in Congo circuit. It is
the last part of Ohangwena, where you can hardly see a qualified teacher.
All teachers mainly in the schools there they are either grade ten certificate
holders or grade twelve certificate holders. 1 am having it here on my
table. And now telling a qualified person to go there. First they will ask
you if there is official accommodation, if there is water, there is electricity,
and all those things are not there. And it is true, but I think if there is no
accommodation, a person cannot I think be able to go there, but I think
those people will be accommodated by the community around there, those
schools around. Hence now we are having just now 70% to 80% of the
teachers teaching in the Congo circuit are unqualified teachers. Yeah. We
are not talking about unqualified teachers with degrees either in other
fields or diplomas in agriculture, we are talking about unqualified teachers
among who the highest qualification is grade twelve. That's all. A person
who is not exposed to any teacher raining and that person is not having
solid academic background. He doesn't even understand the subject
content, not to talk about methodology. That is the person entrusted with
the future of the children. Hence, now, the quality of education have been
affected in every sense. {Respondent # 9}

Like the former respondent, the concern is clear that unqualified teachers will
effectively contribute to the unequal and inequitable provision of education services and
resources. Similarly, this respondent, an officer with the MBEC, talked of differentiated
teacher qualifications that lead to difference in delivery. He also added an interesting
dimension that the teachers who qualified at formerly Black institutions, which were not
equal to others, interpret material differently. He recognized that the government is
trying to address the disparities, but that they are too deep rooted; hence, it will take a
long time before it can be looked at as the same in most aspects:

The qualification you see, the qualification of the teachers within the police

zone is very high. Due to what? Because all those teachers there will have

graduated from the college. Most of them they completed their degrees or

what at the university in South Afiica. But those teachers in the rural areas,

most of them they completed their teacher qualification in those rural areas,

or even here in Windhoek or somewhere. All those who have studied at the

university in South Africa, the so-called Bantu universities, which were not

equal to the other universities. Now that is difficult. You can give those

people the same material, but the interpretation of the subject matter is not
going to be the same. That teacher there, his understanding of the subject

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matter is lower while another teacher here within the police zone is going to
approach those things effectively. But the government as such, they are
trying to eliminate the discrimination, but they are set in the realities, and it
will take some more years to come before we care going to talk that all the
schools they are the same. The syllabus are the same, but I haven't enough
teachers if I talk about teachers, enough highly qualified teachers who can
understand exactly those subjects matter, it is not like that. The schools
within the police zone, they are still advanced. So that leads to the unequal
distribution of both resources and the quality of teachers. {Respondent # 17}

As a result of the transformation of the education system, the role of the teacher
within the new paradigm has to be examined because it is required to adopt new visions
and new behaviors. The statement is emphatic on how one aspect, for example, resource
allocation alone, is not enough. Transformation of a system to meet the needs of a
society requires commitment of both human and material resources as well as improved
infrastructure. These shortcomings definitely contribute to the reluctance of qualified
teachers to work in remote areas or schools without facilities under deprived conditions.

The following respondent, an education officer in the MHEVST, was elaborate in
contributing to the topic under discussion. He alluded to the new way of life that people
graduating from colleges and universities expect to lead, which ultimately affects schools
in remote areas:

Developments in the rural regions are very poor and slow, now, so much so

that the new generation, the new people who are now leaving school, who

are graduating from universities, fi'om colleges, they have sort of adopted a

new way of life right. They want to be near the centers where they can enjoy

a good life that is offered by the facilities and the infrastructures that are to

be found in the urban areas. Now you mentioned the housing. The housing

is quite a problem because no body wants to go after graduating fiom

university, no body wants to go to school where he is not accommodated in a

good shelter. No body wants to go there where there is no TV, and there is

no electricity and water and sanitation. All these things are very poor in

deprived schools in the country. And those are the things that are really

discouraging the new well graduated students to go to those mral areas.
{Respondent # 4}

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The respondent felt that those essential things like housing, better living
conditions, health facilities, and other resources are necessary to encourage qualified
teachers to take up employment in these remote areas. Without belaboring the point but
just being emphatic for elaboration and clarity, the next respondent, a regional director,
referred to it as ‘shortage of everything’ that is problematic for teacher performance. For
him that is the determining factor for the differentiated quality of teaching throughout the
country:

Shortages of everything place quite a lot of strain on the teacher. Which

would of course affect his or her effectiveness and the type of teaching

that they give would depend on their social environment where they live.

That will really impact largely on the type of training that they will give to

their learners. That is why I am saying that the quality of teaching that

these kids in formerly disadvantaged schools, more so the schools in

various outlying regions receive, would be very much different from the

quality of teaching that children receive in a normal or well resourced

school circumstance. {Respondent # 12}

The bottom line according to this respondent therefore, is that facilities and
infrastructure are important; thus, they have to be improved for teachers to deliver their
duties to the maximum, and also for learners to compete nationally.

Whereas all respondents may talk about the same issue, there are interesting
twists and differences to each response according to the respondents’ knowledge,
personality, experiences, ideological stance, and political affiliation. The following
respondent, a director of education, had several important points he dealt with in this
theme, from discipline among teachers to unexpected output, fiom planned inputs and

ethics to redistribution of teachers. Some teachers resist outright serving in certain areas,

which results in learners from deprived areas to serve as teachers, sometimes while in the

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process of studying themselves. He showed that the government’s effort to build teacher
houses to attract qualified teachers to these areas is less successful:

When it comes to within the police zone and the school, then you are
going to find discipline within the teachers is good. But if you go to the
rural areas, the discipline within the teachers is not there. That is also the
thing that is affecting the outcome of the government. Input into education
is the same, but outcome is not the same due to the in-discipline and lack
of commitment. Yes, some of the teachers there in the rural areas, they
would have come to school roundabout eleven o'clock, and come to school
under influence of something like alcohol, very unethical. In the police
zone, which is the area that was occupied by white population during the
colonial time it rarely happens. Now that we are independent, I would
expect that we would redistribute our teachers to even (equate) the rural
areas according to our new educational regions, so that ethnic groups in
regions also benefit from this high quality teaching. {Respondent # 9}

According to the same respondent, the Ministry of Education tried to lure
qualified teachers to rural schools, but because of the acute shortage of essential
incentives, they refuse to be posted to these remote areas. The result of that discrepancy
is the continuous lack of qualified teachers for the rural majority:

The Ministry of Basic Education and Culture has tried to do that, but you
know, some of these teachers they resisted, they cannot go to rural areas.
Consequently, some of them even they decided to go to private schools
here, within the so-called the police zone. Let me separate now, we have
at school in the Kavango area, deep in the bush, Tam - Tam, where
children are going to sit underneath a tree. Now to take a good teacher
here let me say a good White teacher to go there It’s impossible. It's
impossible. Now they are going to use a teacher from that high, in their
own area. Because these people, to go and sleep in the hut is not a
problem, but now since last year, they have started to build at least two
houses two three houses at the schools in the rural areas. To make it a
little easier for people to be transferred there. But still, some of the
teachers they are saying no, I got used to a city life or a town life where I
have to buy this and this and this. That house is not going to help me. I
cannot go there. That's one of the problems. {Respondent # 9}

The high expectations that independence was supposed to bring for all ethnic

groups to benefit according to the newly established regions are thwarted by the deep

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inequalities that are persistent in the post apartheid dispensation. The following
respondent, a senior oflicer in the MBEC who emphasized management and discipline ,
issues, also alluded to similar issues the respondent above talked about. He gave reasons
for poor performance of some schools even if they are in the same region with others, and
the many excuses given for lack of delivery:

If you go to Sambyu you go three kilos, there is a, from the mission school,
there is a state school, better buildings for example. All children come from
that environment, in the mission schooL in that school. They speak the same
home languages. What's the difference? The difference is in the school.

The difference is in school management. In work ethics, in time and
resource utilization, in preparation of the teachers, in discipline, in demand
of the learners e. g. today you will have this finished, not manyana,
(tomorrow) possibly next week. It's starting on time, in utilizing every hour,
every period to learn something. You walk into one of these mission schools
you see the disciplined environment, you see discipline, no one of the
teachers, no teacher is late. They are there, they are prepared, they do their
job. You go to the other school, all sorts of excuses, they tell you the teacher
is not there. You want to see the principal, sorry the principal is gone to
town, or to the regional office. Teacher comes late, that one is ill today.
Children, they are wandering aimlessly around. There is a class going on
here and there, but 1 tell you these factors are equally contributing to the

deterioration of quality just like resource scarcity or qualified teachers.
{Respondent # 7}

Although he did not explicitly mention miss-management, corruption and
inefiiciency in the preceding passage, I believe that is what he was making reference to
because his comparison of schools in the same region and the difi‘erent periods, colonial
and independence insinuated effective management. In ofi‘ering solutions, the following
respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, had some suggestions to alleviate
the crisis:

This is very important the curriculum must be relevant and we must have

also developed programs to upgrade what we call under-qualified teachers.

You know we have many of those teachers who so far over the years have

grade ten and plus two years certificate or the grade twelve plus two years
certificate and now the challenge is a bit different it’s not like in the past

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under Bantu education. These people must be updated and also create an
opportunity for them to further their studies, either part time in work or
giving them bursaries to go for one or two years at even the local
university or polytechnic or whatever. Then the learners themselves they
need a sort of a new vision. A new understanding of education, because
you remember we were coming from the culture of destruction, destroying
everything because you know during the time of the struggle these
buildings and facilities were regarded as colonial government property and
therefore, it was not our property. Teachers were seen as upholding
apartheid ideology. Now we have to change our culture, and even if you
renovate in some cases say you build a hostel or whatever but in a year
when you come there it’s as if the hostel was build say five year ago,
already destroyed. This is why the government has to create new sort of
culture of care within the learners and teachers’ minds so that at least they
start respecting what they get and what is available. {Respondent # 18}

The conglomeration of factors that lead to the inequitable education for various
groups in the different regions were well articulated and expounded by the respondents.
Some of the explanations, reasons, and suggestions respondents gave, for example, the
creation of new culture through changing of attitudes or upgrading of teachers, are valid,
but these are concepts that indeed take long to materialize. The next respondent, an
education officer with the MBEC, was analytic and succinct, and he also suggested a
possible remedy:

Unless we develop our human resources, especially in terms of upgrading

the under-qualified and unqualified teachers, mainly in the rural areas,

learners in the deprived areas will continue to receive an education, which

is not equal to those in towns. The two extremes of inferior and superior

education thus, represent the perpetual inequalities. {Respondent # 5}

As one of the respondents argued earlier in this theme, ‘upgrading’ qualifications
is not close to a solution because the qualified teachers for example, go for the better or
best conditions. The following respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, shared the

same line of argument although his example was about incentives of building schools,

with complementary provision of teachers’ houses:

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Because there is just no money to build more schools, and also it’s not just
a question of building schools, if you build the schools, you must provide
houses for teachers. If you want professional teachers to ,go to the village,
you are not going to ask them to sleep in the bush or village huts, as is the
case now. You need extremely dedicated people and that is not the case in
Namibia at the moment. {Respondent # 14}

Because there are so many factors that contribute to the unequal resource

allocation, teacher distribution, and unequal infrastructure, the idea of incentives for those

who agree to work in ‘inconvenient’ conditions is a good idea. However, as the

following respondent, a regional director with MBEC, explained, the program was

abused, and therefore cancelled:

There was something called a privation package that people would serve in
remote and disadvantaged areas received more money. Alright, and it was
calculated on if there are hospitals, is there electricity, is there tap water you
know, distance from this, this and that, and so that, the remotest places you
will get a higher salary than what you will get in Windhoek for doing the
same job. But it was not applicable only to teachers, but to all government
employees. Where you worked for agriculture in the remote area or for
health or for education at the time of Wascom, that was scrapped. So, it is
not there any more. I know that the unions are campaigning to bring it back.
The reason why they scrapped it was that it was really abused, and not
applied with common sense. For instance somebody who worked in
Okahandja also got a privation package, because it's not Windhoek. So,
there were many problems. At the moment, there are no such incentives.
We are increasingly in our programs, in our negotiations with donors we get
money to construct rural schools and classrooms. We are building now
teachers houses as an essential component in more or less all these programs.
{Respondent # 3}

Again, this respondent did not specifically mention corruption or mismanagement of

funds but his argument was somewhat convincing about such a valuable program that would

benefit especially the rural people to get expertise even if it is for shorter periods. The

abolished incentives program was also commented on by another respondent, an education

officer with the MHEVST, whose emphasis was on accommodation for teachers in the rural

areas or else continuous inequality:

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In the past you remember in the past there used to be what they called (a
special incentive for teachers) if a person go teach or work in the rural
areas they received special amount of money for encouraging you to be
there. It was to make up for the uncomfortable life conditions you are
going to work under and experience. That incentive has now been
abolished and everybody is taken as if you are somewhere, and you don’t
have housing scheme, you cannot even build a house where you are not
permanently going to be. It is impossible, that means as you said the
accommodation problem in the rural areas is going to have a negative
influence in the long run for teachers to be willing to go and do their job in
the rural areas. As a result, educational inequalities continue.
{Respondent # 19}

The difference in the living standards of individuals and the level of development
and availability of modern facilities in rural areas compared to their counterparts in the
urban areas seem to play an important and influential role in the teacher willingness to work
in the remote regions. According to the following respondent, a senior education officer
with the MBEC, experiences seem to be traumatic. Teachers are compelled to share
traditional facilities with no electricity with most facilities either very basic or non-existent.
She posed several questions relevant to the topic and declared that the inequalities are deep:

If you consider a problem for example teachers in Katima, they do not

have teacher’s houses. In some cases teachers are compelled to live in the

traditional huts sharing with villagers. When it rains, that person is forced

to just be standing, getting wet the whole night while you are expected to

teach the next day. How can or will I go? How can I survive? You have

no electricity but you are required to plan your work, you take your daily

bath by throwing water over your body from a small basin, with your B

ed? (Laughter). The inequalities are deep, from qualified teachers to

housing that also affect access and quality. {Respondent # 2}

The evidence seems to suggest that incentives for teachers, distribution of
resources, and improving the infrastructure are among the fundamental issues that deter
equal access to educational opportunity.

Another aspect that respondents explicitly discussed during the interviews is the

differentiated learner teacher ratio in various schools. According to some respondents,

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the overcrowded schools, which are in the dilemma of unqualified and underqualified
teachers, seem to be the most affected by this additional burden, which adds to
difficulties and inequities. Although the next respondent, an officer in the MHEVST,
attributed the peculiarity to the colonial legacy, he confirmed that the emerging Black
elite became part of the privileged few and that the majority of learners are still subjected
to overcrowded conditions:

We have a peculiar situation in Namibia, which is obviously because of

the colonial legacy. The top schools in the country in terms of resources,

qualified teachers, buildings, and teacher student ratio are the former

White schools. To a great extent they are still enjoying those privileges,

except that now the black elite joined that privileged class. Even within

towns schools are, maybe not officially but the best schools have lower
student teacher ratio while the disadvantaged schools have higher learners

per teacher. That trend goes on even worse in remote areas where you

find the majority of the population. Therefore, most students in the

country are taught in overcrowded classes. {Respondent # l 1}

In terms of educational attainment and access to good quality education, the
picture of extreme deprivation, especially in the rural areas, is prevalent. The next
respondent, a director in the MBEC, talked of unqualified teachers in overcrowded
schools with lack of resources still prevalent in many schools, particularly in rural
regions:

You will find that many of these northern region schools are overcrowded.

The schools are overcrowded, teachers are less qualified or unqualified in

some cases and learners have very few materials to make use of, which

you cannot find in the south where schools are well equipped and have

less learners per teacher. {Respondent # 1}

Driving the same point home about overcrowded schools in the rural areas,
unqualified teachers and the general lack of resources and facilities, the following

respondent, a regional education director, gave figures according to statistical evidence

he had at his disposal:

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Our situation is critical in some cases, you find that our classrooms are
overcrowded, overcrowded with learners. But I think hue I am having
statistics whereby you find that a school or a class as you can see can be
large. Let me just show you something interesting. I think sometimes you
will find out that maybe one class with 47 learners, 55 learners. That one is
northwest. But I can show you which is west. Learners who are maybe
either 70, we are only having 50. So, we will get back to that Yeah, I think
now, in a nutshell you will find out I think our classrooms are overcrowded.
How will you expect a teacher to teach 7O learners per class. Is that one
teaching really, or simply gather the learners to come together and then keep
them busy for the time being, while their parents are preparing their lunch
for them. The situation is even worse with 70 learners to a teacher who is
not qualified. {Respondent # 13}

Given the position of this respondent, who talked about and showed the

differences of class size even within the deprived areas, and, as an officer, is fiustrated by

continuous appeals for his region with ‘shoddy responses if at all,’ he posed a couple of

questions and added another dimension of teachers’ shortcomings to cater for special

needs learners. He also compared the ratios between his region and the capital city,

Windhoek:

How can you find out a learner who has difficulties in learning? How can
you find him out among 70 learners per teacher? And the teachers are not
even I think taught how to deal with learners with difficulties in learning.
So all those factors heavily contribute to the schools being ineffective.
The school, the quality of admission being affected, everything will be
afi‘ected. Then, the issue of equity you go to Windhoek, and you cannot
find a school with 50 learners per class, never ever. There they will be
thirty, twenty, that's all. {Respondent # 13}

Based on the preceding excerpt and on other comments that he made about

various figures and ratios for schools in different areas, it was obvious that he was more

than just aware of the inequities; he actually suggested possible causes of the

ineffectiveness of the disadvantaged schools. The following respondent, an education

regional director, indicated even a higher learner teacher ratio, but he seemed to be more

optimistic about the efi‘orts being made to alleviate the gross imbalances. He revealed the

134

ongoing negotiations between the government and the teachers union. He also indicated
the limit of appointing teachers in the south in order to balance the ratios in all regions.
His complaint, however, was the high salaries spent on personnel to the detriment of
other resources:

There are problems of teacher pupil ratio in some regions, where you will
have almost even up to 80 pupils per one teacher. It does happen here and
there. Let me just say, we have been negotiating with these teachers union
NANTU now for over two years on accepting new teaching learner teacher
norms, that can replace teacher learner. They have been deadlocked in
negotiations between the union and the government now for a year on these
teaching norms. What we've done in the meantime we have put breaks and
ceilings on appointments in the southern regions, the previously more
advantaged regions. They are not to appoint new teachers etc. Except
replace a Maths teacher that dies or goes away or whatever. The teacher
learner ratio was very low in the south but after negotiations and
arrangements, gradually the teacher learner ratio has gone up where it was
say 22 learners per teacher, in the soutlt it now stands at 29. We are moving
towards primary one teacher for 35 and secondary one teacher for 30
learners. We are moving that way. And we advised all regional directors
etc. those are the targets to work towards, but the salary budget of our
Ministry is killing us. It consumes so much resources on personnel cost
alone, that we have very little left for books, materials and for the child.
That is one of our basic problems in this country. {Respondent # 8}

The contradiction between policy and practice is evident here; the efforts to
recruit more teachers for the northern regions is devastated by the unavailability of
facilities. The quality of teaching, especially in rural schools, is a matter of great
concern. Teacher learner ratios are high and the general socio-economic conditions of the
areas are low. In some schools, basic facilities such as proper classrooms, appropriate
instructional materials, and other equipment are lacking. Some of the government efforts
are like what the next respondent, an officer with the MBEC, referred to as integrating
learners from the north into schools in the south. The transportation and accommodation

that is involved was not specified as to who foots the bill. He was confident about

135

eradicating regional inequalities and claimed that they “have not problem in putting it
together,” practically however, the putting it together is challenged by the various reasons
that other respondents clearly explained:

We don’t want regional inequities in the schools anymore. What we are
doing is, I won’t say it’s a problem in our country. But what the
government was doing in the past was that they tried to integrate learners
fiom the north into the south because of the overcrowded schools in the
north. So what they did come up with is a transport system by busses they
arrange with the two directors to sent those learners to the south where
you find obviously most schools in the south are relatively empty.
Because in the south you will find a learner teacher ratio of 25 to one
while it is just the opposite in the north where you find a learner teacher
ratio of 40 and more, to one. Soto ease that burden on the northern region
they decided to arrange transport, busses to bring these learners down to
the south and put them into hostels or dormitories. Then they were
admitted to schools in the south, so if you go to Gibeon for example, now
you will find Oshiwambo speaking learners there. You go everywhere
now in the regions you will find Oshiwambo speaking guys also in these
Nama schools. So we have not a problem of putting it together then. In
Windhoek for example, if you to Ella Du Plessis which is a formerly
Colored school, the majority of the learners there are Otjiherero speaking.
{Respondent # 3}

The interesting part is when two officials from the same ministry have different
opinions about the same issue. While the above respondent and his colleague below
agreed on differential teacher learner ratios, the former was optimistic about eradicating
the regional inequities. The latter, a regional education director, was, however, rather
pessimistic about the different quality in schools, the socio-economic conditions of
various regions, and the acute lack of employment opportunities in the northern regions.
He also touched on another sensitive issue, “distance,” faced by learners in the
historically deprived areas in the country. This issue conveniently leads us into the
emphasis of the last part of this theme:

The government still has to grapple with the problem of ensuring that there is
more equitable distribution of resources towards the historically neglected

136

areas. But if you look also at the break down of the facilities in Namibia,

you will find that in the central and in the southern part of our country, the

school pupil teacher ratios as well as the number of schools in terms of

numbers and quality are better, and that the situation is more conducive for

learning and for quality type of education in the areas that I have just

mentioned. Then the northern regions, where the majority of the population

lives, you will find that the distance between schools and home is so vast,

our intention should also be to bring schools closer to the pupil, to the

population where s/he lives. However, the distance each has to walk is still

significant in terms of mileage. They have to walk approximately one mile

or so, within two miles to the nearest school. Looking at the socio economic

conditions of our society, it will also be very difficult because you will find

that there are not a lot of job opportunities in those traditional rural areas.

Therefore, qualified teachers tend to leave these areas to seek better

opportunities in urban schools and settings. {Respondent # 13}

The information from the different respondents reveals huge disparities between
various schools and teacher quality in various regions.

The quality of teaching, especially in the previously deprived areas and schools,
continues to be a matter of great concern, as people are ‘still separated.’ Education is an
expensive entity, which requires constant societal investigation, change, and evaluation.
Namibia inherited a state education system from the apartheid era that was not only
divisive and discriminatory, but also ineffective and inefficient, with a particular level of
morale among the teachers in the system and a poor standard management performance.
That can be devastating if left to continue in a country striving to build national cohesion
and unity.

The next respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, talked of non-availability of
teachers, equipment, transport for inspectors to carry out their duties and minimal efforts
by the government. He also mentioned that the affirmative action to be taken should

indicate the right direction, and he expressed concern about government policies on paper

that are not implemented:

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As far as equipment is concerned I cannot testify how far they provided

the necessary say equipment for offices. Because according to the

inspectors, The research questionnaire 1 am dealing with right now, they

are talking of the non availability of teachers, lack of equipment like

computers even for inspectors typing their work and so on. The non-

availability of transport even for them to go out regularly to assist, updates

and supports the newly appointed teachers. Which means our effort in

that regard, as a Ministry is still a big question. Now we have to look into

this again and say how or what kind of affirmative actions can be taken in

order to bring it to a certain level. Not a final or satisfactory level but at

least to realize that we are moving in that direction. I do not know what

they are trying with the NDP 2 now but our aims are always just on paper

but the implementation is always very poor. {Respondent # 19}

The contrast between the optimist and the pessimist is obvious as some officers
tried to paint a good picture of the government, while others tried to give a reflection
according to how they see and experience the situation. Although the number of
qualified teachers is slowly increasing, resources continue to be concentrated in those
regions that have received higher allocations in the past, and many schools are still
without basic infrastructure such as teachers’ housing, water, and equipment. Out of
school rates for particular communities are extremely high, which leaves many learners
of school-going-age from various ethnic and regional communities out of school.

Any employment strategy must desirably take into account the skills, and
professional shortages in Namibia and plan a complementary educational strategy.
Preparedness for employment can be fostered by upgrading teacher quality and investing
in primary and secondary education (F ishlow, 1996, p. 20). A continued expansion of
literacy, adult education, and appropriate vocational training could be used to reach the

neglected adult population in rural areas. The returns from education take generations,

and the upgrading of teachers’ qualifications and schools is a long-term process. All

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these should be accompanied by accountability at all levels to ensure the firnction of the
system.

The next respondent, a regional education director, asked relevant questions about
teacher quality and the quality of education as a whole. He encouraged further training
for teachers, which he claimed has benefits:

You have to ask yourself the question whether you should keep an

unqualified teacher simply because it would mean less and less

expenditure from government. Or you would like to enhance quality

education through out the whole of Namibia by promoting and in fact let

teachers to go and qualify themselves, and then it means also a rise in

recurrent expenditure. So these are the questions that you need to address

through a concerted effort of planning, long term strategy planning to

ensure that we think of these issues before hand, and try to address them in

the appr0priate manner. 1 don't know what the appropriate manner at this

point in time is. I don't think any body will tell you, because like the

Americans will say, it's a catch 22 situation at this point in time. But we

are grappling with those problems. {Respondent # 12).

He emphasized that long term planning and strategy yield beneficial results, but
he admitted that he may not know the appropriate solution to these problems although it
is better to keep trying.

The outcome from analysis of the various responses and information from the
wider literature indicates that when governments lack capacity, they fall short of
providing the necessary education, health, and other services to the entire population. For
intended innovative reforms for quality and accessible education for the majority to take
root in Namibia, teachers, teacher educators and administrators are required to shake off
the exclusive and divisive apartheid mentality. Mungazi and Walker found that an
important outcome of educational reform is the need to improve manpower to sustain the

strength of the economy. Once educational reform has been established, an effort must

be made to attract more students to become teachers. This can be done by improving

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conditions of service, including salaries and benefits (Mungazi and Walker, 1997, p.
169). It is in the best interest of the nation to remain sensitive to the need to promote the
educational interests of the individual so that society benefit. Economic self-sufficiency,
manpower development, a decent standard of living, and political participation are kind
of the insurance policy that creates a happy and progressive society. However, evidence
indicates to the contrary, that despite political awareness and thus willingness of teachers
and other educators to serve, the powers-that-be do not seem to facilitate rural and urban
deprived schools and other institutions to attract recruits, newly qualified and experienced
teachers. The process, then, remains the vicious cycle of not only differentiated teachers
for various schools, but also an increase in private yet costly schools where only a
selected few of the society can afford to educate their children. This results in a constant
brain drain of qualified personnel in education to other institutions and the reluctance of
teachers to serve in less facilitated schools. Brock-Utne (2000, p. 59) insists that

To improve the quality of education, especially primary education, in

African countries, the most important thing to do is to restore the dignity

and quality of the teacher. The measurers to do this will have to be

exactly the opposite of what the World Bank Group - WBG suggested in

the Education Policy for Sub-Sahara Africa EPSSA.

The World Bank in the EPSSA pushes the opinion that a revitalization of
education in Africa cannot take place without major structural adjustments in the way
education has been financed in most African countries. These adjustments represent
major breaks with the policies of most African countries. These countries looks at
education as a right for all people and a social service and have wanted to use education

to eliminate ethnic, regional and class differences and other social stratification instead of

creating such differences.

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Some of the Bank and other donor agencies advocate policies that create a dual
school-system in which the elites have their children in private schools where teachers
have good salaries and enough instructional materials, while the govemment-financed
schools continue to be poorly financed and offer inferior education for the majority.

The next theme addresses the dilemma faced by the government attempting to

equalize resources but still experiencing stark inequalities and stratification in education.

There are various multiple factors that prevent equality of educational opportunity that
also deserve attention if educational inequalities are to be realistically addressed. The
theme elaborates the notion that equalizing resources alone is not enough. There are

many other intervening variables that prevent equality of educational opportunity.

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Chapter V

SOCIOECONOMIC EQUALIZATION IN AN UNEQUAL MULTI-ETHNIC AND
MULTI-LINGUAL NAMIBIAN SOCIETY

M: Equalizing input of resources is not enough; this still results in unequal
educational outcomes. Overcoming educational inequalities requires
effective management and political commitment and accountability.

The first theme in this chapter is one of the crucial and revealing themes for this
dissertation as it addresses the various characteristics for outcomes variation among
students of different ethnic and regional orientations as determined by the resources
allocated to them. The theme explores the education system in Namibia in terms of the
policy interventions that lend credence to the argument that equalizing school resource
inputs can actually lead to less equitable distribution of educational resources and
outcomes across schools. The focus here is on the factors that determine sufficient
physical facilities and access to schooling, teacher quality, and even library resources in
the different educational regions of the country based on the resources that are available
to them.

The government may have good intentions and strive to equalize resources to
various socioeconomic or regional groups. However, equalizing the allocation of
resources alone is not enough; there are numerous managerial, political commitment,
external involvement and pressures, and other intervening factors that play out and affect
the entire system. One respondent, an education director with the MBEC, asserted that
there are efforts to equalize resources, but they may not be enough to equalize outcomes:

If you refer to equal outcomes, that's very much more difficult to determine

or to predict. It's like playing a Soccer match. If you say before the time,

you will all have boots. You will all have jerseys. I ensure that you will all
have this equipment and you all have training. So I predeterrnine that the

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inputs are equal, but now you are going to a match situation. I cannot predict
that the score will be a draw. There are other factors inherent in the human,
in the home support, in the input, in work being done that has influences in
the outcome of teaching. The ministry is trying to equalize input across the
regions, right. What we have done for instance this year in the budget you
will find, if you analyze our budget that on materials and supplies, textbooks
etc. we have calculated the number of primary learners per region whether
it's Ondangwa, or in the south, and we have allocated an equal amount. It
may not be enough because we can't get enough of federal revenue but equal
amounts for materials and supplies in all regions. All right, that we do. We
firrther try to post increasingly trained teachers to the previously
disadvantaged schools, but there are obstructing factors to this. {Respondent

# I}

This respondent acknowledged that although resources may be allocated on an equal
basis, there are other intervening factors like home background and support, the exact input
of specific schools, and the work done in individual schools that affects the outcome of
teaching.

There are many positive efforts by the government trying to overcome the
disparities of the past, but the neglect for some of the schools and areas was so huge that
some of the equalizing efforts do not make a difference. The schools with an overstock
of resources, for example, do not lose their standard, nor can the schools currently
focused on raise their level to the privileged schools’ standards. This is reflected in the
opinions of other educational officers. One regional education director, from one of the
neglected northern regions, felt that there is still much in favor of schools in the urban
areas while schools in the north are insufficiently catered to:

You can budget, I want so much money to address the problems. When you

ask for money, in actual fact money is going to be allocated to you, but only

a little which do not allow you to address any development activities.

Therefore, the issue also of the attitude of people who are manning the key

positions in the Ministries come into fore. 1n the beginning of this year, I

think you were here, Windhoek was having a crisis of learners’ strike in

Windhoek. And the ministry was accused of sort of things, but now, in the
meantime the ministry headquarter happened to get money to address the

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Windhoek learner crisis, it is only one month but we have lived with this
crisis since 1995, and we are still going to live with it. People are fully
aware in the headquarters that we are facing a learner teacher crisis. They
know but they can't respond. Why do or should they respond to the crisis in
Windhoek only within one month while ours is endemic but seems not to be
attended to? {Respondent # 12}

Most officers acknowledged the disproportionate allocation of resources, which
may continue for a long while because equalizing the resources to various regions,
communities and schools is not enough. In terms of equalizing the allocation of
resources, the following officer, from the MHEVST, argued that the government’s policy
is committed to equity. However, he also acknowledged that due to lack of finances
there are not sufficient resources to go around to all the school or regions as necessary.
Despite this, they are trying gradually to shift resources from the advantaged schools to
the historically disadvantaged schools:

When it comes to equity, we have no problem with equity, because we work
very hard so that everybody get a fair share, every learner every teacher will
get a fair share out of the education system. So what we are providing here
in Windhoek is also provided in the regions. If we have textbooks for
Windhoek then we have to send textbooks to the other six regions. So equity
in terms of management, in terms of material development, in terms of
apparatus, we are trying very hard to bring a balance into the system. OK
because of lack of money constraints we have limited resources we cannot
provide all the schools with financial, material, textbooks and whatever. But
what we did was that, the previous advantaged schools we had over stock of
those things, what we are trying to do is leave them for a while and to focus
our attention more on the other schools which has actually not been brought
up to standard. {Respondent # 4}

He elaborated on how the government is trying to right the imbalances without
unduly withdrawing support from the advantaged schools:

What the government is actually doing is that we focus more on our

disadvantaged groups now, like in the north, our target is actually mostly in

the north. What I am talking about is actually Ondangwa East Ondangwa

west, Khorixas, Rundu, and the other one is Katima Mulilo. What we are
doing is that textbooks, equipment and all those things we will easily

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dispatch those things to those schools in the north in order to equip those
schools to come in par with other advantaged schools mostly in the central
areas in the South. So our funds and our resources are mostly focusing on
our disadvantaged schools, but in the meantime for argument sake that must
also happen in other schools. {Respondent #4}

The following respondent, an officer with the MBEC, suggested a possible way to
budget in Namibia’s situation, disproportionately in favor of the disadvantaged. He
strongly voiced how the status quo may not change by allocating the same resources to
various schools and regions:

Like if you are saying that Keetmanshoop is already having 100%
permanent buildings, all these classrooms and then in Rundu we are still
far away from that to my view it our task to say that for this year now we
are going to budget it in this way. The Keetmanshoop is having
everything already, so Rundu is supposed to have a bigger portion so they
are far away from the Keetmanshoop one. But what we are doing is we
are just continuing by allocating the same budget to the different regions
and by doing that we’ll never, we will never be equal when it comes to
resources allocation. {Respondent # 2}

This respondent seemed to be confident that allocating resources equally to all
regions will not solve the disparities that exist.

The concept of redistribution of resources, by heavily concentrating on the
formerly neglected schools and regions, was more explicitly expressed by another officer
of the MBEC:

What I mean is if you want to distribute the resources, the ratio should be in
favor, heavier in favor of the former disadvantaged schools, so they could
catch up with those, which already are advantaged. I think that's the only
way how we can. Say for instance, if you are to distribute say ten percent of
a thing to the school, or say ten units to schools, the disadvantaged school get
say eighty percent the former disadvantaged schools get 80% of the units
right, whereas the advantaged schools will get 20%. Then the former
disadvantaged schools can catch up with former advantaged schools. I think
that's the only way. The same with the human resources that the well
qualified teachers that are coming out of school should be visibly sent to the
disadvantaged schools. {Respondent # 6}

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Other officers also expressed concern about the policy of giving the same

allocation to the regions and schools, while some regions and or schools are worse off

than others and thus may need additional allocations to address their needs. An education

officer with the MHEVST had this to say:

In the rural areas some schools are still taught under trees. Something that
you cannot find here in towns. It is worsened by the limited financial
resources. Although they say the two Ministries of education are the ones
who get the biggest slice of the government budget, but still the budget is
not enough to redress all the discrepancies of the apartheid system. If the
government decide to spend a lot of money building schools for the rural
areas, so that it brings them up to be equal with the schools in urban areas.
You know the country is poor, the people living in towns will complain
about reverse discrimination. Whites will complain about the government
benefiting Blacks, it is a problem. But if you distribute money equally to
schools, it won’t be equal because some schools were well endowed while
others are marginalized. {Respondent # 20}

For this education officer, unequal resources still prevail and he finds it

problematic to have equal budgetary allocations to regions with different populations and

facilities. Instead he believes that more budget allocation should be channeled to the
hitherto marginalized regions:

You cannot expect the government to give fifly million to Khomas region
and fifty million to Kunene region no you cannot expect that. Kunene
region, even if it is a little bit sparsely populated than Windhoek, the needs
over there are greater than in Khomas region when it comes to education.
So of course government has got to have a discriminatory mechanism
when it comes to the allocation of resources to the different political
regions in the decentralized system. So that is one way that the
government could really try to help all these other deprived areas to come
up in development. That is one way, I am sure there could be so many
other things that the government could do but when it comes to the budget,
the government has to discriminate as to how much who should get.
{Respondent # 20}

This interviewee talked about schools that were built during the colonial era and

thus were well supported in structure, equipment and necessary education resources. The

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schools which were built for disadvantaged people lack all these type of facilities, so he
reckoned educational inequalities continue. Thus, he offered more specific suggestions
for how continuing inequalities could be overcome. There has to be a system that would
distribute resources in a disproportional way. This disproportional representation should
take into account many factors. Factors that are economic, factors that are social, and the
general social backlog, that is one of the most important factors that have to be taken into
serious consideration.

These respondents clearly see that the distribution needs to be disproportionate in
favor of the formerly disadvantaged. However, the next respondent, an officer with the
MBEC, seemed to be saying that things are working perfectly well:

The resources at the moment they are just distributed on equal basis to the

disadvantaged as well as the former advantaged schools right. But to

ensure that the resources that are distributed are allocated on a fair and

equal, there are mechanisms in place. The regional offices, they must see

to it that the resources and the equipment and items that's now books,

stationery, laboratory equipment, library facilities and all this, that all

these are transported to the schools on an equal basis. It is really sort of

still limited equipment, the units that are sent to school. But the

distribution is made in such a way that all the schools get the shares they

deserve. {Respondent # 6}

This respondent reckoned that all schools get what they deserve. The next
respondent, an officer with the MBEC, however, noted other factors that lead to continued
inequalities, e.g., the policy for the marginalized and the age limits and restrictions that are
conflicting:

There is no equity when it comes to the distribution of resources. To be tmly

speaking nothing is yet equalized, yes the government is still trying but then

the outcomes I really don’t know. Because what happens is that you put a

policy for the marginalized kids and then at the same time you put age

restriction like for instance in grade one. We are supposed to have a kid who

is five years old and s/he is supposed to be six on the 31st of January. If that
kid is supposed to be six on the first of Febnrary or the second, you are not

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supposed to go to school. Then at the other side, you are also saying if the
kid is nine or ten years old, they are not supposed to be enrolled/admitted in
grade one. Then the question will be where is that learner supposed to go?
And how will you know that this learner was marginalized or not. Because
the definition for marginalized is so wide. {Respondent # 2}

Despite the government’s efforts to equalize the inputs in education to match desired
outcomes, firrther characteristics of the system lead to the questions like the above, where
does the learner go?

Vulliamy’s (1987) work in Papua New Guinea suggests that school effects are not
confined to material inputs. He found that “school process variables such as style of
administration and non-material characteristics such as teacher morale have a significant
impact on achievement.” The respondent below initially wanted to shy away from the
resource allocation issue; however, he came up with interesting information that is
supportive of Vulliamy’s findings. This respondent, an education officer with the
MHEVST, disclosed that resources are allocated on a proportional basis, but the
important factor to realize is that good outcomes are dependent on the effective
management of available resources:

The aim here is to see to it so that every child in Namibia at least has some
kind of education that is equal to the one received in Windhoek, or more or
less quality wise, as good as possible. What 1 can say on this is that these
resources are allocated on proportional basis, which means that if that region
has got fifiy schools, they will get more. And if another region has twenty,
accordingly they will get resources to match that. If another region has got
five, accordingly, that is along those lines. But the important factor is
however, effective management of the resources. You will agree with me,
even if that region has got more resources, if they don't realize and manage it
effectively, they will not get the output they are supposed to have, and that is
the whole notion, that is the whole issue. I do believe that the resources are
not effectively being utilized. 1 cannot at this point in time blame those
people who are not utilizing these resources effectively, simply they do not
have what you call skills and management of the resources. That's why at
least the disparities will continue, because the resources are not being
focused. {Respondent # 15}

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The respondent claimed that without proper skills and management capabilities to
utilize these resources effectively, whatever resources a school or region gets may not be
beneficial since they may not be utilized to the maximum. A high level of understanding
and skill is necessary for managing the human and financial resources of education
systems in order to establish and sustain cost-effective procedures in meeting educational
objectives (Cohen, (1994, p. 22).

The next respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, also addressed the importance
of actions taken in the realm of management:

In the process we also build quality, because quality is going out now from

Windhoek which was actually disadvantaged in the past, going into the

remote areas, in terms of material development because you find quality

also in management style. You see, so what is happening is that, because

of this transfer or flow of material to our remote areas this gives, this can

also come unto par with the most advantaged schools. In terms of

management style, were our people were actually neglected by conducting

courses and all those things it was also only applied to the former White

schools which come up with courses. We come up with workshops and

seminars to help our people, principals and inspectors to build their

capacity, and also to come up to par with other former advantaged groups.

So if you go to these schools now you will see that these people or

principals are also trained to be good managers. Because eventually if you

have good managers, you will have children of that particular schools

eventually getting good results. {Respondent # 4}

Managers are required to be skilled in various aspects of management functions to
effectively carry out the smooth operation of a system.

Another officer from the MBEC, however, gave a different opinion from those who
feel that resources are distributed in such a way that everyone gets their deserved share; i.e.
that management problems supercede continuing inequalities in resource allocations — for

him, by contrast, local leaders do know how to budget for what they need, but do not get all

that they require:

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But now, I think that is very difficult you know. The reason why I say it is
difficult is that I think the regions or the regional directors of specific
regions, they know their needs. They say they are budgeting according to
their needs and then when they budgeting according to their needs, they
are having expectations to receive more financial resources to address the
needs of their disadvantaged communities. But now their expectations
will ever be fi'ustrated by the available resources given to them and the
limited budget allocated, which will never address their needs. Ours is
only to send/ask for few books, few furniture. and then I think they are
being taught under a tree, or hiding in that particular shed. Now, you can
see that they are receiving only minimal resources. {Respondent # 7}

Uncertainty about inequity and doubtful outcomes are an indication of contradicting
policies and practices. Another officer of the MBEC expressed concern about a related
aspect of management, the effective utilization of the allocated resources. He indicated
that the majority of Namibia’s civil servants are misplaced, which then affects their
ability to use available resources effectively and thus their performance:

The final and most important point is whether resources are being utilized

effectively in order to achieve the output that is needed. The point that I

am just raising now of how effective if the resources are there, how

effective are they utilized to contribute towards the best output of the

products, the students? 1 just want to elaborate, Let me just be really

frank, that when you are talking about civil servants, 98% of civil servants

in Namibia are misplaced. Therefore, I mean the right qualified people are

not in the right professions, or positions as a result, the performances are

not what it should be. {Respondent # 14}

In support of the points above, the respondent below from the MBEC also
expressed concern about the management problems. He finds it a serious problem to
have qualified personnel who cannot perform because of lack of knowledge and skills
and exposure. He also attributed the dilemma to previous confinement to their areas, that
is, lack of communication:

Despite facilities in some places, you still find some other things like

management of the institution. You find the principal, the rest of the

management really incapable, and it is because they have never been
exposed. There was no travelling or intercommunication because all were

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confined to their own areas, and never learned any other ways of doing
things. Therefore, there are quite a number of manifestations, and for
Namibia, I have said many times that this is very serious, because in
reality many countries even ones you have people at too many different
levels. Learners may have the same certificate but they do not have the
main knowledge, the same knowledge and skills. That’s very serious, that
a person having the same certificate with another, or even a higher one,
when it comes to real performance, perform lower than the other, and that
is mainly because of exposure, the environment is not conducive and this
is because of this isolation. {Respondent # 5}

In many of the interviews, officers expressed their displeasure with some of the
factors that lead to endemic inequalities. The respondent below, from the MBEC, was
visibly angry as he explained why some policies fail. He attributed the failures to the
reconciliation policy that was not embraced by all, i.e., lack of commitment:

To my point of view, the government is trying. But the main problem just
to be realistic, the main problem is the reconciliation issue. Because when
we got our independence it was said that we are going to get our
independence and nothing will be changed by this I mean the people who
used to occupy the different posts in the Ministry’s top management etc.
Which means whether the government is trying to do all these kind of
things, there are some of us who are resisting, and by them because they
are having top positions, they won’t function properly. They would like to
fail the system!!! But it is not down to earth. Let me site some examples
out of this: Some of our people are against the whole reconciliation. Now
if you are having these top positions, you having a circular or a policy,
which is supposed to be implemented, it will fail. Because the top
management, those who are having the high positions like from the
minister to directors, they are against the whole thing. So somewhere
there we are having a problem. {Respondent # 2}

The respondent obviously did not want to mention specific names and he was
reluctant to mention specific positions. He resorted to give a range of the ones he
referred to in high positions. The next respondent, an officer from the MBEC, viewed the
whole issue to revolve around political commitment to effect meaningful change:

It is not happening, up to now when you are sitting here. It is not

happening resources are still unequally received and felt by regions and
schools in different categories. Other wise to change all these things, it

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needs political power to change this. No political power, nothing is going
to happen. Political power and will. You can keep on talking and talking,
but in the absence of any political will, any political courage, there is
nothing. {Respondent # 7}

The political commitment that the respondent referred to may be realized, if the
government commits to some of the plans it assigned itself to implement. But according
to the next respondent, an education officer with the MBEC, there is a lack in specific
government programs that deal with issues of inequality:

Now, but normally what the government did is that you see government
has got regional ambitions. But what is happening is that there is no
specific program of government, not a specific program that I am aware
of, a specific program of government that exclusively deals with questions
and issues of inequality. There is none that exclusively tries to arrest
inequality. You see, there is no specific program as such. You see all the
existing programs that government has are supposed to be this broad goals
of equity and democracy you see, let me say are supposed to take
cognizance, you see and also are supposed to be very sensitive to issues of
equity, and inequality, but these are all integrated programs. And that's
why not much has been done in terms of tackling issues of inequality,
because there is no specific program whose attention is only focused at
arresting these problems. There is no such a program. {Respondent # 16}

This respondent felt that the current government programs, although well
intended, are too broad to tackle issues of inequality and equity.

The following respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, believes that
the findings and directives of the Presidential Commission on Education would reduce
the disparities and improve education in the country:

If we can take the recommendations of the presidential Commission on

Education seriously, because I believe the government is spending a lot of

money in this commission. If we take the recommendations seriously, and

try to address it, I think we can only improve our education system in the
country. {Respondent # 11}

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The presidential Commission on Education has been commissioned to fact find and
carefirlly look into the existing educational problems in the country aimed at taking care
of past abuses and disparities.

The growth of the school population, increase in spending for education, and
planning for the future are all aspects of the system of investigation and administration of
education that must be taken into account to ensure the suggested transformation.
Mungazi and Walker (1997, p. 186) contented that nations of southern Africa must
endeavor to reform education:

In terms of the learning outcomes and the efficiency with which they use

resources. To establish this objective, professional efficiency is needed in

managing the course of reform to realize the relationship that must exist

among investment, planning, and educational outcomes.

These important directives are essential to enhance an education that would cater
to the nation in the desirable equitable distribution of resources and educational
development. However, if the elected and or appointed leaders lack commitment, are
reluctant, perhaps ignorant or, as the respondent below, an officer with the MHEVST,
complained not interested to carry out these tasks, but pursuing their own interests, then
unfortunately the nation remains in jeopardy:

The government has decided to establish what we call regional education

fonrms. This is where all the councilors, politically elected councilors and

business people, and parent representatives are supposed to serve in this

body, and they are supposed to advise the ministry and the government as

to what they are expecting education is going to perform. But like in this

region now, the people who are supposed to be in the forefront, these

politically elected councilors, they are not interested. They do not come to

meetings sometimes, they do not come together, and this is hampering the

development of education in this area and in the country. I am also having

a problem with representations, because you elected to represent you, that

person will only favor his people or her interest and not representing or
talking what the other people want to see. They are not really going back

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to the grassroots and find out what the people think or want to do.

Another problem is that the people elected are the middle class, because

they are articulate but in the end they favor their own interests.

{Respondent # Il }

When representatives of the people are only interested in their own affairs or
those of their next of kin, clan, or ethnic group, suspicion mounts and education remain
inefficient.

Overall, the respondents showed how equalizing efforts are ineffective because
the dilemma is not merely due to financial constraints. Other factors like management,
administration and political commitment need to be taken care of for the expected
reforms to succeed. Cohen (1994, p. 13) reveals that “the few serving administrators are
not all professionally equipped to face the challenges brought about by the need for
innovations, while the number of trained and experienced professionals among former
exiled Namibians is too small to close the skills gap.” The findings reveal an acute
shortage of trained educational professionals within the country.

The next theme denotes and reveals some of the discrepancies or controversies
that prevail between the government policies of incorporation or inclusion and the harsh
realities that inhibit implementation of such policies and practices. According to Brock-
Utne (2000:6) “By far the most contentious issue at the Jomtien conference was related to
the trade-off between the debt burden and the search to extend education to all.” The
question, therefore, remains who the “all” are who were supposed to benefit from the
policy of education for all. The theme demonstrates how, despite the policy of

reconciliation, education for all and efforts to equalize inputs, socio-economic, ethnic and

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regional divisions stand in the way of quality and equitable education, both access and

outcomes.

Theme: Regardless of the government’s policies of education for all, reconciliation,
and Namibia as one nation, nevertheless socioeconomic status, regional,

ethnic and residential divisions inhibit access to quality education and
equality of educational opportunity for all.

Policies, education for all, or rhetoric, who are the all? This theme discusses the
determinants that inhibit access to educational opportunity and quality education for the
majority of the population. These factors are no doubt remnants of the notorious colonial
regime and apartheid policies. Nevertheless, ten years after the democratic constitution
of Namibia introduced safeguards and protections of fundamental human rights, the
nation still faces unprecedented physical and technical inequalities. These inequalities are
based on social, economic, regional, and residential divisions that were seen as
detrimental to national unity and development, and thus were targeted for eradication. In
this theme, the socioeconomic status of various individuals or groups is identified as the
great determinant of the type of education a child receives. Regional and residential
divisions did not change much after independence and have their share of contribution to
the disparities in education policies and practices. According to one respondent, “Only
few elites managed to benefit from the post independence integration in terms of schools
and residences.” The majority of the population lives in the hitherto designated areas or
regions, where not only educational services are insufficient and the only available
resources are inferior, but also the socioeconomic conditions of these areas are
systematically neglected.

The respondent below, a senior officer with the MBEC, believes that persisting

inequalities in education are mainly due to the socioeconomic status of the parents, and

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that it is a world trend. He gave an example of opportunities for people in a different
economic scale in France. He also states that in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) economic
discrimination coincides with racial and ethnic discrimination:

What we increasingly see and this is factual, not only in Namibia, it's even

true for France, is that if chances are unequal in education, it will be

mostly unequal due to social economic situation of the parents, and this is

world wide case. In France, I once read that the dockworker of Marseilles

compared to a professional person in Paris, a doctor or an engineer or what

his parents. The chances of that dock worker's child going to university

one day, versus that professional from Paris's child going to university one

day is 14 to 1. It is economic discrimination. Unfortunately in this part of

the world, the economic discrimination also coincided with the racial, and

ethnic discrimination. {Respondent # 17}

This respondent obviously considered the costs involved in educating a child.
Besides school fees, uniforms are a necessity; books cost a lot of money; if a school is a
boarding school the hostel facilities have to be paid for; and there are always extra costs
for either extra curricula activities or contributions for specific projects. All these factors
make the situation very critical, especially for the under-employed or unemployed of
society.

The next respondent, an officer with the MBEC, was explicit about the
beneficiaries in the post-colonial educational dispensation. As an education officer, a
government employee, he included himself and his kind as the people who benefit. He
also pointed out that everything these days depends on connections, and he appropriately
asked a question about those who may not have connections in the top hierarchy to gain
places in good schools. The élites control the system, they subsidize schools where they

sent their children, and he claimed that he is not aware of an integrative policy that would

treat all schools as same:

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I feel that it’s only us, well off, the elite group, civil servants who, would
afford to send our kids to some of these schools from our expenses. Again
these things nowadays have to do with connections. Now how about my
granny in the rural area, about my aunt in the rural area, who does not
have anyone and still, have to send their kids to school? But I am not
aware of any clear policy that clear issues in regard to access to schools,
integration of schools to try and redress the situation and integrate the
pupils (peoples). That has not been an effort on the part of this
government. There may be good talk about equity, quality democracy and
so forth. Those are the so-called pillars but whether they are words worth
their while I do not know but I haven’t seen that happening. {Respondent

# 3}

This definitely is a very cynical and pessimistic respondent, because there are
indeed policies aimed at rectifying the colonial apartheid disparities. His argument,
however, is perhaps made valid by the fact that policies are pronounced and articulated,
but there is less implementation, monitoring, or evaluation. Thus, there is disillusionment
even from the employees of government, who under normal circumstances would defend
the status quo, regardless of the flaws.

The socioeconomic differences between individuals, or between groups, and
regions, are so prevalent that most interviewees gave their views about it. The following
respondent, an officer with the MBEC, was vocal about inaccessibility of some schools
by certain groups of the population due specifically to high fees, which he complained
were raised afier independence. He also raised concern about the increasing of or
mushrooming of private schools and the exorbitant tuition and other fees that they charge
to the extent of excluding disadvantaged members of the society:

When the schools were desegregated, we thought that all schools would be

open and accessible by al learners or racial groups. But as you know a

number of schools have since independence raised or hiked up their school

fees such that people from some different racial groups cannot afford to

pay for those school fees OK. Which would mean that that’s specific

school would be a school only for that grouping in this case it could be a
White children school or the White parents. Or indeed a specific

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economic class for example the upcoming elite in Namibia would also
afford to for example pay for their children to such schools. Now when it
comes to the creation of private schools of course the constitution does
allow for the establishment of private schools. The constitution does not
provide for the regulation of any fees that any private schools should
require parents to pay for their kids. There is no law that the ceiling that
private schools ask for fees is this no. That’s a free market system, that’s
how we found ourselves in that situation where private schools are
established, they hike up their prices as such and students from other
Black tribes cannot afford then of course it will be a White private school.
You cannot do anything about it, it’s provided for within the constitution
which is one of the loopholes of our democracy, you know it’s part of
democracy. {Respondent # 1}

This respondent certainly touched on some sensitive issues according to his
knowledge, understanding, and exposure as an official in one of the Ministries of
Education. Some of the contradictions I referred to throughout the study are apparent
here.

The following respondent, a regional education director, painted a different
picture about school fees and those pardoning or accepting of those who cannot afford to
pay. He agreed with the former on the socioeconomic differences in terms of ability to
send children to school or not. However, he disclosed that it is government regulation
that those who cannot afford to pay school fees should be exempted. The dilemma is that
while policy stipulates compulsory and free education, private schools are multiplying
and they charge very high fees. He declared that those who send learners away because
they cannot afford to pay school fees are contra the Ministry’s directive:

Those people, the people who are in positions of government, of power as

well as a lot of other people who have gained economic power, during these

nine years, simply because of the fact that they do have the resources, can

afford to send their children to schools where fees are much higher than in

government schools. They can even afford to send their children to private

schools. But the declared statement of government is really not to

perpetuate this but really to ensure that government schools which is schools
for under the auspices of the ministry of education staff will not charge

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extravagant fees. So in order to ensure that there will be better access of

children to schools, you will even find that the government has stipulated

time and time and again that it is no longer a prerequisite for enrollment in

schools for children to pay school fees. If they cannot afford to pay school

fees, they can approach the necessary authorities, and they can be assisted,

and they can even be exempt fi'om school fees. Any body who does this by

telling people or pupils that you cannot be enrolled in this particular school,

simply because of the fact that we don't have money to pay for school fees,

are really not doing this in the letter and spirit of the education ministry's

declared statement of access and fairness. {Respondent # 13}

Meanwhile, government schools are also paid for and some families simply
cannot afford to educate their children. He continued to say “that there is no real
compulsory payment for school fees within the whole educational system under the
auspices of government.” Yet he contradicted himself immediately in saying that “school
fees are set and agreed upon by the school authorities and that’s why it differs between
schools.”

The next respondent quoted some figures for certain schools, and commented on
the psychological effects on learners, thus again contradicting some of the previous
respondents who claimed that no children should be sent away from school because they
cannot afford to pay fees. This respondent actually admitted that the government is weak
in that there is no clear-cut policy on school fees. Some of the justification for the
different fees, according to this respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, is
that schools are at different levels in terms of facilities; thus, they charge differentiated
fees:

Even if the school fee is say fifiy dollars per annum, it is problematic for

these people to collect even school fees from the parents. But if you take a

school, for example you take a former White school, like say Windhoek

high, there you can get, you can pay as high as far as NS 350, 00 per term,

which means you can go up to NS 900,00 a year school fees or N$

1000,00 per year school fees. If you do not pay, you are psychologically
being worked and demoralized in a way that at least you feel that you

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don’t belong to such a community. Even in the rural areas school fees are
discriminative and the government in this position is also weak in a way
that at least there is no clear-cut or uniform policy how (much) far the
school fees can be paid. Because such schools also are categorize as far as
hostel facilities are concerned. They are also categorized a bit higher it
means according to the equipment they have there, you’ll have to pay a bit
more and in other schools which are less equipped or in the rural areas it
means the standard of a hostel is also down according to the level. There
are level one, level two, level three and so on. Those who are in such
schools better, well off, those not then it means they can struggle to get
through. It’s a struggle I mean it’s not even having concrete policies.
{Respondent # 18}

Responding to a follow up question on whether it is the principal or the
management who decide the different fees, this respondent, an education officer with the
MBEC, had this to say:

Sometimes it’s the management and sometimes the principals themselves,

because some of the schools are having these school board system. So

they will decide with the school board and then call a parent teacher

meeting then announce this so that they can discuss this. But some of the

schools either they will just give good prices and they will just increase

the fees. Each year they are just increasing the school fees, and you will

find some of the government schools paying three hundred per semester

while others are paying just one hundred and twenty, even fifty for that

matter. Which is a big difference between the schools for that matter the

government schools. {Respondent # 2}

The differences in fees warrant a scenario of socioeconomic class where those
who can afford will naturally send their children to better schools, while those at the
periphery of society have no choice but to accept what they can afford. This way the
perennial inequities loom and continue to challenge educational policies and practices of
post independence provision.

The same respondent complained about the age restriction, especially in

government schools, while private schools accept different ages to start schooling. She

also stated that private schools are increasing as they are profitable establishments, and to

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her surprise, government employees maintain the status quo in government schools while
they sent their children to the private schools. To her that is another way of continuing
inequalities. On the specific age issue, she reckoned that during colonialism it was not
that restrictive:

Another thing is the age thing. If you are saying that when you are six
then you are supposed to be at school, six. If you are turning six in
February (school year starts in January in Namibia) then you are not
allowed. But all these other privileged people would have private schools,
and the private schools accept even five or six. A person knows that they
work for the government, the government will only take from seven while
they will take their children to the private school. That is the problem. If
we do not have restriction for private schools, meanwhile private schools
are increasing, they are being established more often thus, the number of
private schools is growing. Because it now more a money making
venture, an industry. You therefore, find that even those who work for the
government who know the restriction in government schools maintain the
status quo while they send their children to private schools. That is another
way of continuing inequalities. During the colonial system children used
to be accepted to schools even if their birthday is around April or July.
But now it’s strictly 3 lst of January. This is very sad because in that way,
children are forced to wait until the next year to start school. Our children
do not have facilities at home to have a kind of head start. For them to
start that late cause their performing weak during the preliminary years.
They claim that they found out that when a child is seven or more is when
they firnction better at school, which is not true. {Respondent # 2}

Another contradiction, therefore, is that while compulsory and free education for
all is preached, there are all these restrictions and the government does not invest in pre-
schools or head start, which makes it even harder for children from lower socioeconomic
positions. Ultimately, as is evident from the interviewees’ inputs, controversies, and
views, inequalities in the system over the years closely reflected the social and economic
inequalities in the wider society. It is thus possible to argue that unequal schools will
inevitably produce unequal results despite major inputs into other aspects of the

provision. These and other factors, such as disparities in the curriculum offered by the

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schools combined with social and economic status factors, operate to create profound
inequalities in schooling and education as it is experienced by the students, resulting in
unacceptable variation in the quality of the schools and in their productivity.

This theme also addresses issues of regional and residential divide as well as rural
and urban differences, which also coincide with resource allocation, to be among the
main stumbling blocks in Namibian schools. The next respondent, an education officer
with the MBEC, emphasized how the urban and former White schools are well endowed
with resources; thus they cannot be compared to other schools. As a result those in urban
settings would not go to inferior schools in remote regions; similarly, Whites who all
along had good schools, or Coloreds whose schools were better, cannot go to schools in
the same region that are lacking basic necessities. He gave an example about his
daughter, who is attending a formerly Colored school because it is what he can afford:

Those urban and formerly White schools remain well endowed in terms of
resources, they remain well off, you cannot compare them to any other
schools. So obviously that being the situation, why should the white kids
want to go to Katutura? (Katutura is the formerly and still the Black
township in Windhoek). In fact, tell you what, Blacks have also been
going to, and I mean Blacks as opposed to coloreds, have even been going
to colored schools. Because they are better off as compared to schools in
Katutura, or even in the deep rural areas. So it is true what you say that
there has been a trend of Black kids fighting for the Formerly White
schools and fighting for Colored schools, yes that happens a lot, they have
been doing that but you will not find vice~versa. Because why should you
go to a school where there are not enough resources anyway? 1 got my
own daughter attending one of these formerly colored schools, and in fact
when you go to that school now, it’s maybe 95% Black. We go to that
school because it is cheaper. If I wanted to I could sent my kid to St. Paul
(St. Paul is a formerly White school. English medium subsidized by the
government). I cannot afford it. {Respondent # 3}

The determining factors that prevent learners from moving to other schools are

resources, facilities and the fact that some people find it difficult to travel to other areas

162

or regions. Thus, they are compelled to go to the nearest school, which, in most cases, is
ethnic based. Other determining factors are whether they can afford and also because of
familiarity, or as the following respondent, an education officer with the MBEC, put it,
being part of the structures. He believes that people have strong sentiments or attachment
about the region they originate from, although he acknowledged that the policy is clear
for people to settle wherever they want:

Mind you, though the policy of the government is to sort of Namibianize
every body to have a feeling that s/he is a citizen, and s/he is a Namibian
citizen like any other person. You see, people stay in those areas where they
have put up permanent structures, and you become part of the structures.
They have also grown some sentiments to those areas where they stay.
There is no way which is going to be easy to take a person from another
region to another region without him really losing his settlement, the
relatives, some other language structures for which he has been accustomed
to, yeah, even the language thing. But the language is not really a problem.
I think the problem is the call it the material facets or the material
possessions. If you were born in a certain region, where your parents
probably also grew up. These people they have put up some structures and
you became part of the structures. So it is going to be very difficult to
change. So you find that even some of us who were born in some other
regions though we are working here, and we are considered to be
permanently here, I still have that sentiment the attachment of belonging to
that region where my parents came from, or where I came from. And you
will also find it that if I die here, if I haven't stated otherwise, people are
likely to take me, or my body or my corpse back to where I was born. It is
just sort of a nature or something, but the policy is quite clear. If you decide
to live, that is to go away from this region, and go and settle in the other
region, there are no prohibitions. You are allowed to set up a structure there,
be part of that region. {Respondent # 6}

The areas the respondent referred to that people grew sentiments or attachments to
are the Bantustans, reserves or homelands. These were designated by colonialism and
apartheid, whose legacy is entrenched to the extent that people identify deeply with the

imposed “places of origin.” Other respondents disclosed that in some regions, unqualified

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teachers from specific areas are preferred by residents due to the same reasons: familiarity,
attachment or sense of belonging.

The next respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, was more specific
about the regional and residential issues in terms of ethnicity. He believes that ethnicity
cannot be eliminated and that the education system is disadvantaging its people on multi-
cultural development. The respondent sees the education problem as intractable because of

the above reasons, which add to the list of contradictions between policy and practice:

164

I admit that ethnicity based on region is very prominent; I do not know
how it can be eliminated. Whether we claim that we have eliminated it, to
me it will not be. We have not and we probably cannot eliminate it.
Because it is still a disadvantage, the child may not cross the boarder.

S/he will have to be confined in those pockets. If you put our education in
that way, or at that level, I feel our education to a certain extent is really
supporting ethnicity and as a result, it is disadvantaging its own people to
have this cross cultural type of a thing. But 1 think the best thing that
happened is that the government has tried to cushion it. Now how do we
go out of it, to say kids can cross from as early as grade one to any
direction. Because the policy is, the child must be able to go across the
board, but at the same time, a language policy which says they must be
able to learn fiom grade one to grade three in their own languages.
{Respondent # 10}

The dichotomy between policy and practice is clearly explicated by various
respondents who addressed it in their own way according to their involvement,
knowledge, and experiences. The following respondent, a regional education director,
elaborated on “education for all” in the Namibian context and mentioned “the four
characteristics” aimed at being pillars of education. The director talked of policies
remaining statements of intent without implementation. He also complained that the
inequitable distribution of resources results in low quality education. He gave some
examples of the inequities that he referred to:

In the Namibian context when we talk of education for all, we look at four
different characteristics of education. First is to ensure access, equity,
quality, and democracy. So, that was the policy statement, but as you know,
in many terms, especially in African terms, policy issues can remain
statements of intent, and not being implemented at all. So the policy
statement is there. The implementation up till now was really very difficult,
and you will hear that there are still cries today about the same four
characteristics that I just mentioned People are still complaining and
rightfully so, that there are no equal distribution of resources in terms of
equity. You will find that some schools in the rural areas don't have
necessary resources for them to cherish the idea of having qualitative type of
education. Some suffer because of the fact that they still have meager
resources, like they don't have adequate facilities in terms of school
buildings and halls. They don't have teaching materials that can enhance

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their learning, they don’t have qualified teachers. You will find that there is

a tendency of them having a lot of unqualified teachers in the mral areas,

which will definitely be detrimental for quality of education in the rural

areas. {Respondent # 13}

The regional, especially the rural-urban divide, is emphasized to be among the
primary cause of the disparities in the education system. Although the socioeconomic
aspect is not explicitly expressed by many respondents, it is implied in statements like the
one by the next respondent, who believes that the legacy of apartheid is still maintained.
The gap between the minority beneficiaries and elites, and the impoverished majority is
high; Namibia leads the world in the unequal distribution of wealth. Namibia has one of
the worst income distributions in the world, with a Gini-coefficient of 0.701, the highest
reported for any country in the world. The implications of this, at worst, could be to hold
back growth, and to foster the interests of a minority political elite. To understand
redistribution, it is important to look at where government revenue is raised and where it
is spent (NEPRU (1997, p.23). According to the Ministry of Education and Culture
(1998, p. 21) the Gini-coefficient is a measure of income inequality. A Gini-coefficient
of zero indicates perfect equality while a coefficient of one indicates total inequality.
Namibia leads the world in the unequal distribution of wealth. Refer to table showing
Namibia’s highest 0.701 coefficient.

Table 4

Selected Gini Coefficients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Country Gini Country Gini
Namibia 0.701 Zambia 0.462
Brazil 0.634 Thailand 0.462
South Africa 0.584 Indonesia 0.317
Zimbabwe 0.568 Bangladesh 0.283
Malaysia 0.484

 

 

 

 

(Source: World Development Report, 1997.)

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The respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, insisted that inequitable
distribution will continue to result in inferior education for the poor and the marginalized:

I think it is, we still have some very sophisticated mechanism, where the

old system of apartheid, where disequilibrium is still maintained. So the

former beneficiaries are still continuing to benefit, and most likely, the

new elite have joined the former beneficiaries. As a result the poor and

marginalized continue to receive an inferior education. {Respondent #14}

My analysis of this statement is that independence did not transform education to
the benefit of “all.” The government of Namibia proclaimed its belief in “education as a
desired end of society” and in the “right of all individuals to education and training
opportunities in order to develop their innate creative and intellectual capabilities”
(Ministry of Education and Culture 1993). It formally and decisively acknowledged ‘the
vital role of education as a tool for social change and stability.”

Under such circumstances, it can be argued that socio-economic class and
regional and residential background account for a higher proportion of the variance in
achievement in different schools. At the heart of the human development paradigm are
the concepts of equality of opportunity and empowerment of all people to participate in,
and benefit from, the development process. The following respondent, an officer with the
MBEC, offered an explanation that hinges on socio-economic class.

One cause of inequity or inequality is that it comes from poverty. We

know very well that we have something that is now coming up nowadays

in Namibia the emerging middle class. Pe0ple who have actually pre

access to the best schools in the country. You see, we have those

employed in government, employed in the private sector the white-collar

workers and so forth. It is easier for them to take their children to best

schools, whereas the rest of the population might not have that free access

to take their children to the best schools in the country. So that can also

create inequality in the system in any society. This is also something that
is coming or developing in Namibia. {Respondent # 5}

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This entails that rural and urban people should have, among other things, equal
access to basic social services, equal opportunities for decision-making, and equal reward
for work. Discrimination based on class, region, or ethnic affiliation should be
eliminated.

The next sub-theme addresses educational policy issues as they pertain to larger
patterns of socio-economic status and educational opportunities in Namibia.

Theme: How educational policy has reinforced socio-economic status barriers to
education.

The social, educational, ethnic and regional inequalities of the system, which
formally existed in Namibia until March 21, 1990, may well be evident for many years to
come. The intention of this section is to delineate the key players in education policy
making in order to provide an understanding of the possibilities and constraints of current
education policy, and thereby to locate developments in Namibia within the wider
international community of education decision-making. The firndamental question to be
answered is whether education policy in Namibia is congruent with current developments
in other developing countries and, indeed, with countries in the rest of the world. Foster
and other researchers in comparative education have called attention to the stability and
persistence of patterns of educational inequality in former colonial territories. Foster
(1971, p. 20) concluded that “the origins of these patterns could be traced back to the

9,

period of the earliest establishment of the schools. His observations are largely true to
Namibia, where the roots of educational inequality, of inequalities in access, equity,
quality, or productivity, lie deeply buried in the colonial past, and where the maintenance

and persistence of these characteristics constitute a major theme in the country’s

educational history.

168

Prior to 1990, the concern was to analyze and contrast the emergent policy
discourses of the apartheid state and the democratic alliance centered around the
nationalist party SWANU and the liberation movement SWAPO. Since the inception of
the new government under SWAPO, focus has shifted to a critical evaluation of the
emergent education policies and practices of the new state, as it attempts to reconstruct
the legacy of apartheid to meet the demands of the present. Many authors identify a
central tension between the objectives of growth and equity within social and educational
policy in Namibia in the contexts of major shifts in the global economic and educational
order. Kallaway et al. (1997, p. 86) outlines two streams of contesting political and
policy visions from the past to the present:

There is on the one hand a commitment to a ‘social democratic’ project of

transformation, the legacy of the democratic movement, which highlights

issues of equality, social justice and redress. On the other hand there is the

politics of the “free market,” the legacy of the reforming apartheid state,

with the added weight of global economic pressures and institutions such

as the World Bank and IMF.

These two ideological streams converge in the policies of the new government in
Namibia. Two main thrusts of current government policy are the integration of education
and training, and access for all to schooling of equal quality. The following respondent,
an officer with the MBEC, had to elaborate a little on the colonial confinement of people to
specific areas. He also talked about the sometimes-difficult yet attractive drift to towns and
the lack of or less effort to produce regional or ethnic based statistics:

People who, if we go back to our history and look at people who have

never had to be moved from their traditional homes, more of the northern

regions of Namibia, that will be Kaoko, Ovambo, Rundu and Caprivi. In

those regions you will have people who would be more, those regions will

be more like you know ethnic based and therefore if one is to talk maybe

of those regions, there will be differences. If one is to talk of the other
southern regions or the other central, central and southern regions they

169

differ. That are more, these pe0ple who find themselves in native
reservations as they were created then by the colonial regimes and I think
they remained with the exception of having changed tittles, you know
calling them now communal lands. But that’s were you have the
differences and therefore the statistics in these other regions obviously
would I mean if one is to take Windhoek, or the Khomas region as it were
now, you will have a whole mix bag of people converging on Windhoek
being the capital. But if you look at and again the same being in the south,
if you talk of the Karas region or Hardap region the same would apply.
Although you may have some element of concentration of the people
from, the original peoples from those regions. But those people are more
concentrated on the native reserves. They are not necessarily out of these
native reserves. The statistics that you may find in the regions specifically
for the regions may not be a true reflection of the situation. Therefore I
don’t think that, there is also an effort to produce regional based or ethnic
based statistics. 1 think there hasn’t been any, to say it in a nutshell.
{Respondent # 3}

Part of the dilemma and perhaps one of the core reasons for the inequities is the
divisive infrastructure that is the inherited colonial legacy. People seem to have been
made to accept that they exclusively belong to specific areas that continue to be served
minimally from their original emphasis of divide and rule. Therefore, inequalities in
access to schools, in the distribution of resources among schools, and in the quality of the
experiences provided inevitably lead to different outcomes for groups of students
according to where they are placed in an unequal system, and to disparities in
productivity.

The Ministry of Education and Culture (1993, p. 32) assigned the highest priority
over the next decade to four major goals and to those activities essential to reaching
them: access, equity, quality, and democracy. These are important goals many
individuals, communities, and even nations aspire to. Nonetheless, the nuts and bolts of
implementing these expected alleviators of disparities require accountability and constant

checks and balances. Hallak (1991) maintains that “for many parents the notion of

170

quality encompasses more than simply a better school environment, more qualified
teachers, and an adequate supply of textbooks. Quality also means relevance to local
needs and adaptability to local cultural and economic conditions.” Quality together with
the other three broad goals of the government should desirably be accompanied, for
example, systematic investment in education and commitment to implementation and
evaluation of educational programs as well as by policies and practices to ultimately be
meaningful to the nation.

This leads to the final section of the theme, which, although it touches on various
issues regarding the persistence of inequalities, mainly focuses on educational policy and
practices within the system that have reinforced the existing socio-economic stratification
system. This section addresses the general question concerning the national, global, and
international nature of changes in education policy in Namibia in light of interview
accounts of the background to recent educational developments. Secondly, I examine
the key players in education policymaking, and from that outline the possibilities and
constraints for education policy as seen by these and other players.

The unequal patterns of apartheid schooling are well documented, and need not be
fully elaborated here. Suffice it to say that under apartheid the majority of learners were
in the least adequately funded schools, with the lowest teacher qualifications, poorest
facilities, and the highest-class sizes. Indeed, “transforming the legacy of the past” is one
of the major concerns of the new government. This respondent, an officer with the
MBEC, gave a brief background of the hitherto divisive policies and the current
configuration:

What we did at independence was that we came up with a policy of
education for all. We immediately started restructuring the education

171

system. As you know in the past you found eleven ethnic educational

authorities and administrations. Each one of them did mn their own

education system. Each one of them came up with their own curriculum,

their own management style and their own teaching procedures and

methods. So the new government with its inception in 1990 started to call

all these guys together and started with one education system. We have

one education system right now which is coordinated and monitored from

the head office in Windhoek, and then you will also find the educational

regions, in the seven education regions we have seven education regional

officers. Each one headed by a director. {Respondent # 3}

In March 1990 Namibia’s eleven education administrations became a unitary
authority, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Windhoek. In
all, seven educational regions were established as departments of education. The social,
racial, and regional inequalities of the system, which formally existed until March 1990,
may, however, be well evident for many years to come. The following respondent, an
officer with the MBEC, was quite confident to confirm that inequalities persist and that it
may take a long time to eradicate them despite the clear policy for equitable practices:

Inequalities are still there, and are likely to take long to get rid of it,

though the policy say equal, but the reality on the ground is quite different

because of the many factors that characterizes the whole education system.

{Respondent # 6}

It is one of the primary firnctions of the state to evolve policies that guide
educational institutions in their day-to-day operations and enable social systems to
operate in accordance with the expectations of society so that national goals are met. It is
fair, I hope, to view these institutions, systems and goals as expressions of the type of
state in existence at any particular time. A commitment to social equality and redress
compels stakeholders to think creatively about ways to challenge hegemonic policy

trends. Within a restrictive financial environment it is crucial to conceptualize

universalizing access in a manner that will contribute to a better education system. The

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following respondent, a regional education director, believes that unless the
inaccessibility, inequities, and other imbalances of the past are addressed through
responsible allocation of the budget, the system faces repetition of past policies and
practices:

You have to address this problem fiom the point of the allocating the budget
as a policy, because the budget have to be allocated in such a way that you
look at how many teachers, how many learners are in a particular region.
Then you say so this amount per capita you see. It's only the way you could
address the inequality, the imbalances which, have been created in thepast.
Without addressing from the real point of the budget, you forget, because
other wise, you will just repeat what has been done that the schools in the
other parts of the country, they benefit because their classrooms are carpeted,
they are well ventilated and they have everything. While the class in the
south are well equipped the classrooms in the north are far, you cannot
compare with them. But once you address the imbalances from the
viewpoint of the budget, then you will try. But what we are seeing now in
terms of the equity of the facilities, classrooms and such, there is quite a vast
difference between the schools say in the south, in the north, quite a
difference, quite huge differences. Ours, the condition is not so quite
conducive in the learning and the teaching involvement, comparing the
schools in the south. {Respondent # 12}

The rapidity of social change may not have taken into account availability of
resources. The situation of uncertainty regarding political and economic policy, for
example, has had a direct impact on the formulation of education policy at the present time.
A respondent claimed that “policy formulation is also affected by political change, time
factors, and operational decision making. As a nation emerging out of colonialism, the new
Namibian state moved swiftly to address issues of social, economic and political inequalities
which had characterized the colonial era.” By prescribing educational policies, which were
mass oriented, policies were geared towards making education a basic human right, which it

had not been prior to independence.

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Most respondents gave the impression through their responses that the major
problem with policy formulation strategy in Namibia is a lack of participation in the debate
on policy proposals and the implementation of policy by members of the public. One
respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, was particularly outspoken; he argued that

The general practice since independence is that policy is handed down from

above for implementation. Some policy decisions made by politicians lack

practicality and are made on the grounds of political expediency. The policy

of free education, for example, was politically and morally justifiable and

expedient in the light of the problems the majority of Blacks had experienced

in education during colonial era. {Respondent # 10}

However, the practicality of implementing the policy was unreal because the state
did not have adequate resources with which to fund it.

The next respondent, a regional education director, recognized the lack of resources
and that the government is wrestling with various issues at the moment. He suggested that
the prevalent social, economic, and political problems deserve to be solved:

The lack of resources is inhibiting implementation of policies. At this point

in time, you must also be cognizant of the fact at the same time government

is grappling with a number of other issues. Although education has been

stated as a priority within the priorities of the government, there are also

other social, economic and political problems that are prevalent in our

society that equally deserves to be addressed at this point in time. But it is

also true that we will like to ensure that there will be more equitable and fair

distribution of the available resources. That is why I have been mentioning

availability of resources at this point in time. {Respondent # 13}

The cost recovery measures introduced as part of the social and economic reform
program is a clear recognition by government of the impracticality of providing free
education for all. The impracticalities are linked to the highly speculative nature of the

policies as affected by various factors. Hanekom (1987, p. 12) suggested the following

factors that affect public policy:

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Political support and political ideology; societal factors associated with
implementation of policies; personal matters related to availability, training
and organization; resource provision relating to firnding, materials and
equipment; constitutional dispensations relating to legitimatization; state of
the economy as affected by national and international factors and
technological perspectives.

Hanekom suggested further factors, such as:

Amount of money already spent on projects; decisions made on

assumption and not known facts; assumptions that the future will be as

projected for expediency. Natural disasters like the Namibia drought;

international relations like the dictates of IMF and the World Bank; the
national level of capability and development; and a general lack of policy
pre-implementation education.

Government has had to be content with societal and establishment entrenched
attitudes carefully orchestrated to derail ideological and policy directions. Economic
Structural Adjustment policies (ESAP) are an example of the orchestrated international
establishment arm-twisting that has resulted in the derailment of various public policies

in Sub-Saharan African countries. This respondent, an officer with the MBEC, was

critical of the government for withholding information on the effect of cost recovery in

education:

Also, the government has tended to use de—emphasis or withholding of
certain important information and facts in order to avoid public criticism
of its policies. A clear example is the playing down by the state of the
social dimension of the cost recovery measures introduced in education.
Some of the facts include the reduction in school enrolment rate, growing
attrition rates, lower rates of educational resources utilization and
diminishing female enrolment. The lack of integrated information
diminishes the public’s ability to judge for itself whether a problem exists
or not and whether it exists in the magnitude in which it is presented.
{Respondent # 5}

The public knows less, for example, about why and how much the government
spends on the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it has been sending

and maintaining troops in support of the DRC government, at tax payers’ expense. To

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reiterate, high costs, which cannot be recovered, are incurred in implementing policies,
which are dense with impracticalities that result fiom conflicting consequences between
anticipated and unanticipated results, and other problems and future expectations because
of political expediency. There are policies that at best are speculative. It can then be
argued that the government’s withholding of facts about policies has a boomerang effect
in that government and policy makers in the end believe their misrepresentations.

The following respondent, a regional education director, suggested that
inequalities can be alleviated by readjusting the budget and having well-formulated
policies. He believes that whatever is to be done gets done through managing the money
and not by talking:

What will alleviate the issue of inequality and so on is the budget. The

readjustment of the budget will do it because by that you look at, how

many regions are having more teachers, having more learners, better

equipment and it is where you have the capital is where you have to

allocate more resources. Where you have to allocate more money. You

see, it's when you only could address the problem. With only well

formulated policy, and then you debate/rebate the money to that region, is

when you could address it, because whatever you want to do you only

have to do it through the means of the money, not only by talking.

{Respondent # 12} ‘

The quality of education in most rural schools is fast declining as a result of the
dramatic limited funds available for operating these schools. Despite the high budget
allocation to education, the resources for various activities, especially in rural and
formerly deprived schools, are not sufficient. There are growing concerns from all social
circles over the new direction in educational policy, since it now appears to have lost
social conscience for the poor and the formerly deprived.

The next respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, attributed it all to

apartheid policies and their long-term strategy to perpetuate the system. He remembered

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when they were silenced and or suppressed by trying to democratize the stnrctures prior
to independence. He pointed out that the former beneficiaries now use the same
structures to their benefit that were used against them during colonialism. His main
complaint is why current policy makers seem not to see it, and that the same proponents
of apartheid are the ones selected to school boards and executing major policy decisions
for education. This officer expressed helplessness and frustration because despite their
meaningful positions, they are kept out:

You have to look at the thousands of little matters that were systematically
developed to perpetuate the system. What apartheid does now, you see
and this is where we sometimes miss things. Now suddenly, and I
remember we were shot with tear gas in the street s as young students,
when we talked about democratizing the school structures. By having
representative workers of parents in the school committee, of student
organizations, of teachers, these three components together. Now what I
think what many of the ideologues of apartheid have done very clearly, is
that they have taken the same structure that we have used in the resistance
struggle and they have started to turn it to their own benefit, very nicely
done. I don’t know why our policy makers don’t see this. Now suddenly
you find that even most important policy decisions are made by school
committees. You suddenly find that some of the most ardent practitioners
of apartheid and racial discrimination, who still do it today, are now
suddenly the top members of these school committees and school boards.
In other words, they sit there and block on a continuous basis how to keep
us out. How to keep the poor out of their schools, how to make sure that
the resources are shifted around, how to ensure that people are in the right
positions, employed within the ministry to ensure that the resources still
move like that. If something beneficial comes up it immediately disappear
from the public eye. {Respondent # 14}

Over the past eleven years, there has been a developing academic debate around
education policy in Namibia. The following respondent, an education officer with the
MHEVST, believes skepticism reflects the reality of the situation in Namibia. Like the
previous respondent, he believes that policy implementers may be indifferent about the

policies:

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Yes, you should really know that policy and implementation, that is,

policy formulation and implementation and policy in itself as a policy are

rhetorical. It is different from practical implementation of it. Government

comes up with policy, preach it all over the country, but when it comes to

the practical implementation of those policies, people that are

implementing those policies you should know are people like us and the

others who think very, very differently. {Respondent # 20}

Evidence from respondents shows that there is a definite need for dialogue between
government and the people on the reform policies currently in place and those planned
for education in the firture. There are apparent distinctions between intended and
unintended consequences of policy, whereby intended plans are not fully implemented
and the unintended dilemmas seem to overwhelm the outcomes of circumstances.

The next theme deals with the controversial and widely debated issue of language,
the languages used in the multilingual and multiethnic Namibian society, and how
language policy impacts family mobility and student integration into schooling.
Language is also very firndamental in the identification of specific regional and ethnic

orientations and maintenance of identity. Namibia has ever been and remains a

multilingual nation, if not in policy, at least in practice.

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Theme: Language policy is a problem that contributes to unequal educational
opportunity and exacerbates ethnic divisions.

Among the various education policies planned, formulated, tried, and
implemented, the most contested is the language policy in Namibia. A contradictory
language policy greatly and differentially impacts mobility of families’ and learners’
integration in schools, which in turn complicates the role of ethnicity in Namibian
society.

This theme addresses the various agreements, tensions, and controversy that
surround the establishment and implementation of the language policy of post-colonial
Namibia. Following an account of the language situation in Namibia (and in Africa) in
colonial times and afler independence, 1 shall look at the socio-cultural, educational, and
political issues involved. I tend to agree with Brock-Utne (2000, p. 141), who argues that
“there is hardly another socio-cultural topic you can discuss with Africans that leads to
such heated debates and stirs up so many emotions as the language of instruction in
African schools.”

The following illustrates the difficulties caused by the contradictory language
policy. Article 3 (l) of The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia (1990) as set out by
the Namibian government states “that the official language shall be English” (1990, p. 3),
and it also permits the use of a language other than English for legislative, administrative,
and judicial purposes in regions or areas where such other language or languages are
spoken by a substantial component of the population” (The Constitution, 1990, p. 3). The
use of English, spoken as a first language by approximately seven per cent of the White
sector in Namibia, has never been predominant in the country’s history, whereas now,

after independence, it has obtained the symbolic function as the “language of liberation.”

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It has apparently also become a marker of a new anti-colonial identity. Thus, English
functions as an instrument of liberation and a symbol of ideological neutrality and nation
building.

SWAPO’s choice of English as the official language was based on the UNIN
document Toward a Language Policy for Namibia (1981), which suggested eight criteria
that an official language should take into account. Briefly these criteria are unity,
acceptability, familiarity, feasibility, science and technology, Pan Africanism, wider
communication, and United Nations. The first major criticism of the criteria is the
imbalance between giving separate treatment to three European languages (English,
Afrikaans, German) and clustering together the African languages in one category, i.e.,
“indigenous languages” (Phillipson 1992, p. 291). Second, most of the criteria are
functional in nature, serving at best the communicative and social needs of the educated
elite. Third, all the criteria can be counteracted by focussing on other arguments such as
ease of learning, Namibian cultural authenticity, empowering the underprivileged, and
self-reliance (Phillipson 1992, p. 293). As mentioned earlier, another European language
spoken by relatively more people than English, Portuguese, is overlooked and neglected.

Another controversial policy directive was teaching the home language, a local
language, from grades one to three. Not all languages have readily available material for
teaching. English is the medium of instruction from grades four to twelve and, moreover,
it is a compulsory subject, starting from grade one, and continuing throughout the school
system (Grades 1 - 12). Furthermore, all learners should study two languages as subjects
from grade one onwards, one of which must be English. To be sure, educational

language planning in Namibia and Africa in general must aim at bi- or multilingualism.

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In the words of Phillipson, Skutnabb-Kangas, and Africa (1986), one should regard it as
“axiomatic that over-use of the former colonial language and under-use of mother
tongues as media of education reproduce inequality, favor the creation or perpetuation of
elites, promote dependency on the “culture of wider communication” and prevent the
attainment of high levels of bi- or multilingualism.” There are other factors to be
considered, like unavailable or limited language teachers, and thus problems of
implementation. Larson (1980, p. 3) reminds us that it is thoroughly unrealistic to set
goals without considering one’s resources.

There has been a dispute as to the number of languages spoken in Namibia today,
similar to debates elsewhere in Africa. Aside from the diversity of languages on the
whole, the colonial presence created havoc when, at the Berlin conference of 1884, it
carved up the African continent according to its own whims. Thus, languages like
Oshinkhumbi and Otjiherero in Namibia were bifurcated when the Germans and
Portuguese set up colonial borders between Namibia and Angola. The same applied to
various African languages during colonialism that imposed and socialized Africans in
different European languages. The South African apartheid administration in Namibia
continued the same pattern and, in addition, imposed Afrikaans as the lingua franca and
medium of instruction in schools. Roy-Campbell (1998) describes how missionaries’
“faulty transcriptions, some arising from inaccurate associations, occurred across the
Afiican continent, resulting in the creation of a multitude of dialects of the same language
and different languages from what was one language.” The difficulty of putting a

definite figure to the number of various African languages on the continent can be

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attributed to this process, as contention has arisen over whether certain language forms
are indeed languages or dialects.

At independence in 1990, the Namibian government instituted thirteen languages
as languages of instruction in the first three grades of schooling. Among these are three
European languages (German, Afiikaans, and English), and ten African languages
Khoekhoegowab which is a home language for Nama-Damara, Oshikwanyama,
Oshindonga, Otjiherero, Rugciriku, Rukwangali, Setwana, Silozi, Thimbukushu, and
Jul’hoan. English became the official language and the language used in commerce and
government institutions (Davids, 1997). These are all very controversial issues because
the African languages are not limited to the chosen ten. Unlike German and Afrikaans,
English is not connected to the colonial history of Namibia, and, according to the 1991
census, is spoken only by 0.8% as a mother tongue. It is evident that issues of status and
power must be taken into account in reconceptualizing language diversity. Diaz (2001, p.
154) insists that

This means developing an awareness that privilege, ethnocentrism, and

racism are at the core of policies and practices that limits the use of

languages other than officially recognized high-status languages allowed

in schools and in the society in general. When particular languages are

prohibited or denigrated, the voices of those who speak them are silenced

and rejected as well.

Another controversy is that one European language, Portuguese, which before
independence was probably spoken by more people than English, was completely left

out. See table showing six to eighteen year-olds of different language groups not at

school

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Table 5

Six to Eighteen Year-Olds of Different Language Groups Not at School, 1991

%notatschool
o 20 4o so so 100

I ' I V '

 

 

 

These data were reported in the 1991 Population
and Housing Census. Kavango languages
include Rugciriku, Rusambyu, Rukwangali, and
Thimbukushu. Oshiwambo includes
Oshikwanyama, Oshindonga, and other

Oshiwambo languages. Caprivian languages
include Silozi and other Caprivian languages.

(Source: Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, 1996.)

SWAPO selected English as the sole oficial language in independent Namibia
whfletheAfiieanhnguagegasweflasGernnnandAfiikaamwemwnsideredmtioml
languagesandthemediaofeducationatthe lowerprimary level. Thus, as isthecase
with my other sub-Saharan multilingual nations, the western model of language
planning aimed at the replacement of many languages by one and projected a mono-
model as the only way through which planned societies can operate (Pattanayak, 1986,

quoted in Phillipson 1992). From a'similar perspective, Harlec-Jones (1992, p. 7)

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maintains that such practices are antithetical to democratic participation and equality of
access to knowledge, resources, and power.

There seem to be valid reasons for the choice of English as the official language
for independent Namibia. Nevertheless, it has detrimental effects on the development of
other languages and the costs involved in re-trainin g not only the teachers but also the
entire society to be familiar with and use English comfortably. Critics, for example,
argue that the SWAPO decision in favor of the official use of English in the secondary
domains (government, administration, education, the media, health, agriculture, etc.) will
not create national unity but will rather lead to social and political conflicts, i.e., a risk of
bifurcation, with English for the educated and the local languages for the masses (e. g.
Phillipson, 1992, p. 296). In fact, in recent times many scholars have started to look very
critically at language policies molded on the outdated nineteenth century “one nation one
language” approach (e. g. Dirven & Webb, 1993; Heine, 1992; Fardon & Furniss, 1994;
Mansour, 1993; Mateene, 1985.).

Most post-colonial societies chose the former colonizers’ language, which is
seemingly familiar, for the continuity of communication, instruction, and usage.
However, most Namibians, or Africans for that matter, use their mother tongue or a
community language for their daily activities, while only about three per cent of an
African community go outside their state to represent their country or take part in
international conferences (Heine, 1992, p. 22). The advocates of the “international
communication” argument maintain that the world is shrinking because of worldwide
communication and common access to a lingua franca such as English. Ansre (1979)

calls this the “shrinking world” and rightly asks the question of “how many Africans are

184

 

.l

really involved in international communication.” The author arrives at the following
criticism with respect to educational issues (Ansre, 1979, p. 14):

We submit that while it is true that the international languages are being
spoken by more and more people, the primary aim of first cycle education
in any country is not to teach the children to become international
personages. The purpose should be to equip the pupil with the means of
contributing firstly to the national life of his or her country. Thus the
educational objectives of a country should first aim at intra-national
integration and not at inter-national relations. The child must first be
taught to discover himself as a worthy member of a worthy society with a
respectable language, which can be used with a sense of pride. Thereafter
he may be taught about people and languages beyond the confines of his
socrety.

If 75% of the people in the country use their own languages or dialects in everyday
communication and use, indeed the choice of English would be for the elites and
foreigners and not beneficial to the majority.

There are interesting contrasts, agreements, disputes, and comments from my
respondents about the language policy for independent Namibia. The first contradiction
is expressed by this respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, who reckoned
that the language policy is based on a political decision, and that since English was not
important yet in Namibia, it is an international language and so it may serve to unite
Namibians:

You will find that in our language policy, we have stated that English will

be the official language. This is, it was a political decision but all in all,

everybody in Namibia is agreed that English has not been fully an

important language here and being an international language, for us it is

fitting nicely for us to unite us, and now we cannot say there were many

English people who can claim that we have been kind of benefiting, from

this decision. For everybody, the main groups in Namibia the word

English was just a language, but many people were here really. Therefore

we say, English is the official language. All other Namibian languages are

equal, we mean, and we continue to say irrespective of the number of
speakers. {Respondent # 10}

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The minority Namibian English speakers obviously benefitted from the decision
and it is debatable whether all languages are really equal, as the respondent and the policy
claim. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that a language spoken by less than 1% of the
Namibian population would create unity in the nation. The same respondent
acknowledged the institution of English as the official language but recognized that there
are difficulties because the nation is not quite familiar with the English language. For
him, there is good reason for the government’s language policy of instruction in a mother
language from grades one to three:

The language also is one of the things that the government has done, to say

English is the official language, although it was phased in. It could not be

done just, you know at once, because some schools, some teachers were

trained in Afrikaans, some were trained in English, so if you say English,

those teachers who were trained in Afiikaans had to move gradually into

this. The students also were taught in Afrikaans, they had to go gradually

into this. Mind you, Afrikaans, we recognize Afrikaans as one of our

indigenous languages. So there is no way we can say do away with

Afrikaans or what. That is why the policy was put in place, language policy

which said from grade one to grade three, there should be a mother tongue,

really whether it is Afrikaans or Lozi or Oshikwanyama or Damaranama and

so on, and from then on, the kids will pick up with English to go to higher

levels of teaching and learning. {Respondent # 10}

The Ministry of Education and Culture (1993b, p. 65) states that “all national
languages are equal regardless of the numbers of speakers or the level of development of
a particular language. All language policies must be sensitive to this principle.” The
ministry also clearly stipulates that “for pedagogical reasons it is ideal for children to
study through their own language during the early years of schooling when basic skills of

reading, writing and concept formation are developed.” These are ideally important and

good policies. However, the next respondent, an education officer with the MBEC, felt

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that the deep-rooted divisions and inequalities affect these policies and many aspects of
development decisions:

The inequalities are deep, from qualified teachers to housing that also affect
access and quality. The other problem from the government side is that like
in the regions from grade one up to four or one up to three I am not quite
sure, as government policy, learners are supposed to study in their mother or
home languages. Something I do not agree with. But the problem is now
that’s why we are saying that we are still in the old Bantu stans. If a child is
in the north and she’s in grade one or maybe in grade two and the parents
happen to move to Windhoek. Which school will that child go to because
some of the schools in Windhoek do not apply (teach) Oshiwambo which
means that kid is going to be lost. Which means this is a separation also.
Because we have talked earlier about people to live wherever they want to.
So if a parent move from Katima to live in Keetmanshoop the child will
automatically be disadvantaged. They cannot go to the school because they
won’t speak the local language. So the policy is detrimental to learners.

{ Respondent #2 }

The contradiction of language policy emphasizing mother language from grades
one to three with people’s reluctance to have their children to learn languages other than
theirs is crucial. This problem becomes clear when a person is, for example, transferred
to a specific region where they speak a different language other than theirs. According to
this respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, some parents refuse to take up
positions in different regions because of their children’s language needs:

I have a situation whereby these parents have bluntly refused to accept such
a transfer because if they are really to take the educational needs of their
children at heart. Personally to me, that will be a very hard decision for me.
I will not first and foremost be willing to I don't see any need for my child to
be taught the language I am not using, we are not using it, we are not using.
It is not our lingua franca. There is no practical use after learning it. Yeah,
those are a consideration, and for the child to start learning a language, he or
she does not have any future are not being helped to practice should be a
very difficult task. That will also hamper the education of a child, because it
is a total foreign language, very much foreign. I don't know how the
government came up with this policy, but what I can guess is that they
thought maybe more about majority benefit than some individual cases. For
that matter some of the people who are transferring leave their families
behind. {Respondent # 15}

187

The same respondent told a short story of his friend related to the contradiction of
the language policy and the hard-to-implement practices:

I have got a friend I met at the university. He is now working as a
professional training instructor, but his family (as you said) is still in
Rehoboth. But himself, he is working in the north. I asked him how long he
can sustain this relationship, whereby he is separated from his family.
Because of that he has realized that he made a big mistake taking the job. He
didn't really anticipate himself and his family would be separated. But he
left them behind because he wanted his children to continue learning in his
language and grow up in their locality. It would be a trauma for me. But
this is one of the things as we have said early, hampering educational
development. That guy should come back to Rehoboth again, because he
cannot live with his family in the north he told me felt like he was living in a
foreign country. {Respondent #15}

This respondent basically pointed out the contradiction between the government
policy of mother language for the first lower grades while people are reluctant to get their
children to learn what they consider languages “foreign “ to them which they may not
need in the future. Another respondent, an officer with the MHEVST, felt that whenever
a person moves to another area, the school should change and start with English from the
beginning. He reasoned that this will uphold the government policy of education for all.
I find this to be yet another crucial contradiction because in most cases of change to
English for schools, teachers, and regions that use a specific language, the transition can
be not only costly but perhaps unrealistic as well. This is, nevertheless, his view about
the language of instruction in changed circumstances:

What they must immediately do is that they must change the mother

tongue and then introduce the school into English. As soon as there is a

visitor in that school they must change and not proceed with their mother

tongue. They must also cater for that new guy, because the guy will sit

there and listen to those people speaking into their mother tongue and how

is he going to know? So the best way of solving this problem is to

introduce English for this particular school. That is what we are doing
here in this area we introduce English in your junior primary grades so

188

you cater for everybody. I would say that whenever someone or a family
comes in a surrounding the school has to change the medium of learning
to English because it will, you said you know the policy is education for
all, so how can you have education for only those other groups and the
guy must be sitting here, is he also going to get an education? So you are
not giving justice to the policy of education for all. But you are not even
attending to the needs of the constitution, the constitution says everybody
must get an education up to sixteen years or grade ten whichever comes
first. {Respondent # 4}

The respondent further emphasized the contradiction of the language policy. He
was very supportive of schools to change to English in the case of a mixture of ethnic
identities:

So those people can easily take you to court, saying my child is a Nama

speaking guy s/he can only speak Nama and Afrikaans and this is actually

the case. Going into the north those guys mostly those guys can only

speak their mother tongue, some of them cannot even speak Afrikaans, so

what will you do now? You are not giving attention of, you are sitting

there with the child, s/he is totally isolated, excluded from the system.

How will you educate that guy? The parents can take you to court and

they will win the case. Because our government policy say education for

all. So the school must change their method of teaching and introduce

another language and the only best neutral language is English.

{Respondent # 4}

This respondent may have considered, as he claimed, “education for all,” but the
reality is that some regions are mono-ethnic and they do not have sufficient material,
personnel, and drive to use English. This may, therefore, be detrimental to the majority
inhabitants of the region because new learners may move there with their parents. This
scenario may be a better option for urban areas, where different ethnic groups are found
in the same vicinity. During the apartheid era, however, even within urban areas ethnic
groups were divided into specific residential areas and different schools and locations,

which to a great extent continues to be the case in postcolonial Namibia. The urban

situation, therefore, has its unique set of complexities.

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The following respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, explained
how particular regions are monolingual and also the fact that even in urban areas most
people still live according to the previous apartheid divisions:

It’s not all the schools but mostly in the central areas, where you find an
influx of people in the central areas. As you go to the South for example or
in the north, you find that the majority of their learners are either Nama, or
Oshiwambo speaking respectively, so it is easy for them to introduce mother
tongue. But if you are sitting with that problem like here in this area, what
will you do? Will you teach them in English? According to some sources
it’s that because English is the official language, they just start with English
in that particular circumstance. But even here in the central part sections in
Katutura are divided according to various ethnic groups, so parents will
naturally sent their children where their language is taught. {Respondent #
4)

According to SWAPO, which was more interested and instrumental in the
replacement of Afrikaans with English and which is the de facto ruling party of the
Namibian government,

....mother language will be used as a medium of instruction at the lower

primary school level. The concern here is not with so-called group

identity or ethnic consciousness and exclusivity, as has been the case with

the apartheid colonial regime, but with the fulfillment of cognitive and

communicative functions. Since it is through the mother languages that

infants first acquire social habits, manners, feelings, tastes, skills, and

other cultural norms, it is important that their formal schooling starts with

those languages of everyday life at home (SWAPO, 1989, p. 6).

While the intentions that led to the current language policy in Namibia are
important and seemingly in the interest of all, the practical realities and outcomes are
rather different. This is partly due to the legacy of apartheid; the educational system
based on Bantu education provisions kept the ethnic languages on a low educational level

(Ohly 1987a, p. 24) and deliberately promoted ethnolinguistic fragmentation as an

important means of enforcing the laws of apartheid. This was partly due to the emerging

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elite who pushed their agenda, thus enhancing social stratification along ethnic, regional,
and class lines. The following respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST,
touched on some of these delicate issues:

Yes! On paper the policy is clear, it’s clear that no discrimination on the
basis of race, color, ethnic origin and even as far as education is
concerned. But sometimes you have to face the reality, from history,
where we have areas where these various ethnic groups or racial groups
reside by themselves. Say if you take an areas like Windhoek, take an
area in the town, in the city, there you have now, or is regarded as a
multicultural society, with different social class categories. There you
have now the way to open up the schools to each and every person and
they do, but sometimes it is going to be limited by the medium say
particularly in the lower primary. It will also be limited by affordability.
Secondary school is open, you can go where you want to. The limitation
of language you have is basically for the primary, there is no question
about it. Even if it is a small number of people say living in Otjombinde
and then the dominant group there is Otjiherero speaking that means that
the language which is being taught in schools is Otjiherero which means
some kids can attend but they are going to be taught in Otjiherero. That is
now all over, it applies to other regions. {Respondent #18}

The dilemma of the well-intended educational policies versus the practical
realities plays out differently. An outsider from other regions, or even in towns from a
different school which teaches a specific ethnic language, will find it hard to integrate.
When it comes to the choice of language of instruction in Namibian schools, socio-
cultural politics, sociolinguistics, and economic factors are so closely interrelated that it is
difficult to sort out the correct argument or pattern for language use in independent
Namibia. It is also important to remember that no single person or group, no matter how
prescient or powerful, can control and regulate all interactions and effects which
characterize the endless inter-relating of human society (Arendt, 1953, p. 190). She

rightly points out that “since action acts upon beings who are capable of their own

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actions, reaction, apart fi'om being a response, is always a new action that strikes out on
its own and affects others.”

Indeed the legacy of apartheid with its divisive tendencies contributes to the
dilemma, but the cultural and linguistic aspect plays a major role as well from the
community or parental point of view. Putz (1995, p. 195) declares that “the education
system seems to be overcharged, partly as a result of expansion and expectations.” Most
parents are comfortable with their own languages taught to their children during the first
few years of schooling. Perhaps this is one of the explanations why most people prefer to
continue living in the historically designated areas. The following respondent, an
education officer with the MHEVST, maintained that languages are taught according to
the majority or dominant ethnic groups within regions in Namibia:

Languages in schools in different regions are taught according to the
majority ethnic groups that live there. Where you have reserves OK you
can decide there is no discrimination. You can decide and go fiom Rundu
to Aminuis and attend school there. But how can a small one say six or
seven year old, far away from the parents, cope? It is impossible in that
case. It means you continue on the basis of residential area those groups
who are there predominantly primary as well as junior secondary school
because school now go up to grade nine because of facilities. They
continue to be dominated by one or two other cultural groups. If you take
Aminuis now you have the Tswanas you have the Ovaherero there they
can go to any school. There’s no prevention like in the past but now if
you expect an Oshiwambo speaking learner to go there if they do not live
in Aminuis, it is very difficult. For a secondary school where the medium
is English there is no option, the government as I said created the
opportunity for grade eleven to be accommodated at or in towns whatever.
It is opening up that one, and the hostel is also a problem, it is one of the
limiting factors. Because if you do not have a place where you can live
and many of the kids you have are day scholars they do not live in the
hostel, and if you don’t have parents in that area, or if your parents have
no money, even to live on your own in a way, then it’s problematic.
{Respondent #19}

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He also explains that without sufficient funds for hostels or without relatives in an
area, learners’ chances of being in those schools are minimized. Many of these defects
and shortcomings were inherited from the colonial system, which devoted its best efforts
to sustaining that part of the educational enterprise set aside for Whites, and after
independence, for elites, and neglected the benefits in the system assigned to other
people. This led to education in Namibia, especially anything that hinges on language
issues or policy, to be in a state of perpetual crisis. The following respondent, a regional
education director, had this to say about the problematic integration because of language
barriers:

When we talk now about the primary and kindergarten where they have to

use mother tongue, it's impossible if 1 have to take a Nama speaking for

example to go to Okavango region. The communication is going to be a

problem, the language barrier. Therefore, they will use a teacher from that

region, who can speak that language. And now, maybe those teachers they

are not so nicely or highly qualified in that language. Those children then

will get a very weak foundation, which will go to hamper them, even if they

have to go later on to a better school. {Respondent # 9}

The contradiction of the mother language for the first three grades, while teachers
may not have been well prepared to teach in all different languages, and the lack of
material for all language groups, are a clear setback for the policy to take root and be
implemented smoothly everywhere in the country.

Another fundamental yet important contradiction linked to language in Namibia is
the ethnic issue. This is a very important issue for this dissertation because by
understanding the dynamics of ethnicity, most of the dilemmas in social stratification and

inequalities can be related to meaningful contexts. Vail (1991, p. 2), for example,

explains that

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With its power to divide people politically, and with its sturdy resistance

to erosion by the ideological forces of national or class consciousness,

ethnicity came to demand close — albeit often very grudging — attention

after decades of neglect. Its source and appeal needed reasonable

explanations, and interpretations of it have ranged widely, reflecting its

multidimensional nature.

Even where ethnic categories are important and central they are, nonetheless, part
of a wider complex of political, social, and economic relations. The movement and
changing nature of people have been both voluntary and coerced and the degree to which
language and culture have survived migration has varied. In all instances where there is
some continuity of culture, there have nonetheless been transformations of old forms and
the creation of new ones. In Namibia some groups were lumped together to suit the
social, economic, and political activities of the colonizers. Fenton (1999, p. 21) argues
that “ethnicity as a social phenomenon is embedded in social, political, and economic
structures which form an important element of both the way ethnicity is expressed and
the social importance it assumes.”

The government represented by some education officers is trying to do away with
the ethnic orientation in Namibia. The claim is that ethnic categories were emphasized
by the colonial government and the new government wants to do away with them as they
may continue dividing the nation instead of the “one Namibia one nation” that the
government wants to emphasize in the new nation building process.

As a proponent of the government position, this education officer with the MBEC
provided the following perspective:

In reality we do not anymore take statistics on ethnic groupings. Yes, we do

have an impression through the mind, the language that children speak, but

even then, that does not really give the ethnic origin of the learner, since

some of the learners speak languages at home that may not be of their ethnic
region. The government decided not to handle the ethnic issue in Namibia in

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terms of education. It is a problem because the reason is we all know that we
try to get away from the divisive program that we had in the former
government, and not to overemphasize the ethnic origin of people, although
we have said, we talk of unity in diversity. We would want to have a united
Namibia that is why we play down the ethnic origin of people, although we
don’t deny that they exist in the country. {Respondent # 5}

The same education officer in a somewhat contradictory way tried to explain that
the formerly suppressed people who are now in government try to enhance their dignity.
He claimed that the government is striving for the equality of all ethnic groups:

In Namibia we had the fortunate or unfortunate situation at the moment

that the very people now who would emphasize the ethnic origin are the

people who were subjected to the superiority and inferiority situation

because of ethnic origin. And for that matter, the many people who are in

government are people who belonged to those ethnic groupings, which

were played down as low class citizens. Therefore, having experienced

this dehumanization kind of a situation, they have, in a way, they are

trying to bring themselves in a level that is to have the same dignities as

others. Because the system that was in existence emphasized supremacy

of one race or ethnic group as opposed to all the others. And therefore,

what we are really doing now is mainly emphasizing the equality of

people, and all the ethnic groupings. {Respondent #5}

The problem with the approach that this education officer proposed is that playing
ethnicity down does not necessarily alleviate the ethnic existence or continuity. The
consequences of playing down ethnic origin are far more destructive than its recognition
and management. Examples from both developing and developed countries show that
different countries have tried to play down ethnicity; Kosovo, Rwanda-Burundi, and the
melting pot concept in the US are exemplary cases in point, but in none of these cases
have ethnic orientations been eliminated. Regardless of the number of years that

ethnicity may be dormant, eventually ethnicity resurfaces with, in most cases, devastating

consequences.

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Some education officers, however, explained how the country cannot do away
with differences in ethnic orientation since they are based on the culture, language, and
identity of the various people in the country. The following education officer with the
MBEC warned that ethnicity is a reality that the country cannot afford to ignore but needs
to deal with to avoid serious repercussions:

Well, one thing I can say is that there is no Namibia today without the
various ethnic groups. That’s it, that’s the bottom line. That’s the only
thing I can say. So you will always have these ethnic groups. In fact we
have to have these ethnic groups to have a Namibia. Otherwise you have
to have your non-ethnicized Namibia somewhere else. And in Namibia
it’s what it is. It’s an ethnic oriented, it’s an ethnic nation-state. That is a
reality and that’s where we should start. If we want to make a difference,
we should start there. We have to start by accepting that we are a nation
that exists of various nationality groups. And it’s these nationality groups
that we have to weave together to come up with the so-called one
Namibia. The ‘one Namibia one nation aspect of it.’ If we ignore that
these ethnic groups exist, we are closing our eyes to reality, we are as
good as an Ostrich burying its head in the Namib dessert sand. I think we
will be making a very serious mistake, and that will backlash, we cannot
get away with it. You will do it maybe ten years. In fact, I think the seeds
of that they seem to result in serious consequences, serious repercussions.
These are real things we cannot ignore them. {Respondent #1}

Apart from the colonial-created ethnic identities in Namibia, the endurance and
persistence of ethnicity is rooted in peoples’ identity, language, and culture; as a result, it
becomes difficult to think of eradicating ethnicity in any given circumstances. The
following respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, expressed this view. He
particularly highlighted the contradiction of the language policy which requires learners
to start with their mother or home language in the first three grades, while there are
fundamental problems such as teachers deficiency in all languages and the reluctance of

people to move where their children would learn different languages. For him, these

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issues are indirectly promoting ethnicity while the government’s intention is to
apparently do away with it:

That child is supposed to be an Omundonga, and if that child cannot learn
your own language, it's the other way round you see. So, I admit that in
that line, ethnicity is very prominent and it can, I don't know how it can be
eliminated, whether we say we have eliminated it to me it will not at that
level, we have not eliminated it. Because it is still a disadvantage. The
child may not cross the board. He or she will have to be confined in those
pockets. If you put our education in that way, or at that level, I feel our
education to a certain extent is really supporting ethnicity and as a result, it
is disadvantaging its own people to have this cross cultural type of a thing.
But I think the best thing that has happened is that the government has
tried to cushion this. Now, how do we go out of it, to say kids can cross
from as early as grade one to any direction, because the policy is, the child
must be able to go across the board. But at the same time, a language
policy which says they must be able to learn from grade one to grade three
in your own language, and in addition to that again, in our colleges of
education, we have got four of them which cater for all other languages.
But, the other thing which has come up in this the teachers who are
teaching lower primary they are encouraged to teach in the mother tongue,
and when they go and do practice teaching which we now call school base
studies, they have to use the mother tongue. Now, if a teacher is from
Ondangwa, and he happens to go to an Otjiherero speaking area, how
would that person do that practice teaching? {Respondent # 10}

The disadvantage of learners from different ethnic groups not being able to move
freely across the country’s schools is explicit in this respondent’s remarks. It is evident
that there are more than enough inherited inequalities and restrictions on opportunities in
Namibia, many of them difficult to address, without creating new ones by decisions
within the control of the democratic state. Some ethnic identities are created by various
circumstances, and they change with time as new definitions are realized. However,
those ethnic orientations rooted in language, tradition, and culture are not easy to
eliminate.

One of the apparent contradictions is that of ethnic denial in a multiethnic Namibia.

Some officers talked of deliberate playing down or discouraging ethnic categories in an

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attempt to forge a “one Namibia one nation,” that all people are considered as one. The
government does not take statistics in schools based on ethnicity of learners anymore.
However, the colonial-established former homelands are still home to predominantly
specific ethnic groups. One education officer with the MBEC was more specific about the
legacy of the past and also the ethnic categorization:

Apartheid was entrenched in Namibia and it saw to it actually that the

Ovahimba were staying in their own area, the Mbukushu speaking people
were specifically staying in their own area. The San people were designated
to specific areas and the same with all other ethnic groups. So today one

school or one community might primarily consist of one ethnic group.

{Respondent # 16}

The stmctural legacy of the previous administration, with the ethnically based
separate regional structures, left a distorted pattern of resource allocation and lack of
sufficient infrastructure. Namibia consists of diverse, and in some instances completely
different, ethnic orientations that are bound to continue for a long time before the expected
dream of equality of resources, if at all, can be realized. Fenton (1999, p. 89) cautions
understanding of ethnicity in a broader context by stating that “to be comprehensively
understood we need to examine ethnicity in its local, regional, societal, and global frames,
and in the grounded experience of individuals, seen as actors in a series of face to face
contexts.” In this way, cultural and historical understanding is always part of theory of
origin, and a structural account establishes the probable limits of action within a given social
system. These must be combined with motivational and meaningfirl accounts of how and
why ethnic identities persist, acquire greater or lesser intensity, and lead to greater or lesser
degree of conflict.

More generally, the macro social formations are the major economic and political

structures of the social order. When these are ethnically shaped they constitute a more or

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less enduring framework within which the meaning and import of ethnicity can evolve.
Multi-ethnic societies like Namibia vary in the manner and degree to which wealth and
power are associated with a privileged ethnic elite or with an ethnic majority. In the US,
there is a long enduring association of African Americans with gross social disadvantage
(Wilson 1987, O’Hare et al. 1991, Small 1994), among whom a great disproportion are
the urban poor and socially excluded. In apartheid Namibia the whole concept of
citizenship and practice of political participation was predicated on “race and ethnicity.”
The structures of society are the institutions, intermediate between the individual
and the state, which are sometimes independent and sometimes regulated by the state. Of
central importance here are the educational institutions since it is through schools and
universities that the cultural capital for advancement is acquired and through them that
cultural identities are preserved. The most decisive cultural struggles are about the
dominance of languages, which represent majorities, dominant cultures, or élites in state-
regulated education systems (Ericksen, 1991; May, 1999). In Wales, in the past the
schools have been the instrument of enforcing the dominance of English and are now the
scene of state-sponsored efforts to revive Welsh (Williams, 1994). In colonial Namibia
the state’s wish to impose learning in Afrikaans on Black school children was the
occasion for the Black student revolt and bloody repression by the apartheid state
(Iijambo, 1991). In east Malaysia, a Malay-dominated state has imposed education in
Malay on Kadazan peoples, and the Quebec provincial government has crucially used its
control of state education to sustain the use of French and to delay or roll back the
encroachments of English (Khan and Loh Kok Wah, 1992; Taylor, 1992). In these ways,

schools and other educational institutions are cultural battlegrounds where dominant

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cultures achieve their superiority and where suppressed ethnic groups or cultures, for
example the San or Ovankhumbi, who are focused on in this study in Namibia, build their
resistance.

Where a minority language comes to be seen as an educational and economic
disadvantage, its decline may be a result of both suppression by the powerful or majority
and collusion by a generation of minority language speakers. One of the dichotomies that
seems puzzling is the willingness to provide for all ethnic or language groups; thus, the
policy of schools open to every potential learner, yet the post independence infrastructure
remains the same and therefore stifles ethnic and language integration. One respondent,
an education officer with the MHEVST, put it this way:

I think the policy of government is to help all the schools open to everyone

as I mentioned earlier. If one goes to all our anywhere, I don’t think you will

easily find a school that is purely for that particular ethnic group. In urban

areas they are all mixed. There are some cases for instance when one goes to

the real remote area, where you can find maybe one ethnic group in that

particular school, and that is not actually because of government policy that a

school is having that particular ethnic group. But it is because of the nature

of the location of the people. As you mentioned earlier, apartheid was

entrenched in Namibia and it saw to it actually that all ethnic groups were

staying in their own designated area. {Respondent # 20)

In the face-to-face social sphere, ethnic identities, and the norms, customs and
values which sustain them, are negotiated in everyday life. The urban situations are
different, mixed, as the respondent, an education officer with the MHEVST, said, which
can be difficult for learners exposed to mono-ethnic and mono-lingual situation in their
respective regions:

Namibia is definitely composed of different ethnic groups. That is a fact,

irrespective of the fact that we have thirteen political regions, and seven

educational regions. We definitely have a lot of ethnic groups in Namibia.

Now, education after independence was to be revamped. We tried to
revamp education immediately after independence. The intention was to

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try and normalize or make education uniform, although in diversity. In
other words, make sure that the curriculum of the country is almost the
same, and catering for all the ethnic groups. So, basically the question as
it states, when you say the statistical data in terms of education. I would
say we don't have education for ethnics, if I can put it that way. We don't
have education that caters for certain ethnic groups, but we have education
that is intended to cater for the national interests of all the Namibians,
education for all. {Respondent # 15}

The ethnic and language differences are difficult to overlook in a country that is
divided as such. The following respondent, an education officer with the MBEC,
expresses a similar idea, in a slightly different tone:

That is why I think you know the ministry has divided the education system
in the regions which sometimes is ethnically based, although you have the
children from different racial groups in one region. But I think the statistics
can be made available because I think the information are there stipulating
that this child belongs to which ethnic group. Therefore, although the
government policy does strain officers to regard people fi'om which ethnic
group a person is coming from, but data are available of a child is from
which ethnic group are taken where. Although it's really I think matter of
concern to all who are running education, but they are available especially
with us. Children whom we have are only from this ethnic group
Oshiwambo speaking group, most of them. I think you only find a small
group of some pe0ple in the east of Oshikoto and east of Ohangwena,
Engela, and also in Tsumeb area, Oshikoto region, with only a few groups of
learners who are Otjiherero and Damaranama speaking, only in Tsumeb but
the entire region is constitute of Oshiwambo speaking learners. {Respondent
# 7}

Yet another respondent, an officer with the MBEC, explained the issue
differently, although he clearly emphasized the same issue. Ethnicity obviously is
sensitive and there is a strong sentiment to suppress it. Nevertheless, it is so prevalent
that some officers sounded contradictory about the issue:

Well, I doubt whether such information actually exist in terms of ethnic

groups in this country. However, I am aware that there is information with

regard to various regions. But these regions are obviously political regions

and OK some may reflect at some ethnic concentration. But they are not

necessarily so designed to be ethnic regions as such. People who, if we go
back to our history and look at people who have never had to be moved from

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their traditional homes, more of the northern regions of Namibia, that will be

Kaoko, Ovambo, Rundu and Caprivi. In those regions you will have people

who would be more, those regions will be more like you know ethnic based

and therefore if one is to talk maybe of those regions. There will be

differences if one is to talk of the other southern regions or the other central,

central and southern regions. That are more, these people who find

themselves in native reservations as they were created then by the colonial

regimes and I think they remained with the exception of having changed

tittles, you know calling them now communal lands. {Respondent # 17}

Even in just one region, in this case the Rundu educational region, which has
similar language groups but different dialects, the problem seems insurmountable. This
region is divided into several circuits, but the ethnic and language issues overlap and play
out according to the political divisions.

The next theme tackles the persistent and pervasive outcomes which result from

the legacies of colonial and apartheid history across the Namibian society. The country

inherited an acute lack of capital and expert bureaucracy.

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Chapter VI

PEOPLE’S AWARENESS OF AND EFFORTS TO OVERCOME
THE [NHERITED APARTHEID LEGACY FOR RECON STITUTING
THE SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORDER FOR EQUITY

Theme: Persistence of educational inequalities is due to the inherited, divisive
apartheid legacy that manifests itself in many realms of post-apartheid
Namibian Society.

 

This theme addresses the core issues of persistent educational inequalities in
postcolonial Namibia. The theme responds to my primary research question as to why
educational inequalities persist along regional and ethnic lines a decade after independence.
Educational inequities have persisted, despite independence and reform, as a seemingly
intractable legacy of apartheid. My findings show that the legacy of apartheid is deeply
rooted. Respondents interviewed emphasized the disparities in socio-economic status of
various groups of people and the systematic divisions that stratify the people of Namibia,
not only along regional lines but also based on ethnic, race, religion, gender, urban-rural,
and class differences. These disparities are reflected across my three main data sources.
The responses below are representative of disparities in the education dispensation along
ethnic and regional lines, based on the inherited legacy, despite the government’s
commitment to assuring equal educational opportunity.

To be sure of reversing the apartheid system, the government has indeed made
important efforts to overcome the disparities of the past, particularly by using education, as
was shown in the perceptions of the respondents quoted in previous themes.

While the government’s good policies are planned with the welfare of all in mind,
questions remain whether the reformed education has actually unified the country. Has it

achieved the intended primary education for all as envisaged in the policies? Which

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languages are reinstated as languages of instruction in schools, under what criteria? Does
the concept of basic education for “all” include the hitherto neglected non-formal and
adult education sector, to cater for those who did not get an opportunity under apartheid?
Does the reformed education now develop the skills, knowledge, mind, character, and
growth of all individuals as desired and envisaged in the country’s constitution?

Most education officers interviewed consider (for the most part quite as expected)
the independent government to have done much. Some of them, like the education
officer below, who is with the MBEC were skeptical about how long it might take to end
persistent inequalities along regional and ethnic lines because of the great damage done
by apartheid.

But nevertheless, the government with the assistance of the international

communities, various governments and international organization who are

funding our system, so at least we have schools, classrooms in the area,

roads in the area and the others. But I tell you it will take time before these

things, because it is and a backlog which had been created about a hundred

years ago, and you cannot expect this to be addressed within nine or ten

years. No, It will take time. It will take time. Yeah, it will take time. You

see it's a great damage done to the regions, the areas, the former northern
area, which I really talking about, it's a great damage done. {Respondent #

l 1
But as the several education officers noted, there were eleven separate education

departments, consistent with apartheid principles, and these had different impacts on

different ethnic groups, depending on their size and power.

Information fi'om the interviewees and the wider literature indicates that the most
limiting, even debilitating, factor in integrated schooling in Namibia is the legacy of

apartheid. I cannot agree more with Mda and Mothata (2000, p. 51), who emphasized

that

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Apartheid was a well-thought out, thorough, and long-term political

ideology to keep races separate and unequal. Its laws made it difficult for

people of different races and ethnicities to know one another and get

along, since each group was separated and isolated from others legally and

physically. Schools therefore experience general problems of

reconciliation and interaction between diverse cultural and linguistic

groups, after years of separation.

Throughout the analysis of the past and present educational deprivation and
privilege, the disadvantaged position of Blacks can be seen. Colonialism dispossessed
many Blacks of their land and livestock and rights, which began a process of culture
change that led to the unruly situation in postcolonial Namibia as the legacy left a culture
of violence and destruction. The postcolonial Namibian constitution provides the historic
bridge between the past of a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict,
untold suffering and injustice. That is, a future founded on the recognition of human
rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence, and development opportunities for all
Namibians, irrespective of color, race, region, ethnicity, class, belief and sex. However,
the current situation is marked by rapid urbanization, and thus a growing drift to towns
and unequal access to education, health, and other social services, and a marked
difference in income, residence, and occupation of various socioeconomic groups. On
the mentality underlying some of the above aspects, this respondent, a regional education
director, attributed them to the legacy of apartheid:

I believe learners see things as not yet belonging to them. As I put it to

you already, because it is now how many years since independence, it is

nine years and some months and then our learners have a culture of

violence. When we talk about a culture of violence then it means in

whatever something is not according to their idea or acceptance, then they

start revolting. When they start revolting and confronting they do it

through the method of destroying those things. Which is a legacy we have

from the colonial period. They still have that mentality, even the moment
they have to start a strike or boycott or whatever, they tend always to go to

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a bit of extreme otherwise you, if you don’t have proper control you can
realize they destroyed everything. {Respondent # 8}

The government is trying to address the disparities in education by involving
bilateral and other assistance from donor countries and agencies, which it directs to
specific areas targeted for development. These lending agencies and donor countries
have their criteria for firnding (and push their own agendas) that are often labeled
“universal,” but which are for the most part not favorable to local conditions.

In discussing the factors surrounding the need for reforming the inequitable
education in Namibia, one must have a complete comprehension of the extent of the
socio-economic and political problems and dynamics that exist in the communities within
regions. Some current practices forced Namibia to experience serious social, economic,
and political problems similar to the problems created by apartheid. These problems
must be resolved if the future is to be made more meaningful for all people. In all
practical realities, education has often been regarded as a means to resolve these
challenges and problems. However, the situation in Namibia, or perhaps in all of
southern Africa, leads to the conclusion that the current eduCational process is far too
inadequate to help solve these problems. I cannot agree more with Mathews (1988, p. 8),
who notes that

Education alone cannot transform underdeveloped communities. Unless it

is integrated with social and economic change and puts more resources

and power into the hands of the rural and urban poor, it will simply lead to

frustration, bitterness and revolt.

According to respondents and the wider literature, what is therefore needed is a

fundamental change or reform in education to meet the needs of an increasingly complex

situation. As we change the political knowledge base to include the true principles of

206

democracy, we begin to unravel the complexities of the apartheid legacy aftershock. This
study takes the position that among the viable methods of seeking solutions to the
multiple problems of inequities, poverty, regional and ethnic stratification or neglect and
exclusion, first should be to strive to eradicate or, initially at least, reduce poverty.
Secondly, it is crucial to initiate basic education reform that will cater to all communities
in an equitable manner. The intractable nature of inequity, as a legacy of apartheid and
the persistent inequitable social, economic, and political challenges facing the country,
requires a comprehensive solution to avoid eventual national disaster.

The serious issues raised by respondents and as shown in other chapters have
indicated that the Namibian education system entered the post-apartheid era with a legacy
of unjustifiable inequalities of various kinds. A major challenge for the new government
with its national reconciliation policy is that of putting into place policies that help
unwind this legacy of apartheid. That should lead to the creation of an education system
in which the basic principles of equity are satisfied. See the postcolonial Namibian map
(Figure 4) showing the thirteen political regions and the concentration of the population
and schools.

Some indication of what policies the new Namibian government adopted can be
seen in a discussion policy document; Toward Education for All, A Development Brief
for Education, Culture and Training, published in 1993. Some of the responses are
critical of some of the policy guidelines stipulated in the document. Among other things,

the document recognizes that three main features characterized the previous education:

207

Figure 4

Namibia’s postcolonial thirteen political regions and their concentrations of
population and schools, 1995

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, 1996)

208

First, the system was fi'agmented along racial and ethnic lines, and has

been saturated with the racial ideology and educational doctrines of

apartheid. Second, there was lack of access or unequal access to education

and training at all levels of the system. Vast disparities existed between

Black and White provision and large numbers of people, in particular,

adults, out of school youth and children of pre-school age, had little or no

access to education and training. Third, there was a lack of democratic

control within the education and training system. Students, teachers,

parents and workers have been excluded from decision-making processes.

(Ministry of Education and Culture 1993, p. 20)

Regardless of these observed and clearly articulated deficiencies of the previous
regime, the inequalities continue and part of the explanation from the respondents is that
the legacy of apartheid is responsible for the past injustice and disparities. The features
listed above are concerned chiefly with issues of equity and of accountability. Equity
issues arise because of the racial and ethnic fragmentation of the system and because of
the inequalities of access that characterize it. This respondent a regional education
director, had this to say to that effect:

But if we come up with a policy of equity, and redress the past inequity, I

think if we do that, we might come out with a very good improvement of

education in this country. That applies to the whole country, not only to

Rundu. {Respondent # 8}

Although many of the respondents also made reference to infrastructure,
resources, facilities and other factors, as a group they seemed to be more aware of the
various colonial factors, i.e., apartheid legacy, that have been associated with the
enduring inequalities.

The following theme addresses the plight of the educationally marginalized
communities. Some of the marginalized communities are the San, farm workers and their

children; Ovahimba, street children; Ovankhumbi, squatter settlement dwellers;

Ovazemba and other minority ethnic groups in remote rural areas. The marginalized do

209

know what affects them and are seeking parity through meetings, letters, headmen and

chiefs, radio, parents, and the education commission. This study specifically focus on the

Hai/ /Om, one of the San group in the north, Oshikoto region around Oshivelo area and

the Ovankhumbi, in the Kunene region based around Epalela area. Some deprived

communities even strive to build schools and additional classrooms to supplement
existing limited classrooms in their areas.

1%: The marginalized know the educational inequalities in relation to access
and quality that affect them: and they seek parity in relation to valuing
education in various ways.

This theme addresses the crucial issues of the educationally marginalized and
socially as well as economically deprived communities in Namibia. The theme initially
addresses the contentious issue of marginalization from the officer’s perspective, then in
the second part, expresses and expounds views of the marginalized themselves. There
are clear indications that both the education officers and the marginalized communities
themselves are cognizant of the problem facing the educationally marginalized and
socially stratified communities. Bradshaw and Ndegwa (2000, p. 312) confirm that
“seemingly, parents and community stake holders were motivated to build schools
because they wanted their children to receive and education that the apartheid state had
not provided.” It is also abundantly evident that both these groups are doing several
things to alleviate the plight of those at the bottom of the ladder in Namibian society.

The interviewed government education officers had various explanations,
differing points of view, and sometimes contradicting statements about the educationally
marginalized and socially stratified communities in Namibia. Although, according to

some officers, the most educationally marginalized are the two groups, the San and the

210

Ovahimba, other officers acknowledged that there are many educationally marginalized
and socio-economically deprived communities within the country. This national
education officer in Windhoek with the MBEC wanted to give a general picture:

Other than the San we have many other educationally marginalized people
in Namibia. In the Kunene the Ovahimba, Ovazemba and other ethnic
groups who live there, the street children, farm workers children. What
you find on the farms are different ethnic groups according to the region
where the farm is situated. You find Nama speaking you find Oshiwambo
speaking, and Otjiherero speaking, there are speakers of kavango
languages, and they are mostly on the commercial farms. 1 am not talking
about communal farms, I am talking about commercial farms. You find
basically all different ethnic groups on these farms. {Respondent # l }

As I indicated in the previous chapters, what is referred to, as communal farms are
the former homelands, which changed names after independence as many people now
call them communal areas.

Educationally marginalized children face a multitude of problems that hinder
access to equal education opportunity, let alone quality education, which require serious
and committed strategies. Most of the officers mentioned the San and the Ovahimba as
well as “other” small minorities to be marginalized. The following officer, a regional
education director, perhaps due to being in one of the deprived regions, extended the
scope of the marginalized by lamenting that

We are even part of the marginalized ones. That's why in our meetings we

are always demanding an equal share, which the other people are also

getting. That is why we are saying the budget must be re-addressed, so that

you could allocate money more money to the regions, and particularly to the

schools. Like well we have the Ovahimba people, the San people and so in

our area here in the sea. They are also demanding that they also would like

to have the equal treatment and also persons, for example want secondary

schools to be established in the area. Currently we are busy with the

upgrading one of the typical San schools with Outsathima in the west of,

Ondangwa west you see. The demand is that we have to upgrade that school

up at least to a secondary school. It reads up to fi'om grade one up to grade
ten. That's a demand for the community, a demand for the community

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because it's a long distance to travel from home to school and so on. It is also

one indication that people are right there, rightful share to be treated equal

like the other people. {Respondent # 12}

The awareness of educational marginalization for some groups among the officers
is high. Some of the dilemmas and challenges that cripple the needs of the marginalized
and which they are aware of are shortages of schools, classrooms and hostels, basic
infrastructure, and modest to low economic activities. I found this education officer with
the MBEC to have an interesting way of viewing the issue of marginalization and
possible remedies to the problem:

Well, when you look at the situation, the heterogeneous society within

Namibia, you will find that in terms of marginalization the two groups the

Himbas, and the San, and probably others that we do not know also are

affected. But those two are really the most marginalized societies within our

society in the larger society of Namibia, part of it can be attributed to the fact

they have a nomadic life style. Perhaps what we need to inculcate what the

government should be doing is to invest more in trying to promote. We need

to embark upon a comprehensive program of education, educating them, not

education in terms of formal education, but really educating the marginalized

groups in society within their own environmental context. By promoting not

only the establishment of their infrastructure, but also promote the

independent line of thinking as to how they would like to act and live within

their environment. {Respondent # 3}

There are clear indications that the education officers are aware of the magnitude
of the problem, and that the government has and is still trying to perhaps not level the
playing field, but limit or reduce some of the deep rooted inequalities and
marginalization. The two groups, the San and Ovahimba, were also featuring
prominently in the MBEC education officer’s responses. However, he also recognized
that some groups were completely left out by colonial practices and deserves to be

considered:

But there are some indications that some things, that show that the
government is doing something to reduce the inequalities, yeah, they are

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trying they are doing something in the provision of education. But it is not
enough. When you are looking at those extreme marginalized people, you
can only see these efforts, when they are going to the schools, but I am not
quite sure that in the past five years much has been done, to provide
education to marginalized people. It's always on the agenda, government
agenda but they are very few practical examples to indicate that government
is very seriously able to provide these peOple with educational resources. I
am specifically talking about Ovahimba and San there is not much done to
be quite honest with you. Also besides the San and the Ovahimba people,
there are other marginalized people in Namibia. They are there those people
in remote areas. There are people that we need to reach them. They have
been left out, they are just left there, and they are there in their own world.
{Respondent # 1.}

One of the contradictions is apparent in some of the responses like the one below.
While the respondent, an education officer with the MBEC, thinks and acknowledged
that the marginalized deserve special attention, he also claimed that the government
provides education to all Namibians on an equal basis:

But of course there are those groupings that were left very much behind
than others, like the San and the Ovahimba and all the others that would
need special treatment. Those are things that the government has already
started giving attention to through the allocation of a number of donor
funds to those specific communities. But of course from the government
side it could also start coming up with a vote on its budget that would
specifically provide for the needs of those specific marginalized groups.
But otherwise when we talk about educational provision to regional and
tribal groupings we do not make any distinction really, we provide
education to all Namibians on an equal basis. {Respondent # 5}

The next education officer who is with the MBEC, seemed to disagree with the
last statement above about government provision of education to all Namibians on an
equal basis. He also sees regionalism and ethnicity as realities that are dealt with in a
denial manner:

We have the so-called sensitization. We send people to tell all the various

ethnic groups in Namibia that we are no longer emphasizing their

ethnicity, though we accept, this is a reality, but the emphasis should be

then on the nation building. Ethnicity is a reality in this country. That's
why we are having here in Namibia, that we are a nation in diversity.

213

Those diversities is diversities of the ethnic groups but that's why that
every child here in Namibia, as from the lower primary onwards there,
they are entitled to have that free education. That free education is not
only for specific group, but for every one, the marginalized and also now,
a lot of efforts are being done in connection with the marginalizing group,
so that we can bring them to be equal to the other. {Respondent # 16}

Recognition of the diversity that the respondent referred to does not necessarily
enable various ethnic groups to attend schools equally as they desire. After all, other
respondents acknowledged that some groups and families, although eager to attend
schools, simply do not attend because they cannot afford to, and that they are in one way
or another marginalized.

This one respondent, an ofiicer with the MHEVST, felt that the marginalized do
not articulate their problems and challenges fully or appropriately. He knows and argued
that the marginalized are aware of the disparities and that they try different ways of
expressing their grievances so that their voices are included. This suggests that the
people do realize their marginalization:

You see the affected people if they are aware, then it's one percent, that
they are marginalized. They may not be aware of them being
marginalized because also to them that concept of being marginalized is
not getting to be known. Just now for example, we have seen the Kwai
community, this is the Bushman in the western Kaprivi. It is only now
that they say we don't have clinics. We have to move to go to chief
Mambo who is a Mbukushu to his clinic, and sometimes they close their
clinic, because we don't have access, why can't we also have access to
clinics and schools. We don't have schools here. They have realized it.
Some of them have come together but no, if we are Namibians we need
these also. We don't need to beg some one else. The government must
provide us with something. So you know, there has been a bit of standing
up on the part of the marginalized people saying no. 1 think you people
are just deceiving us here. We also want to be educated, we also want to
say this. Like this thing of schools created in the rural areas, no roads.
They also came up and said look, how can you build a school like this, and
the inspector can't even come here because there is no road. There is no
road at all. And yet you have built us a school but where is the road?
How can we go there? {Respondent # 11}

214

It is important to notice that the very same population groups that are
educationally marginalized at the primary level also find it more difiicult than others to
get access to higher levels of education. Responding to the follow-up question, on what
evidence exists that the marginalized minority groups are aware of the educational
inequalities and are seeking parity, the following respondent, a regional education
director, had this to say:

That’s very difficult, I must say that I do not know whether they are
aware. Perhaps it is a fifty-fifty situation. They must, specifically the
minority marginalized groups in terms of education it is not yet clear
whether they appreciate or want it. But we are getting to them, that well,
it is important, because in the life of hunting and gathering, the time of
that is long overdue. It is no more, and therefore, the time has come that
everybody moves on because everybody else started by gathering and
hunting, everybody else. We all moved from away from there because
conditions continued to deteriorate, they could not just get any wild fruit,
the animals were scarce, and they started sitting and doing some
cultivation. {Respondent # 13}

While the above respondent felt that the marginalized are not fully aware of the
inequities and may not appreciate the formal education, the respondent below, an officer
with the MBEC, confidently gave explanations, examples, and evidence on how he sees
the situation:

The evidence is there, we hear these people complain or put up their
grievances over the radio and people talk about it. Look at the specifically
the Ovahimba people, they come and see the president, they come and see
the Prime Minister, they come from Opuuo and they get into our Ministers
office and talk to them. They are aware of their plight OK and they think, at
this stage 1 think everyone has, and also the system you know it is well good
about our democratic system. It has made people aware of what they should
really know. It is left then to the people to decide whether they want to
change or not. A number of our people have really taken it up. The problem
that I am seeing here is mainly with the San communities, one can see a lack
of I do not know whether to call it a lack of interest or perhaps a lack of
information about the benefits of education. Because you will see more of
government going to preach about the benefits of education to those people

215

than those people really coming to demand from government about their

entitlements. Whereas in other areas you will see people coming to demand

fi'om government what they want done for them, while government can also

go and preach to them what the benefits of education are. So I think a lot of

work needs to be done and mobilization needs to be really done especially in

areas inhabited by our San communities. {Respondent # 17}

According to him, even the marginalized communities are aware of the
educational disparities, and they do take initiatives to improve their situations. However,
he expressed that the San communities seem to show a sign of withdrawal or perhaps
they are not interested. It cannot be the case that the San pe0ple may be disinterested
because the following respondent, a regional education director, knows of a San group
that strongly complained about the poor conditions. Perhaps this is a situation that cannot
be generalized:

At this point in time really I do know about the Khoi people in say Mukwe,

western Caprivi, close to Rundu, they are also complaining, they are one of

the San group. Remember that group part of who fled to Botswana, that is

part of them. Tsumkwe I was there, at least they have buildings there and

some small things but Tsumkwe at least bring something to Tsumkwe

because you have a road even from Grootfontein, a proper road, you can

travel easily to Tsumkwe and come back. Distribution of resources is very

scarce there. {Respondent # 8}

In spite of few programs geared towards preparing San children for school, large
percentages of San children were not reached. The education officers interviewed all
acknowledged that there are some groups that are more marginilized than others. They
also know the less or little resources that some people receive but they seem to be in a
difficult position themselves in that they do not have solutions. This education officer with
the MHEVST put it this way:

It’s not only in the northern region. You can also talk about northwest

region where our people are living. I am talking about the Ovahimba and

those people who are living there. We can also talk about other marginalized
groups in the northeast San or Khung. We need to get them education as

216

well. The distribution of educational resources to these people are still much
low, they are still much low. Not much has been done, there are few schools
you can call. There are very few schools for children where we can really
find people who are living. We need to reach this people. I don't know how,
but they also need education. {Respondent # 15).

A high proportion of the parents of the educationally marginalized children, especially
and particularly in remote areas are not only poor but also illiterate. Integrated
community education programs to improve the understanding of the parents about
education can be a desirable alternative especially in isolated small communities.
Otherwise the education officer fi'om the MHEVST below has another understanding
about the educationally marginalized children and their parents. He believes that the
marginalized do not value formal education the same way as others do, which is a rather
contentious position:

I think there is a problem of the marginalized communities. They are still
not having any really attachment to education. So, they still regard that they
are being forced. Their children are being forced to attend classes, because
they did not see, these people I don’t blame them because in the past, we
tended to look down upon (denigrate) degrade them. But there is no one
from their part, more especially San people, coming back and telling them
the importance of education as they see. Because it is always easier to hear it
from the mouth of somebody you know, somebody you trust, than to hear it
from a stranger. I think now that at least we got some, I think, there is one or
two at a private school here and this, so one at Maria Mongere secondary
school, a San person now attending upper grades. If this only will help them,
when these people go back to them, to their own community. They can only
convince them to regard education as serious, I mean as important, but at the
present moment, during the rainy season or when they want to go and get
fiuit from the bush, they just decide to go. And you cannot prevent them
fiom it, going there. At some places, if you provide food to learners, they
will also provide food to parents. If you cannot provide food for the parents,
then they take their children away to go with them because the value of
education is not realized by these people. {Respondent # 11}

Evidence from the various respondents clearly indicates that not only are the

marginalized aware of the deprivation and social stratification, but also that these people are

217

actually seeking better opportunities for their children. In a more or less similar view
another regional education director has the understanding that some cultures may have their
own different perception of formal education and thus do things their own way and end up
in the marginalized category:

But now and I am saying culture, is also playing major role in this education.

Our fellow people, the San people, they have additional movement. If wild

fiuits are plenty, then all of them may have to move away from Rundu

maybe for four months, they go deep there, which means all the children go

with the parents. Then we have to close the school, until the wild fiuits are

going to finish, then they will come back. That's their culture. But now

what we are trying to, we want to tell the people that now, we cannot

continue to follow this type of culture. We have to change. There are

certain elements of culture, which we must change. But culture also, not

ethnicity, we must talk about culture. But cultural background is also a very,

it's very influential in the school. You see that in certain groups, a girl from

childhood she has to be told not to be competitive to boys, because she is

under boys as a lady or as a girl. {Respondent # 9}

These are people who have led the same lifestyle for a long time; and since the
colonial administration did not include them in the formal education offered to the rest of
the population, they continued with their nomadic and other ways of life. Kann (1998, p.
5) argued that “it should be emphasized that the marginalized children are entitled to their
share of the educational budget. In fact, as they have been denied their educational rights
earlier the additional cost of including them now must be accepted.”

The post- colonial efforts of the government for innovative and progressive
programs for testing alternatives to mainstream education are still in their initial stages.
Perhaps they require further research, scrutiny of other hidden factors and culture
sensitivity to understand these people’s behavior. This regional education officer

preferred this interpretation:

We have some, what we call marginalized groups, particularly the San and
then the northwest Kunene, Ovahimba. They are nomadic, they move

218

around. They wouldn't stay at the school, even if there is a school. They take
their Cattle and bugger off fifty kilometers away, and they are away from
school. But we have made various plans also through donor aid, particularly
Sweden, we have projects to ensure the school attendance of the San
population Bushman population, and then in the Kunene region we now
have an experimental pilot phase of mobile schools. It's a Land Rover and a
tent, and this and that a caravan for the teacher, and if the community moves,
then the teacher moves. The teacher moves with it. And that is now the
second year of the pilot phase, and it's going well, and it has increased the
access there too. {Respondent # 8}

It will most likely take a long time for the stumbling blocks that inhibit access to

education of the marginalized communities to be removed. There are various dynamics

and problems that desirably need to be taken into serious consideration to convince these

nomadic people about the importance of formal education. The next education officer

with the MBEC tended to think that these people seem to be content with their way of

life:

Because of the San’s nomadic life, yes because of the nature of their
movement, from that, one can see that it is difficult for them to have free
access to education. The other groups that can be regarded as
marginalized are the Ovahimba, Ovazemba and Ovankhumbi. Where do
we find all these people? They are in the northwestern corner of Namibia.
These people have a tendency of looking after their cattle and they appear
to think that well, what they are doing or the economic activity that they
are engaged in are perhaps sufficient for their existence. Hence they tend
not to send their children to school, and hence, they can be regarded
perhaps as educationally marginalized. {Respondent # I}

There are obviously reasons, for example, distances to facilities in remote areas,

lack of schools and classrooms, and isolation, for the lack of access to educationally

marginalized children and communities. While poverty, illiteracy, and culture are part of

the contributing factors, stereotypes and attitudes of others towards these people can also

be attributed to the dilemma and plays a significant role in keeping some children out of

school

219

Another mechanism used to create and maintain differences between ethnic
groups is stereotyping (Royce 1982, p. 8). Stereotypes are the manifestation of
perceptions about other groups. These perceptions may be firmly fixed in reality, they
could be based on myth, or some combination of the two (Royce 1982, p. 5). Although
stereotypes typically have some basis in reality, they do not fully reflect it since they are
usually also judgmental. Stereotypes emphasize only a few attributes, which for them
represent the whole group. They do not take into account individual differences within
the group (Schaefer (1984, p. 27). They are typically caused by incomplete or limited
knowledge about other groups (Royce 1982, p. 159). The following education officer,
who is with the MHEVST, partly confesses to the ill treatment of certain groups:

There are people who are marginalized indeed. Maybe we can just give one
example. The Tsumkwe area, we regard those people as marginalized, and I
think we did not do well in terms of resources allocation to them. We did
not do well at all. One, resources are limited in the existing schools. There
are very few schools in that area. What type of teachers did we give them?
The teachers that we have given them tend to think in terms of stereotypes,
we feel they are Bushmen. We must give them even this type of treatment.
That was the trend that’s why I am saying it that way. We have given them
teachers, but they could be teachers, who may not be qualitative, and as a
result those people, to bring them in the mainstream, it might create a
problem. As to whether they are marginalized, there is no doubt about that,
those were marginalized from colonial era up to now during independence
and they know it very well themselves. {Respondent # 20}

The following regional education director also explains the endemic problem of the
legacy of apartheid and how it caused various groups to have pre-perceptions about others,
thus limiting their possibilities for schooling:

But due to this what apartheid had planted into the people, pretty negative.

Because they were feeling inferior to compare them with the black people,

and now, and now we discover that no, we have these people. Maybe we

have to build another school for them, a completely separate school for

them. But it will be a choice for the parents and the child. The one would
say no, I am going to go to the school and continue. The one who is going

220

o feel no, no, if we go there they call us Muduni, Muduni, (derogative for
San in Kavango dialects) now it make me not to do study nicely, they
won't go there. And all for the other place African. If they want to go
there, they are not going to be prohibited. But now and I am saying
culture, is also playing major role in this education. Our fellow people,
the san people, they have additional movement during different seasons.
{Respondent # 9}

There were considerable responses showing not only the existence of the
marginalized communities in Namibia, but also various misunderstandings, attitudes and
efforts by the government to alleviate the plight of the marginalized communities. The
following cluster of responses from the education officers acknowledges the awareness of
the inequalities by the marginalized groups and how they articulate them in various ways.
Kann (1998, p. 6) rightly argue that

It is a fallacy to believe that poor parents do not understand the value of

(school) education and therefore do not send their children to school.

Most poor parents see education of their children as a way out of their own

miserable situation. Only few parents do not understand the value the

education of their children. This needs to be recognized and addressed.

However, many parents do not know their rights as far as the education of

their children is concerned and school staff is not informing them

properly. As a large proportion of these, parents are not only poor, but

illiterate, the best means of information are radio and community

meetings.

In a kind of counter viewpoint or different understanding from the preceding
responses, the following education officer with the MHEVST opposes the views of the
previous officers. He felt that if the marginalized are exposed enough and given
opportunities to reach certain levels of achievement, they could be exemplary to the rest
of their communities:

That’s why the government came up with all ways and means and mobile

schools and those kinds of things to help them become part of our

educational system and to achieve their goals through the system. But

now it is, I don’t know how to answer the question. I met somebody in
South Africa at a workshop who, is a Bushman of some kind, well

221

developed intelligent and educated guy. He is actually the manager in the
Tsumkwe area at the moment with this project of SIDA. One cannot say
that the people do not want to go into our education system because of
their traditional or cultural beliefs. But it’s a question of people out of
themselves must come out as models, so that the other people in their
communities can look at them and say I also want to become like that
person someday. So we really need to get more of these people educated.
{Respondent # 4}

Role models of the same marginalized ethnic groups can be exemplary to the rest
of their communities. Because of the past deprivation and neglect, however, there are
few if any of the expected role models. The following education officer with the MBEC
was certain that the marginalized are indeed aware of the inequalities and deprivation.
There is general self-awareness of poverty among groups and communities. They know
that being educated is a way of escaping poverty. He challenged those who allege that
the marginalized groups do not value education and want to maintain their ways of life:

Now people are very much aware of the marginalization and inequalities.

You don’t even have to go far, that question you can ask from the people,

any grassroots people. If you go to any community and you talk to parents

about education, they want their children to go to school. Factually yes, yes,

yes, because it’s a way out. You see it’s a way of escaping the poverty trail.

The allegations that the San do not want formal school, the Ovahimba want

their children to look after their cattle. It is a very vicious understatement.

Whoever is making that statement, it’s false. We had a big conference a year

and a half ago, where there were a big San contingent from all parts of the

country came together, mostly high school pupils. And they were serious

about seeing education as one of the ways to get out of the social malaise

that they find themselves. But you see, I think people who come with this

argument many times are those who do not want anything to alleviate those

people’s problems. {Respondent # 17}

These statements demonstrate clearly that the marginalized are not only aware of
the inequalities but that they also do something about it. The marginalized may indeed

follow their lifestyles, which is understandable, since they deserve to resort to their

familiar lifestyles, especially when they are being neglected. The false image that some

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people may have about the marginalized communities emanates from the factors
discussed earlier in this theme, and in various other sections of this dissertation.
Prejudice in Namibia is prevalent and follows the same patterns as described earlier.
Each ‘racial’ and ethnic group is distinguished by stereotyped attributes of physical
appearance, dress, language usage, role behavior, gestures, and other characteristics
(Pendleton 1974. p. 88). He also discusses how values and attitudes are associated with
particular ethnic groups and ‘racial’ categories (Pendleton, 1974, p. 90).

The following regional education officer gave numerous ways that the
marginalized show their awareness. He also acknowledge the fact that the inequalities
exist and need to be addressed:

Now I think they are very much seeking educational parity. There is a lot of
evidence that show? Oh yes, in meetings the presidential commission on
education as you know that is still going on. The commission is still going
on, they had sessions in various areas of the country. You look at the
demands of the people. But, we get letters all the time from concerned
parents, from headmen you know in the most remote areas. There were
two from Epupa in the Kunene region here with me, Kasita and some body
else, and I bring in my Otjiherero speaking director in so that they can
speak in their own language then he can translate. And they sit, and they
tell all the things that they want to contribute they want to build even
schools, but the ministry must give this, this and that out in that remote
area. So they are very much aware today of certain shortcomings and
disadvantages that they are sufl’ering. They get no inspectors, the
inspector doesn't visit them. We say sorry, the inspector has no transport
budget or other problems, and they have not received their textbooks.
They have not received this and that. They complain immediately. We
cannot always attend to these complaints, but they are there. {Respondent
# 8}

The officer above did a good job by showing exactly how the marginalized seek
parity and how they go about it. He also disclosed that in cases of language deficiency,
some of the employees, who speak the specific language of the people in question, offer

to translate. In a rather self-contradictory response, the respondent below, an officer with

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the MBEC, claimed that there is no sufficient mobilization of various communities by the
powers that be, so that people understand its value and get educated. In the same
response he alludes to the government having integrated the San people in different
schools all over the country. He also alluded to the battle between tradition and modern
practices:

I remember when we were talking about marginalization, it is true that
there is a constant battle between traditional practice and modern way of
life. Obviously it is not only we who are talking about the lack of
commitment. I think there has not been very strong mobilization about
formal schooling, to realize the benefits of education, or let me say
education has not been yet brought to them, and that also has obviously in
itself has become a serious obstacle to effectively address the question of
equity. Now, but then obviously there is hope. Normally we know that
this government as long ago as 1995 took a lot of San people and
integrated them into various schools around the country. And the report
that we are getting this year is that many of them are doing well in
colleges, teacher colleges and so on. I think that group of people serves as
a hope. But I should say that from that perspective obviously our people
themselves also, because of recent events that we are aware of, you see
have not taken upon themselves to demand equal educational
opportunities. They have not taken upon themselves to exercise their'
rights. But obviously one cannot blame them because historically, those
types of things were restricted and it still exists, and as long as they exist,
marginalization and inequality will also continue to be a long road to
equality. {Respondent # 16}

Traditional practices seemingly conflict with modern living. The respondent
claimed that there is insufficient mobilization about schooling; otherwise there are
positive responses from people if they are educated about the value and importance of
education. Consequently, he figured considering Namibia’s past disparities, the need to
reform education in a way that involves constant encouragement and sensitization to
enhance peoples’ understanding, appreciation and participation could lead to effective
awareness, and thus adjustments to new social and educational environments. The next

education officer, with the MBEC, tried to shy away from directly responding to the

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question of awareness of the marginalized and action about it; however, he eventually
stated the keenness of the people, the reluctance of government, and the reality of
persisting inequalities, marginalization, and other disparities:

Really for that one I am not sure because I just work with statistics here.
So whether they are keen, some of the people who are working closer with
those deprived people might know better. What I know is that some of
those marginalized learners were at school already, and the San people I
know that there are some of them who are having computer courses who
are undergoing computer courses. Which is a sign that the parents are
willing so that the kids can be educated. Even this morning on the news I
was listening when some researcher said, “there is a need for some schools
to be build at those, the former Bushman-land.” So which means there is a
need for those kids to be educated, their parents are keen. But maybe the
government is just reluctant maybe they are having lots of work to do, but
in reality those formerly neglected areas are still suffering a lot.
{Respondent # 2}

He acknowledged that at present, the problems of Namibia are many and varied,
ranging across deprivation, corruption, and economic decline as well as lack of
confidence among the people for the future. It is a tragic reality that the legacy of
apartheid has left huge inequalities that, in the post-colonial dispensation, play out in
socioeconomic class, regional and ethnic manifestations. The following respondent, an
education officer with the MBEC, depicts the educationally marginalized awareness
through ethnic involvement and scrutiny in the distribution of resources:

So this ethnic issue is a very important thing that we need to address I

think. And I think now the people start realizing the problem when it

comes to which is governing us, we are not talking about the politicians,

we are talking of people who are going to key positions in the ministries,

and how do they distribute resources, because they are in charge. Now

people will start thinking, oh, who is distributing the resources? Oh, he is

not from my ethnic group, oh that's why it is a crucial issue. Then I think

from there, you can never ever phase that one ethnicity out within a year
or two. It will take time. {Respondent # 7}

225

Ethnic identity may increase due to inter-group interaction and can lead to socio-
economic inequality and prejudice. Van den Berghe (1970. p. 43) explains that “this will
continue to occur as long as there is a system for maintaining social distance.” Social
distance occurs when individuals in an ethnically plural society like Namibia, do not
interact on a personal level but tend to react or withdraw from members of other regional
groups or “racial’ and ethnic categories. Due to Namibia’s past institutionalized regional
divisions that strengthened prejudice and stereotypes, withdrawal tends to be prevalent,
thus illuminating the awareness of those marginalized who are at the periphery of society.
The situation has however slowly been improving, and the socially stratified are
increasingly getting involved in educational matters and national issues that concern
them. The following education officer, with the lvfliEVST, showed some optimism:

Well, I think the tendency is still to regard education as education for those

ones learning and the education ministry. The marginalized sometimes

tend to withdraw and think, that is their education and their schools. We

are still having problems to get them involved in the education of their

children, because in the past, they were not involved, and now we are

struggling to get them involved. But I think the tendency is slowly

improving, they are at least coming up. When we call meetings they

attend the meetings, and when the schools reopen, they are now, at the

present moment taking their children to school. This is showing an

improvement. {Respondent # 11}

While there are these good signs of the marginalized communities involvement in
the educational matters of their children and communities, spreading the benefits of
independence to Namibians who are impoverished, uneducated, and located in remote areas
of the country is not easy. But it need not be impossible. Moreover, in Namibia, inequality
is not just an educational phenomenon; it is also a socioeconomic and geographic

phenomenon. Namibia's poor live overwhelmingly in the former homelands in the rural

areas of the country, especially the north. By contrast, the areas that are receiving the most

226

attention, from the government and foreign investors alike, are those that were already the
most privileged under the previous apartheid government. Thus, this perpetuates endemic
educational inequalities, and more awareness from the victims of the inequalities.
Background Information on characteristics of the two interviewed groups

Having dealt with the awareness and action on marginalization according to the
education officers thus far, I now turn to the responses of the victims themselves. These are
the people who are identified by others as marginalized, and also who themselves are aware
about the educational deprivation and what they as individuals and as communities do about
it. The group interviews were fundamental in getting opinions of the educationally
marginalized and socially stratified of society themselves. The responses of the two groups
interviewed for the study were treated different from those of the education officers because
they had a different set of questions. Nevertheless, they were treated the same as groups
because they are all marginalized. Their questions were tailored to understand their feelings,
experiences, and their ultimate involvement in seeking parity to alleviate their specific
situation and position of being educationally deprived. According to the Ministry of Basic
Education and Culture National Policy Options for Educationally Marginalized Children
(1998, p. 4), “Most of the parents are not unaware of the importance of education, as is often
argued by the non-marginalized part of the population.”

As a response to a question about school-age children who do not go to schools in
their specific regions, various group members of both the Hai/ /Om and the Ovankhumbi
groups were emphatic about the lack of money to send their children to schools, about high
unemployment, and thus, about the inability to afford expensive schools. For those who

manage to educate their children through grade seven, secondary education becomes a

227

double dilemma because first, it is not available in their area, and secondly, the far away
schools require additional cost. A member of the Hai/ /Om group had this to say about their
precarious deprivation:

The main problem we have in this region or community is money to send
our children to school. This is one place where you find 80% or perhaps
more or higher unemployment. The only school here goes up to grade
seven. Parents try hard to get their children to school here, but after they
complete grade seven, they cannot proceed because the cost of school and
other associated costs are too high. The nearest secondary school is
Oshikoto in Tsumeb where if our children attend, they are supposed to live
in the boarding. That is additional cost and for people who are very much
impoverished, they cannot afford. Some of the parents here manage to send
their children there, but children complain bitterly when they come back
home about the treatment, food and stereotypes from other learners. {Hai/
/Om group respondent}

Stereotypes are the manifestation of perceptions about other groups. These
perceptions may be firmly fixed in reality; they could be based on myth, or some
combination of the two (Royce 1982, p. 5). Although stereotypes typically have some basis
in reality, they do not firlly reflect it, since they are also judgmental. Stereotypes emphasize
only a few attributes to represent the whole group. They do not take into account individual
differences (Schaefer, 1984, p. 27). They are typically caused by incomplete or limited
knowledge about other groups. One Hai/ /Om group respondent spoke his mind on this:

These days without education, a person does not progress in their life. If

you drive around this region you can feel very sorry for so many children

who are just roaming around without going to school. Let me emphasize

that it’s not because of the stereotype that Hai/ /om people do not care

about schools but the reality is that social stratification and

marginalization which we expected to be done away with during

independence is still haunting us. The government must convince farmers

to build schools on their land to cater for the many farm laborers who

suffer without education. {Hai/ /Om group respondent)

Despite the stereotypes and other difficulties, for example, claims that they are not

interested in schooling, the marginalized communities’ proved differently. Their

228

willingness to sell their domesticated animals and other belongings like crafts and jewelry to
pay for schools and their associated costs is a good indication or testimony that they have
great interest to get their children educated. Another Ovankhumbi group member explained
the situation as follows:

Some of the parents tried to get money to pay for their children’s education.

They would sell their domestic animals like cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys,

pigs or even chicken to raise funds for their children’s school needs. Some

made an effort to facilitate for their children’s education up to grade twelve.

The problem then come after the child complete grade 12. There is no other

hope that for example, a child may get a catain job to survive and help their

parents. This is a type of discouragement for parents who try and led their

children get educated but still no improved firture for them. Even those who

finish grade 12 are just sitting at home with nothing to do. That situation

result into parents opting for their children to go to towns to look for

employment instead of being at school and get an insufficient education.

{ Ovankhumbi group respondent}

These responses, which are similar for both groups interviewed, indicates that
there is willingness for them to send their children to school but the harsh conditions
works against them to the extent that they get discouraged, demoralized, and disappointed
by the system.

The fact that high proportions of people from the marginalized groups are
illiterate does not mean that they do not understand the importance of education for their
children. It is rather the opposite. They blame their own situation on the lack of
education and are prepared to spend a lot of the little they have on education of their
children in order to brake the vicious cycle. While schooling conditions are difficult, the
aforementioned high unemployment and their natural habitat that they lost to modern

farming and ranching does not assist the communities out of their plight. Responding to

how important schooling is for their children, all the participants of both the Hai/ /Om

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and the Ovankhumbi groups acknowledged and endorsed that they value the importance
of schooling and a decent education for their children:

We understand the importance of school and the importance of education.

The problem is that we have no other way no money no jobs in order to

live or to support our children until at a certain stage or level where they

can achieve something from education. This is a big problem, the parents

cannot especially after grade ten or grade 12. They can’t do anything but

they understand that school is very important for their children.

{Ovankhumbi group respondent}

Similarly, members of the Hai/ /Om group reiterated the problems caused by the
stringent or unfavorable conditions that incapacitate their efforts to get an education.
They complained bitterly about the careless landlords or farm owners and the government
that does not take the farmers to task. Some respondents even mentioned lack of proper
representation in their independent country. The forlomness showed in their faces as
they disclosed how they cannot roam freely for their natural necessities and how some
people were accused of trespassing and were killed by farmers. For them, all these are
good reasons to get educated to cope with changed conditions:

If we look in this region there are many children like this one standing

here or even older on commercial farms, who are supposed to go to school

but they don’t. Not because we do not value education but because many

conditions including money and carelessness from landlords are not

favorable for these children to attend schools. The farms are all over in

this region and they are very big. The farm laborers who earn very little

money can really not, out of their meager salaries send children to school.

Most of these children then end up being employed by the farmers for next

to nothing, generation after generation. {Hai/ /om group repondent}

All the evidence from the two group responses indicates the lack of representation

by the government and the carelessness of the various employers who instead exploit

these people for their own benefit. Another Hai/ /Om group respondent expressed their

230

 

 

 

hopelessness after they tried hard to convince the authorities about their educational
deprivation and other hardships:

That is one of the biggest problem of the Hai/ /om people. People really
want to send their children to schools but those hardships they face put
them off completely and they feel hopeless. The community leaders and
elders tried to speak to the government and the farm owners to educate the
children whose parents work on their farm but up to now nothing was
done. The landlords or farm owners care less about the people who work
for them. They do see these problems but they do not do anything about
it. We do not know why that is the case. We keep wondering why the
government does not represent us to these destructive farmers. The
government could ask the farmers to build schools on farms or to be
responsible for the education of their workers children. But this does not
happen. We seem not to have proper representation in our independent
country. {Hai/ /Om group respondent}

The marginalized may not, as claimed, understand, value, or accept the modern
education; however, they have indeed come to terms with the realities they face in the
changed local, national and seemingly global conditions. The evidence given by this Hai/
/Om respondent is indicative of these peoples’ awareness of the deprivation and that they
are determined to do whatever they can about it to improve not only their educational
difficulties but also their living conditions in general:

We know the importance of education. We want and can do anything for

our children to be educated. Unfortunately we cannot live like the way

our ancestors used to live. Everything has changed our hunting and

gathering areas are now demarcated farms. Owners of farms shoot and

killed many who “trespass” in their farms, we cannot roam freely as

before. That’s why even our elders nowadays understand that our people

need to be educated. We do not know who will rescue the Hai/ /Om from

these humiliation. {Hai/ /Om group respondent}

The helplessness felt and expressed by these people was touching. These are all
indications that they are trying to improve their lives and strive to get an education but

seemingly have all the odds against them. As a partial insider I could not help but feel the

gross injustice meted out on these deprived communities.

231

FI—

 

The participants demonstrated that they do care for schooling but the magnitude of
marginalization creates an impediment rather than a conducive learning atmosphere. One of
the Ovankhumbi group members preferred to put it this way: “We complain about a lot of
different things in this region to the government but nothing gets done. It is very
demoralizing especially when you see that other regions are being catered for, but not ours.”
The marginalized are poor, a high proportion of them are illiterate. However, a vast
majority of these people are keen to get education both for themselves and their children, if
it is made financially and practically possible.

On whether they are seeking parity or in any way are doing something about their
socio-economic and educationally deprived conditions, the following Hai/ /Om respondent
lamented that they are sidelined while others come and take over their land. He explained
how they went about a protracted dispute over land with the government, which promised to
assist, but the issue is not yet resolved:

If people come and stay in what is supposed to be our habitat or land and
they are privileged, we have no choice but to conclude that they are enjoying
the fiuit of independence while we are being sidelined. That’s why a few
years ago maybe you read while in America that the Hai/ /om people had an
uprising demanding their habitat back from the government. Such situations
become unavoidable. In actual fact what happened is that we first had good
discussions with the government. We respect authority and we wanted to go
through the right channels. We went for various discussions to Windhoek
with government officials. That time we had not even appointed or elected
our chief and then the government asked us to go back and choose our
traditional leaders who would represent us in this and other pertinent matters.
We did exactly as told by “our” government, but they seem not to have
respected our demands, that is why we had that uprising where we
demonstrated at the gates of Oshivelo for them to see that we were very
serious with what we want done for us. Believe you me up to today nothing
is done to alleviate our pathetic situation. The government did not give the
problem the attention it deserves. What do they expect in the future if not
total anarchy? {Hai/ /Om group respondent}

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Their evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that indeed they are conversant
with what is going on and that they are prepared to confront the government about not only
their educational blues but also their lost habitat and living conditions in general.
Addressing the same issue, another Ovankhumbi group member expressed it this way:

People themselves in this region tried very hard. They solicited for the
existing schools to be built. The leaders of the community were sent to talk
to the government and we build our own shacks and under the tree schools.
That is when the government realized that this people need schools then they
put up those few structures but it is still not enough. Because of the few
classrooms in the government-erected structures, the community is adding
classrooms with local materials. We want our children to be educated within
the region to also be exposed to and maintain their culture. We are afraid for
children to go very far. If it were not for the drought whereby there would
be many trees and bushes, we would even erect these kinds of stnrctures up
to university level for our children to be educated and contribute to the
development of the region. {Ovankhumbi group respondent}

Another Hai/ /Om group respondent contributed by saying that “we want our
children to be educated, the children themselves are eager to learn but the system is
frightening.” One of the major problems in the existing schools is the endemic lack of
water. Yet another Ovankhumbi group respondent burst out, “We at least try to provide
food for learners but without water, the whole thing becomes unhygienic.” There is no
clinic nearby, no police station; the nearest of these facilities are 50 and more kilometers
away. For some communities in deeper remote areas, the distance to facilities is even
longer. The next Hai/ /Om group respondent was more explicit about their situation:

We have a committee here and we try to work very hard to give our

problems to the government. For example we gave our questions,

observations and demands to the government in 1994 but up to now

nothing was done about it. This is our independent country and the best

representative of the people is supposed to be the government but so far it

really disappointed us. We eventually lose popularity and trust from the
people we represent because they thing we do not do our responsibilities

as representatives of our community. It is not true we work hard, try all
means to represent our people but the discouragement from the

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government baffle us. The quieter the government the more our people

here become disillusioned. That is why we all decided that we go on

strike maybe that way they will listen to our problems. {Hail /Om group

Respondent}

The neglect is also evident through the adults who did not get a chance to be
educated during the colonial times but who still want to improve their knowledge. The next
Hail /Om group respondent concluded the discussion or interview on a very sad note:

I want to emphasize the fact that our people are really displeased with the

way we are deprived of so many things in our independent country. We are

so marginalized that life has become a waste for most of our young people.

Young girls turn into prostitution and the young boys just leave home to

work for close to nothing wherever they can get anything to do. In fact, this

is a kind of slavery for the Hail /Om people. {Hail lOm group respondent}

In accordance with evidence from these marginalized groups themselves, the
deprived communities are poor and illiterate and educationally as well as socio-culturally
marginalized, and therefore, they find it difficult to get their children into schools and keep
them there. The Ministry of Basic Education and Culture (1989, p. 18) reported that “In the
case of most of the groups, the issue of education is part of a wider social problem. It is in
the context of this wider social problem that some young people become educationally
marginalized. However, in some of the cases education is part of the solution.” There are
substantial disparities caused by the very skewed income distribution between urban and
rural areas as well as between regions.

In a country where some children do not attend school because of lack of the ability
to pay, let alone being recognized as authentic identities, free education remains just policy

on paper. Kann (1998, p. 10) appropriately emphasized that “it is the implementation of the

overall policy and the use of the proposed policy options in that context that can make a

234

 

 

difference for the educationally marginalized children. However, it is easy to continue to
marginalize and therefore, monitoring of the implementation is crucial.”

After apartheid ended, some marginalized groups took their own steps for
recognition of their identity and for access to equal educational opportunity. This is one of
the reasons that after independence, various groups have been determined to and have
pushed for equal access to education and the recognition of their culture, heritage, identity,
and do push their agenda to educationally improve their lot. Some groups have even gone to
the extent of reinstalling their kingdoms, for example, the Damara kingdom and the attempt
by Ovakwanyama, while others, like Ovazemba, are still lobbying to reinstall their
kingdoms, as well as other practices that were disregarded and or diverted to other purposes
during colonialism.

While some educational officers attributed the marginalization of some groups to the
groups themselves, other officers clearly disputed that allegation and gave evidence to the
contrary. The marginalized groups themselves explicated their ardent awareness of
educational deprivation and determination to seek parity. Other intervening factors like
stereotypes and lack of confidence in conventional education by these groups, thus, aligning
to their traditions and culture, were also raised by both the officers and the groups.
However, they also gave sufficient evidence of the groups willingness to educate their
young in accordance with the changing social, economic and ecological realities.

The concluding chapter discusses some of the implications, philosophical
viewpoints and recommendations for the continuing inequalities that persist along regional

and ethnic lines in postcolonial Namibia.

235

 

 

Chapter VII

SUMJVIARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Overview of the study

Before concluding, it is necessary and of utmost importance to reiterate that
education exists in political context in a state. In this study, I investigated why
educational inequalities persist along regional and ethnic lines in post-colonial Namibia.

Inequalities usually express themselves via social cleavages along lines of political,

 

ethnic, race, class, gender, and power divisions in a society. It is important to note that
those affected by such cleavages are real actors, real people looking out for their
particular and/or collective interests. In other words, the bearers of these cleavages
encounter everyday “lifeworld” realities, to paraphrase Marx, Weber, Habermas, and
some postmodernists.

In this study I sought to determine and understand a) how educational resources
are allocated and distributed to various regional and ethnic groups and thus how they
affect the performance of not only the learners in schools but also the socioeconomic
status of people in the various regions; b) whether equalizing resources to groups
improves or instead exacerbates educational inequalities in the post apartheid
dispensation; and c) whether the marginalized, especially the rural dwellers, and the
urban deprived are aware of the stratification and whether they are seeking parity to
improve their situation. My research interests are characterized by concerns for equality

of educational opportunity; regional, class and ethnic stratification; and social justice.

236

 

My goal was to understand better the factors that lead to or influence the persistence of
educational inequalities along regional and ethnic lines in post-colonial Namibia.

The study involved how education impacts virtually every family and constitutes
the wealth of the country. The study highlighted the rampant poverty and unemployment
in various educational communities, barriers to access to equal educational opportunity,
availability of and scarcity of infrastructure, and issues of human and natural resources.
It also focused on shortages in facilities, un—and under-qualified teachers, a contravening
language policy, and the infamous land policy, which is a dilemma that jeopardizes the
redistribution of the population according to post-colonial requirements for development.

I have argued throughout the dissertation that education policy-making needs to
be defined and understood very broadly. Education policy is not confined, in my view, to
the formal relationships and processes of government, nor only to schools and teachers,
nor to legislation affecting them. The conclusive, broad definition requires that we
understand it in broader perspectives, that is, in its political, social, and economic
contexts, so that those contexts also require study because of the ways in which they
shape education policy. If we exclude them, we are not providing a comprehensive
picture. We are also required, I believe, to explore the effects of prevailing ideologies on
education policy. Clarification of the historical context within which education policy in
Namibia has emerged and continues to be framed illustrates the ways in which
explanations of events are tied into prevailing ideologies and are shaped by them, which
in turn underlines the need to take account of ideologies in framing research practices.

Since gaining independence from South Africa eleven years ago, the Namibian

government has been trying to reverse the more than a century’s neglect caused by

237

 

 

colonialism and apartheid. Beyond expanding access to schooling, the government is
attempting to allocate resources equitably, desegregate White schools, and reduce race-
based disparities in school quality at all levels. Nevertheless, the deep-rooted
inequalities, insufficient infrastructure, and acute shortage of skills in all aspects of
society are detrimental to equal educational opportunity. Bradshaw and Ndegwa (2000,
p. 312) found that

The surge in optimism and expectations in the new Namibia was quickly

followed by a jump in school enrollment and a paradox emerges: if mass

expansion erodes quality, then only symbolic opportunities are being
granted by a regime that is eager to advance its own political legitimacy.

 

The other influential factors that deny equal opportunities to quality education for
many are the rampant poverty and the skyrocketing costs that have accompanied the
expansion of schooling in Namibia. Market oriented policy fiames, aimed at
decentralizing power to local agents of the state, may fail to raise school quality or reduce
gross inequalities, eroding the long-term legitimacy of the rulers. How to encourage
democratic participation locally while institutionally constructing a unified nation-state,
in the historical context of regional and ethnic segmentation and stark class inequalities,
represents a long-term dilemma that is continuing to plague the ruling party leaders.

Modern progress in the education sector has led to a pair of telling contradictions.
Rapid school expansion has served to undercut quality. Under apartheid regimes this

inverse relationship was engineered with intent; Bantu education in what was then South

 

West Africa (Namibia) aimed to root out political opposition by opening up access for
thousands of Black and Colored children to enter low quality primary and secondary

schools.

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As indicated in parts of this study, “education for all” is an ideal towards which
all those who espouse it are striving. This is, however, an enormously ambitious step that
is being proposed by a very young democracy, which is beset with many problems that
are a legacy of many years of segregated education. Inequalities in education provision,
both in human and material resources, and in light of conflicting interests is caused not
only by regional disparities and multicultural and language diversities among Namibians.
It is also caused by inequitable distribution of resources of the past and present
dispensation that separates the people of Namibia into “haves” and “have-nots,” and that
exacerbate such endemic problems. This picture is made even gloomier by the financial
constraints which the country is currently experiencing, and the high rate of
unemployment.

In this chapter I will summarize and discuss the major findings from the analysis
of my qualitative data. I will discuss some of the implications that these findings have
for our ongoing efforts not only to address but also to continue research and evaluation
to understand the rampant educational inequalities that plague the nation. I will identify
some of the limitations of the present study, and finally, I will suggest possible directions
for future research in this area.

Summary of Major Findings

My analysis of these data resulted in nine major findings, which are summarized
below. The study identified crucial factors and intervening variables that are not only
important for serious consideration in reconstituting education in post apartheid
Namibian state, but without which the alternative is anarchy-ridden crisis. Unfortunately,

the latter alternative is currently prevalent, and the situation is slowly eroding towards

239

 

 

deeper inaccessibility, inequalities, and urban-rural and regional divides, which usually
result in the breakdown of well-intended policies and practices of the post-colonial
establishment. The following is my more specific summary of the findings from various
data sources as they relate to the major nine themes I identified.

The findings generally show that there appears to be a clear connection between
persistent educational inequalities and the skewed distribution of resources to various
regional, socio-economic, and ethnic groups. The data suggest more specifically the
following nine themes: (a) There is poignant poverty and unemployment, and education
is very expensive; thus, many Namibians, particularly the formerly deprived and more so
those in remote rural areas, cannot afford to educate their children. (b) Despite the
renowned government policies, resources, infrastructure, and capital are inequitably
distributed, which leads to unequal educational access and outcomes. (c) There is an
acute shortage of qualified personnel to fill the many places as a result of the post-
colonial expansion. Lack of incentives, ethics, and un-discipline affect the quality of
education. ((1) Equalizing allocation of resources to various schools does not necessarily
equalize educational outcomes; overcoming educational inequalities requires political
commitment, effective management, and accountability. (e) Regardless of the enunciated
efforts for “education for all,” “reconciliation,” and Namibia as one nation, regional,
residential, ethnic, and socio-economic divisions inhibit access to quality education and
equality of educational opportunity for all. (f) Equal distribution of resources in the
hitherto grossly skewed allocation does not solve the dilemma of the historically
marginalized schools and communities but reinforces socio-economic barriers. (g) A

contradictory language policy is a problem that contributes to unequal educational

240

 

 

 

opportunity and exacerbates regional and ethnic divisions. (h) Persistent educational
inequalities are due to the inherited, deeply rooted, divisive colonial legacy that manifests
itself in many realms of post-apartheid Namibian society and will take a long time to
undo if at all. (i) The marginalized are aware of the educational inequalities, in relation to
access to and quality of education, that affects them, and they seek parity in relation to
valuing education in multiple ways.

Prevalent Myths and Realities

Educational inequalities and other forms of social stratification persist along
regional and ethnic lines because of the inherited legacy of divisive infiastructure and the
hitherto institutionalized, systematic apartheid racial and ethnic separation. Besides the
destructive legacy, however, a combination of lack of expertise, i.e., insufficient
sophisticated bureaucracy, limited political commitment and thus inaction, a
controversial language policy that limits integration and exacerbates regional and ethnic
division, and the dire shortage of essential facilities promotes inequities and prevents
implementation of post-colonial ambitions.

Triangulation showed how the different data sources agreed and disagreed, and
thus both confirmed and disconfirmed some of the initial hypotheses. Triangulation is
where two or more distinct methods (e.g., semi-structured interviews, observation and
diary accounts) are employed to measure the same phenomenon, but from different
angles. The rationale is that cumulatively the weaknesses of one research method are
offset by the strength of the others (Arksey, & Knight, 1999. p. 23).

There were indeed significant differences among participants, especially among

the education officers, on certain issues. While some acknowledged rampant poverty,

241

 

 

inequity, and the acute lack of skills, others felt that the government is doing a lot and
that the deep-rooted disparities will take longer to reverse. Some respondents believe that
equalizing resources to different schools and regions can take care of the disparities,
while others are convinced that equalizing resources to a differentially facilitated
infrastructure increases the gap. Proponents of the government policy on language
expect regional and ethnic tensions to end or be reduced by the “one Namibia one nation”
concept, while opponents clearly see the language policy as the major cause of further
divisions and social stratification. These controversies and differences illuminate the
myths and realities of the regional, ethnic, and inequalities as it unfolds around intended
and unintended consequences in the Namibian post-colonial education dispensation.

An interesting difference that has sparked continuing debate is the claim by some
respondents that the marginalized are not aware of various disparities, and that they are
not interested in conventional education. However, others have objected to this and
believe that the state must reverse the current skewed infrastructure, facilities, and
stereotypes. The marginalized themselves showed and expressed willingness to educate
their children, but they are disadvantaged by factors ranging across poverty,
unemployment, and lack of basic facilities in their areas. They acknowledged that the
changed circumstances infringed on their lifestyles; therefore, they believe that education
for their children and future generations is the best way out of misery, marginality, and
helplessness.

There is, therefore, continuing debate about various issues that lead to educational
and other inequalities in the Namibian government in particular and in Namibian society

in general. The reality of Namibia as consisting of various regions and a multi—cultural,

242

 

multi—ethnic, multi-racial, hence, a multi-lingual society should be a new point of
departure for curriculum policies. This means that goals such as “education for all,” with
desired access, equity, quality and democracy, improved scientific skills, the integration
of education and training, and the encouragement of civic responsibility, are to be
conceptualized and implemented against this background. Avoiding the pitfalls of
uncritical borrowing on the one hand and insularity on the other, Namibians should
continue to look for creative ways of meshing the specificity of the Namibian context
with the quest for universally acknowledged educational achievement.
Conclusions

There is crucial need for carefirl evaluation of not only colonial policies and practices
but also the post-colonial practices over the past years. I agree with Cohen (1994, p.
396), who appropriately argues that

Action cannot be accomplished without meticulous and thorough research.

For example, to ensure that training does not occur in a vacuum,

Namibia’s reform process should be studied carefirlly, the better to

ascertain what precise professional skills are needed. This calls for

undertaking a national inventory of available expertise and a needs

assessment of the country’s requirements.

Such an inquiry will not only help to identify the priority areas to be targeted and
the personnel needed for developing appropriate infrastructure but will also help reduce
the shortage of limited places for learners and redirect appropriate skills where they are
required. From this research, for example, it is clear that special attention should be
directed to providing learning facilities for learners in their proximate areas.
Arrangements should be made, either through incentives or conducive conditions, for

personnel to be attracted to and be retained to work in the remote areas of the country,

and to building up a pool of well trained professionals to serve in the deprived areas. The

243

-=r

mt”

 

enormous tasks in terms of reversing the apartheid colonial misdeeds are the provision of
facilities and the availability of suitably qualified personnel to meet those serious
challenges. The current trend in Namibia, which is all too typical of other post-colonial
African countries, is for the well educated staff at the local levels to move to urban areas,
leaving institutions in the mral areas with the majority being served by under or
unqualified personnel.

The government has in principle and by intent been very strong on the issues of
unification with access, equality, democracy, and quality of education for all. The first
criterion of access can therefore be said to have been satisfied, although, considering the
costs of education both public and private that continue to rise, there is considerable
danger of dual systems of education developing, with one sector affordable only to those
citizens able to pay heavy fees, while the rest have to be content with poor public schools
with inferior resources and facilities.

Since independence in 1990, the Namibian government has focused on the
development of new educational policies. These policies have not only transformed the
education system, which was highly fragmented and chaotic during the apartheid era, but
have also given direction and support to two indispensable constituencies: those who are
expected to implement, i.e., educators, and those who are to benefit from these policies
i.e., learners and communities. This returns me to my starting point and the argument at
the beginning of the study that stressed the significance of education as a site for the
development of capacity for social practice, and thus the continued significance of

teachers and all those involved in the delivery of education.

244

 

The introduction of compulsory universal education, necessary as it has been,
strengthened the position of those in control of the state. Their authority is now exercised
through a variety of means. In the final analysis, the Namibian government’s primary
reason for pledging itself to the promotion of “education for all” and lifelong learning is
an effort to narrow the gap between the highly educated (usually the high-income group)
and the long-standing poor and dispossessed. The provision of structures which allow the
undereducated poor to improve their qualifications in fields of their choice is crucial. It is
their only chance of improving their employability in a world that has come to depend so
much on the versatility of skills that an individual possesses. However, the structures in
themselves will not ensure that Namibians become lifelong learners.

Only a foundation of good teaching and learning in all schools can assure the
country of young people who emerge from school with such confidence in their potential
to learn that they will always be eager to learn whenever the situation demands it. It is,
however, unlikely that the current poorly resourced schools can equip learners in this
way. Those learners who are fortunate to be in well-resourced schools will definitely
benefit from innovative teaching and learning encouraged by, for example, the learner-
centered policy. The combined result is, however, likely to be an even wider gap
between the highly educated few, who will explore all avenues of lifelong learning at
their disposal, and the majority with low qualifications and a restricted vision of what is
out there to be accessed through learning.

My larger argument is that since education is a highly political terrain, we need to

explore substantively the political economies of social justice. Again, social justice

245

 

 

cannot simply be mired in moralistic and ideological chit-chat; it is, instead, everyday,
lived reality. Boxill (1992, pp. 226 — 270) states that

Social justice and equity, as expressed through the cultural, political, and

material everyday-lived realities of common and not-so-common humans

were not explicated in any detail. Thus, social justice, if it is to be

meaningful, must be anchored in matters of class, ethnicity, gender and

politics.

The issue, as Boxill (1992, p. 269) suggests, may have something to do with “a
broader agnosticism about the capacity of human beings to treat fairly those who are
markedly different from themselves in outward appearance and markedly weaker.” To
that extent, we must explore the implications of a social justice perspective for all the
various groups, privileged and marginalized, within a state.

In Namibia, just like in many developing countries, education is regarded as an
instrument of power and wealth. As Coleman (1965, p. 12) has aptly observed, “Once
regarded as an essential conservative, culture preserving, culture transmitting institution,
the educational system now tends to be viewed as the master determinant of all aspects of
change.” At independence in 1990 the SWAPO-led government in Namibia recognized
that education is a very powerful instrument for social change in a process of dynamic
nation building. According to its policy documents, the government is committed to
creating in the country an educational system capable of ensuring that every citizen is
given full and equal opportunity to develop her/his intellectual and working capacities,
both for their own good and for the good of the nation. But Namibia, as a fledgling state,
lacks the resources and organizational capacity to deliver on these modern policy fronts

that must keep pace with ever-widening faith in the modern school. These conflicts, if

left unresolved, may erode the state’s legitimacy (Bradshaw & Ndegwa, 2000, p. 311).

246

 

The anticipated post-colonial transformations, with consequent pre-election
promises, nevertheless played out differently, mainly in the persistence of inequalities as
the legacy of apartheid, clearly manifested in the function of the inherited state.
Inequalities of access to educational facilities and the evident contradiction between
policies and practices are testimony to current reforms not going far enough. Initiating
change is an enormous task, but it is a task that must be accomplished, because while the
risk of failure is there, the consequences of not trying are devastating. A relationship
must exist between social transformation and educational reform because these are the
two pillars of development the nations of southern Africa need to ensure the achievement
of national development (Mungazi & Walker, 1997). The system of education in
Namibia is in urgent need of reform because the patterns of inequality built into it when it
was established were not significantly changed or reversed at independence. This would
have required far more radical reforms than any which have been accomplished to date.
Reforms are effected slowly in Namibia. The narrowness of the financial resources of
the country is a serious obstacle to development. Namibia has always lacked the resource
base and will continue to have limited resources to carry out extensive reform. The
present partial reliance of education on overseas firnding and skilled personnel to promote
development has its roots in the country’s colonial past.

The educational opportunities offered or provided by government should be open
and available to all on a basis of genuine equality, which is unfortunately not the case in
postcolonial Namibia but which was the promise prior to independence and during the
subsequent election campaigns. The post-colonial government has proclaimed the

philosophy of educational equality, access, equity, and democracy as a basis for planning.

247

 

 

The document "Towards Education for All, A Development Brief for Education, Culture,
and Training,” published in 1993, claimed to have originated the philosophy of these
principles. This “new” philosophy was that “the best education that the country could
afford must be open to every child, because all children are equally important.” From
then on, education would be a unifying, not a stratifying force in the society, and the
poverty or low social status of parents would no longer be a barrier to a sound education,
nor would it determine the social, economic, ethnic or civic firture of any child.

The new dispensation was supposed to be an Educational Revolution that would
ensure that no Namibian child would be barred from facilities by the circumstances of her
or his birth or by her or his poverty from qualifying for any position in the country.

These goals were thought to be achievable even though equality of opportunity might still
remain an elusive utopian ideal. Several authors, including Jauch (1998), UNDP (I998),
Amukugo (1993), Strauss (1990), and Brock-Utne (2000), among others, echo these
objectives.

The post independent national plan for Namibia as represented by the democratic
constitution aimed at safeguarding the education and rights of all citizens. Nevertheless, it
is evident that the expansion of education as a way of meeting the need and demand for
education was hardly feasible, and that it would continue to be necessary to develop and
expand schools in all regions of the country. Due, however, to lack of infrastructure,
insufficient capital, lack of qualified human resources, and the ethnic tensions that
manifest on language and regional disparities, the expected educational reform has been
stifled and has resulted in lack of access for a great number of learners, particularly in the

remote regions. Consequently, most of those who do have access to schools face

248

 

 

difficulties of quality education. All these, therefore, lead to persistent educational
inequalities that manifest on regional and ethnic lines.
Implications for Further Research

There is still a lot of research needed in the area of educational inequalities,
regional and ethnic stratification, and poverty alleviation. Through responsible and
accountable governance the government could enable learning and research institutions to
cany out appropriate research. Researchers should pay closer attention to critical
literature such as Fanon’s (1963) position in his “The Wretched of the Earth” if they are
to reveal the hidden niches of development, underdevelopment, corruption, and the daily
struggle for survival of the deprived majority and marginalized minorities. Clearly, this
type of literature reveals the turmoil afflicting ordinary people as they confi'ont the social
classes that rule over them. and how they emotionally and psychologically try to deal
with the scars of oppression and powerlessness.

I do believe that the present study needs to be replicated to test the validity of the
major findings reported here. We need to know to what extent the pattern of results
obtained in this study seem to hold true with other participants in other settings. This
study provokes numerous other issues for the areas of firture research. An important
implication for further research is an investigation of regions, all the ethnicity and
inequities as continuous measures of segregation and division.

The University of Namibia, the Polytechnic, the research institutions in the
country, as well as teacher training colleges and various ministries and non governmental
organizations could play an active role in investigating and advising the government with

their findings. Other various training and learning institutions capable of conducting

249

..—. .: P-mum

 

research should, through collaboration, conduct investigations that will enable policy
makers to make decisions that could alleviate the country’s shortage of both appropriate
infrastructure and qualified personnel to serve anywhere in the country.

Reforming the Namibian education system significantly will demand not only
vast financial resources but also a strong political commitment ensuring necessary human
resources. I do not think there is any simple way to overcome the kinds of difficulties 1
found or encountered in the educational, social, economic and political problems of
Namibia. It may well be vain to expect exactitude in the study of similar events
anywhere else. Moreover, the quest for validity demands not only that we accumulate
facts, but that we place them in an interpretive framework that allows for the diversities
and ambiguities inherent in education systems.

Finally, we need some longitudinal research that examines the long-term impact
of educational inequalities and social stratification. There is much that is in a state of
flux. The greatest challenge facing post-colonial institutions is to implement a system
that is still under construction. As Mda & Mothata (2000, p. 194) reckon, “The fact that
not all the proposed structures are in place presently, and those that are in place are still at
the stage of constituting themselves is a cause for concern.” While very few can doubt
the good intentions behind postcolonial government policies proposed and being
developed, it is a source of some apprehension to acknowledge the difficulty of
implementing even very modest educational reforms and innovations.

Further researchable hypotheses can be derived from connecting some of the
empirical findings presented above to broader questions of theoretical discourse, as

Munch (1994, p. 5) argues. It is also the case that many other aspects of social reality

250

(e. g. racial, regional, ethnic and political orders) remain largely unspecified. Further
research can, thus, identify “the conditions under which the application of dialectical
theory yields. . .explanations and predictions of facts and. . . solutions for problems”
(Munch, 1994, p. 5). The conceptualization of regimes of social reproduction requires
further refinement, so that more and more aspects of social reality can be captured and
integrated into our theoretical frameworks.
Summary of Recommendations

This study started with a number of assumptions based on lessons learned through
development work with various rural and deprived communities. Some of the
assumptions were confirmed by the findings as the information in the text confirms. I
shall be satisfied if this study makes some small contribution to a better understanding, a
greater sensitivity, and an increased awareness of the issues at stake at the present. It is
important that we accept that education exists in a political context. Schools are part of
society, and when those whose duty it is to promote education and provide resources, for
example, have to decide on priorities within the country and within the general education
system, between urban and rural, let us say, they are making political decisions. The
discrepancy in per capita expenditure between what is spent on an urban child and what
is spent on a rural child not only reveals where our priorities lie, but is also an expression
of political viewpoint. If education, therefore, is a political question, it must be publicly
examined, particularly by teachers, learners, and parents, and it is a question to which
everyone must address his or her mind, particularly in the kind of crisis in which Namibia

find itself at present.

251

 

Ideally, educational programs need to be embedded in a complete development
strategy for all communities, including income generation and development programs
with a cultural emphasis towards such issues as ethnic identity, multiculturalism, and
regional awareness. Le Roux (1998, p. 121) observed that “it is unlikely that southern
African governments will develop a more accommodating attitude towards alternative
education for ethnic or other minorities, therefore programs have to be designed so that
the San organizations would eventually be able to carry such operations themselves.” So
far, most programs for the marginalized groups education were geared towards preparing
and adapting them to fit into mainstream education. Stronger pressure should be put on
the education systems to become more accessible to the needs of all the children they
require to serve. Since some ethnic group children, for example the San, seem to show
the most acute signs of trouble with the current education system, alternatives could be
developed for the affected groups to serve a wider purpose. Many questions are being
raised about the relevance and appropriateness to the African context of the westernized
type of education offered to children over the entire African continent.

The education situation has to be addressed in totality. Parents of minority
marginalized ethnic groups interviewed want their children to be educated, contrary to
prevalent belief that they are not interested in conventional education. Their hope,
however, is that culturally appropriate and alternative education for their children would
address the poor performance and drop out problems prevalent in the current classifying
system. These parents as well as their children also want to be convinced that the
alternatives would bring their children to the same academic standards as the other

groups, so they can participate on equal footing in the modern world.

252

 

 

Efforts to transform education for the benefit of the nation must seek to reduce the
enormous socioeconomic and cultural as well as personal differences that exist between
people and regions, and more so between rural areas and urban areas. Equalizing
education would mean eliminating differences in the nature of conditions between
regions and urban and rural areas, such as schools, books, and teachers. Unless
Namibians make a concerted effort to eliminate the aforementioned differences and work
toward an egalitarian resource allocation accompanied by fair distribution of human
resources, the country will continue to experience the unacceptable scourge of
development.

It is through education that the state develops its human resources and enables its
institutions and systems to function. A society without skilled human resources lags
behind in development. Also, education enables citizens to compete equally and fairly
for social positions and occupations. Education provides the experience that enables
citizens to interact more efficiently and confidently with their environments. They are
thus better prepared to manipulate the environment for their survival. Namibian
education policy work and implementation will therefore benefit significantly if it roots
itself more firmly in local realities, dynamics and constraints on the ground, and if it
promotes a dialogue and debate among the various actors involved at all the levels of

educational policy-making.

253

APPENDIX A

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Sample Interview Questions
Tangeni Iijambo
The purpose of this interview is to gain information about your experience in
access to educational opportunity and inequalities of educational resources. I will ask
you a variety of questions related to your life as a student and learner in many different
ethnic or regional settings. I hope that we can consider many of these questions in some
depth in order to gain a rich understanding of educational inequalities and access to
schools for various ethnic groups.

What statistical data do the Ministries of education have on ethnic groups in schools?

What has the new government done to eliminate the apartheid, unequal, and inaccessible
education?

What needs to be done to ensure ethnic and regional equity in schools?

How are educational resources allocated to marginalized ethnic and regional groups to
assure equitable distribution?

What does the government do to reduce inequalities in the educational provision to
various ethnic and regional groups?

254

APPENDIX B

GROUP INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

I will spent 45 to sixty minutes talking with you about issues of inequitable educational
distribution in Namibia. This information is for the purpose of my dissertation that I
hope will influence our education policy on access to educational opportunity for all.

a.

Some documents and other information show school going age children who do
not go to school in this community and region. Can anyone say what led to this
shuafion?

How important is schooling for your children?
Does the community receive a “fair share” of educational resources?

Which language is taught in the first five grades of school in this region? Does it
matter?

What difference did you notice from colonial to independence about access to
education, curriculum, quality of teachers and education?

How important is schooling and education in general to your community and
region?

255

 

 

APPENDIX C

LEARNER-TEACHER RATIOS

 

 

 

 

 

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gen C ..
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a”; I
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o.

 

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ob

 

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7

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iotachoola

 

 

learnerzteacherratio

256

<9 ”lWWWD-MQCM

APPENDIX C (continued)

LEARNER-TEACHER RATIOS

 

Erongo

l
l
a
l

 

 

<8 2029.9 some 0040.0 5060.9 ”-79.9 Norma.

 

Otjozondjupa

 

 

 

 

<20 ”.0 ”.0 “.0 so-aes ”-7... Norm

 

 

 

 

 

<fl ”I w “I 50“.. ”79.0 norm

 

 

 

 

 

<20 ”.0 some “.9 ”.9 ”79.. ”all!!!

.0:
l»:
i a»

0

<5 arr-an ”.0 “.0 $60.0 $70.0 Damara

 

Hardap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

m WWW“. ”MOON.

learnertteacher ratio

(Source: Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, 1996)

257

APPENDIX D

DENSITY OF 7 — 13 YEAR OLDS NOT AT SCHOOL

Themapbelowshowsdreduuityofsemmthirteen-year-oldsmuhadneverbeenmschoolin I991.Childrenof
theseagesshmrldbeatprimaryachool.

In some places concentrations ofchildren not at school are simply due tothe high densities of people living in
thoseareas.Forexample,manytownsinthesouthernregiornofNambiashowhighconcentrationsofchildrennotat
school, but these are small towns and few children are involved. Social factors prevent mou such children from
beingatschoolsincenearbyschoolsareaccessibletodremflhesameisuueinsomeofthemostdenselypopulated
areasinnorthernNarnibia.

Inotherareas.however.therearenoschoolsnearby.Comparingthismaptothemapofschoolsontheback
cover shows that the main access problems are in Ohangwena, Oshikoto. Otjozondjupa and northern Kunene. This
mapshould also be read in conjunction with the statisticsonchildren of different language groups not at school (p.
26). A high percentage of children notat school are 'Bushman' language speakers. Improving access in some areas

may require different systems of providing education.

Densltyotaeven-tothlrtean-year-oldsnotatschoot,1991
(mmbarotctfldrmpertOanumktlomstres)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

o 5.10
' . - ro-so
. ~ . . . «tenth-HO
O I. .

Year Enrolment ratios

net gross
1991 87.5 133.4
1992 89.2 144.1
1993 90.1 144.2
1994 92.6 136.6 Net and Gross Enrolment Ratios of
1995 95.2 136.1 seven- to thirteen-year olds. 1991-1995

 

(Source: Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, 1996)

258

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