||Kharas teachers and principals concerned over time to finish AS level syllabus

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Teachers and principals from schools offering Advance Subsidiary (AS) level in the ||Kharas Region have raised concern about the timeframe to cover and finish the AS level syllabus for 2021 as mock examinations are scheduled for August.

These concerns were revealed in a presentation by the chief education officer in the ||Kharas Directorate of Education, Arts and Culture, Andrew Diergaardt during a consultative meeting on the implementation of the AS level curriculum in the region here on Monday.

Diergaardt said the teachers and principals cited that the delay in releasing the Grade 11 results earlier this year caused a delay in regard to teachers starting with the AS syllabus on time.

He added at some of the schools offering AS there is a shortage of teachers to teach AS level subjects and the shortages of teachers are caused by teachers who were trained to teach AS level transferring to other regions thus leaving a gap in the region.

“Some schools indicated they have no text books for some subjects, chemicals and materials for practical subjects like physics and biology are not delivered at schools and some teachers are also overwhelmed as they teach too many subjects,” he said.

Diergaardt said at the directorate level they are understaffed and the directorate is not able to give the necessary support to the AS teachers.

There are six schools in the region that are offering AS level.

||Kharas has 119 learners out of the 4 922 learners that are registered for the AS level nationwide and there are 56 teachers in the region that are teaching 13 promotional and two support subjects at the AS level.

The director of national examination and assessment in the education ministry, Clemmentine Tsumis-Garises said teachers must redouble their efforts in ensuring learners pass English as many learners perform well in other subjects and fail English.

“English is killing our children in this country, many children do not go where they want to go because of English. Another thing that is very important is career guidance because learners should already establish what they want as early as possible, what career path they will take and what they will major in, so that they can take subjects that are in line with their career choice,” she stressed.

The meeting was attended by principals, teachers, the ||Kharas education director, the governor, and education minister Anna Nghipondoka, and held for the minister to acquaint herself with progress made and challenges pertaining to the implementation of AS in the region.

Source: Namibia Press Agency