OPUWO: The Kunene Education Directorate plans to conduct teachers’ conferences to address the region’s poor performance in the 2023 Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) and Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) level examinations.
This was said by the region’s interim education director, Petrus Shipalanga, in an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, as part of a discussion on Kunene’s poor academic performance.
Despite a gradual increase in 2023 outcomes when compared to 2022, the Kunene Region still underperformed and remained in 14th place in the national NSSCO rankings.
In the 2022 academic year, 11.3 per cent of the learners who wrote the NSSCO examinations qualified for the AS level, while in 2023, 15.95 per cent of the learners qualified for the NSSCAS level.
Shipalanga told this news agency the Programmes and Quality Assurance Division of the regional education directorate is developing measures to boost academic performance.
‘One of the important tactics that will be implemented is teacher c
onferences. The PQA Division will hold teacher conferences in crucial towns and villages like Khorixas, Outjo, Kamanjab, Opuwo, Okanguati, and Sesfontein,’ he stated.
According to Shipalanga, the primary purpose of the conferences is to involve all teachers and discuss issues affecting teaching and learning. It will also provide an opportunity for continuous professional development on the effective implementation of National Standards and Performance Indicators in terms of quality lesson planning, teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as motivating teachers to boost the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of learners.
The first teachers’ conference will be held in Khorixas on Friday, 19 January 2024, at Eddie Bowe Primary School, with the remainder of the conferences taking place next week.
Shipalanga said some of the factors contributing to poor performance include teacher absenteeism, a lack of motivation among learners, a lack of parental involvement, drug and alcohol abuse among students, and a l
ack of technology integration, all of which will be addressed at the conferences.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency