Namibia: School Budget Cuts Continue

The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture’s textbook and stationery budget has been on the decline since the 2018 financial year.

This is despite the ministry’s move in 2015 to offer Namibians free education, with parents only being asked to assist schools where it is deemed necessary.

This system has, however, received criticism, with the assertion that it may not be sustainable for the government in the long run.

According to recent ministry statistics, the textbook budget for grades 10 and 11 has dropped from N$69 million to N$58,8 million in 2019 and 2020 in all 14 regions.

In 2018, the ministry spent N$127,8 million on textbooks for grades 10 and 11.

The ministry’s stationery budget was also reduced by N$17 million from N$68,6 million in the 2020/21 financial year.

Currently, some N$51,3 million has been allocated for all pupils countrywide.

“An amount of N$58,8 million was budgeted and used to procure some of those textbooks for the implementation of the revised curriculum for grades 10 and 11,” the executive director of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, recently told The Namibian.

During this period, the ministry’s budget decreased to N$13,8 billion, compared to N$14,2 billion the year before that.

This drop in government funds was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw over 14 000 people retrenched and multiple companies either closing down or barely making it.

During those three years more pupils joined schools.

The number of pupils increased from 755 943 in 2018 to 804 079 in 2020.

The Advanced Subsidiary (AS) Level for 2021 absorbed most of the budget for textbooks, with N$20,4 million out of a budget of N$30 million.

For N$20,4 million, the ministry bought 57 635 textbooks, 802 answer books, and 1 388 teachers’ guides.

The remaining N$9,5 million was spread across preprimary to Grade 9 levels for textbook top-ups.

“The budget for textbooks for 2022/23 has not been finalised yet, and we can only talk about the estimated budget, which is about N$30 million,” Steenkamp said.

The education budget usually takes more than 30% of the appropriation budget allocated to ministries, offices and agencies.

In the current financial year, the education ministry received N$13,8 billion out of N$67,9 billion, and during the previous year, it received N$14,2 billion out of N$64,3 billion.

Despite the high level of spending, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) believes this has not translated to quality education outcomes, precluding the country from reaping the full returns of this huge investment.

“While the need for spending efficiencies cannot be overemphasised, there is a need for a diagnostic study to unpack the underlying bottlenecks to enhance the correlation between spending and outcomes,” Unicef’s 2020 report read.

Unicef said the education ministry’s budget has low execution, and an area of major concern for Namibia is the non-wage budget.

The ministry’s wage bill feeds on more than 50% of the overall allocation from the government.

“The development budget therefore suffers from the twin challenge of low allocation and low execution, with negative impacts on outcomes,” the Unicef report read.

In the current financial year, the ministry has so far spent N$425 million on utility costs, mainly for water and electricity, while it spent N$454 million in the previous financial year.

TEXTBOOK CHALLENGES

The replacement of textbooks based on the revised curriculum and increase of the pupil population has contributed to delays in reaching the government’s dream of one textbook per pupil for each subject.

“National statistics show that Namibia has reached a 1:2 textbook ratio, however, this is not equally the case in all regions. Some regions may have reached this ratio, while others with higher pupil populations are further behind,” Steenkamp said.

In 2018, Unicef said schools not connected to the grid are disadvantaged in various ways, including receiving less funding per pupil than schools connected to the grid.

Steenkamp said all schools receive the same amount of money – whether rural or urban.

“Schools with lower enrolment will receive less funds,” she said.

The ministry has transferred funds for textbooks and stationery to all regions – a total amount of N$27 million was allocated for textbooks for the 2021/22 financial year, while N$51,3 million was allocated to stationery for the current financial year.

Educationalist and unionist Mahingora Kavihuha yesterday said continuous budget cuts will affect the quality of education, leaving pupils as victims of the system.

“The children have already been left in limbo as parents cannot afford education, and children are sent home. The cutting is affecting everybody psychologically, and the kids are the hardest hit,” he said.

In addition to budget cuts, Kavihuha said teachers have also not received any increments in close to seven years, while the price of basic goods keep increasing.

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