By: Dwight Links
Public consultations are going to be held across the country on the development of the Teaching Professions Bill and its regulations.
This was announced this week by Ayesha Wentworth, the director for programs and quality assurance from the Education Ministry.
The aim is to improve the teaching profession within the country through the provision of quality education.
“Anyone can become a teacher. The training courses and programs from the institutions that are training the new crop of teachers are not regulated. This aim is to protect prospective students from receiving quality education, and that they can carry over quality education in the field as a teacher,” Wentworth noted.
Wentworth noted that the origins of this bill come from the first education conference that was held in 2011.
“A request at this conference was that we [the ministry] review our education act. We commenced with the review, which was in the period of 2015 and 2016, and the aim then was to include the teaching profession in the revised act.”
Wentworth added that the advice given pointed towards a separate legislation that should govern the teaching profession on its own and not be incorporated elsewhere.
“The call was made again at the second education conference of 2022. It was at this point that we began laying the foundation for the development of this bill and its regulations,” Wentworth added.
According to Wentworth, these national consultations will now be focused on the regulations part, as the ministry has done consultations on the bill itself.
“The importance and purpose, along with the function, are to elevate the teaching profession to the status that it requires, to make teaching a respectable and accountable profession. This should lead to the profession being well regarded across the country,” she added.
Namibia is targeting Sustainable Development Goal number 4, from the overall SDG portfolio of developmental goals that the country subscribes to.
Named Quality Education, its outcome is to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’
A key output is that the professionals found within the industry have to be adequately trained and supported.
“Teachers should be trained and supported to improve learning outcomes and address the changes brought forth by the digital and Artificial Intelligence transformation and the damage from the COVID-19 crisis,” the SDG states.
The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) points towards the goal being actively on its data portal of measuring goals affiliated to its own mandate.
The agency identifies this as ‘Enhancing the Teaching Profession and Development in Namibia.’
“Namibia is undertaking crucial educational reforms aimed at professionalising the teaching field, aligning with the 2022 National Education Conference’s call for a Professional Teacher Regulatory Body. The Ministry of Education is drafting the Namibia Teaching Profession Bill to set clear standards and frameworks for teachers.
“This project supports these reforms by facilitating stakeholder consultations to finalise the bill and promoting continuous professional development and skills training for teachers. These efforts are key to improving education quality, achieving SDG 4,” UNESCO states.
The desired impact outlined in the announcement by the ministry indicates that the current industry is not being regulated.
Besides the regulation, the industry would also have to encompass mandatory professional development within itself.
“This will help teachers stay up to date with current changes within the education system and the world,” Wentworth indicated. She followed this up by painting towards a system of licensing teachers.
This would enable local trained teachers to work in other countries and be professionally accredited.
“This is what is required by South Africa or Botswana; they want to know if you are licensed by your country to be a teacher,” she added.
The bill aims to include an autonomous regulatory body to be instituted for the regulation of the teaching industry.
The consultations will start in the Kharas region on 15 September and travel across the country, ending in Khomas on 17 October.
