Browsing by Author "Haihambo, Cynthy K."
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Item Developmental issues facing the San people of Namibia: Road to de-marginalization in formal education(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Brown, Anthony; Haihambo, Cynthy K.INTRODUCTION: As for other indigenous people in the world, the living standards of the San in Namibia have drawn attention as they have been viewed as contravening basic human rights. Since its independence from apartheid South Africa, the Namibian Government, as a member of the United Nations (UN), has embarked upon various projects and interventions in order to secure the rights of their indigenous communities, including those of the San. One of the most progressive conventions of the UN, the Salamanca Statement of 1994 on inclusive education (UNESCO, 1994), promulgates that schooling should cater for all children regardless of their differences or difficulties and serves as a driver towards such efforts. It is worth noting that this global educational transformation came at a time when Namibia was in its fourth year of independence from apartheid South Africa, and was attempting to deconstruct and redress the fragmented education system that it had inherited. It was an education that separated learners depending on their race, gender, ethnicity and language, and if they had a disability (MEC, 1993). It is through this historical backdrop that the San face current challenges as agents in an inclusive space. The educational experiences of indigenous San children in Namibia reflect discrimination, isolation and a compromised quality of education, and their identity and their indigenous knowledge is not fully embraced in the broader education system. As a result many of them fall through the safety net of this all-embracing educational philosophy. It is for this reason that San children have become a heightened concern and responsibility for the education authority in Namibia.Item Inclusive education in marginalised contexts: The San and Ovahimba learners in Namibia(British Council, 2019) Matengu, Keneth K.; Likando, Gilbert N.; Haihambo, Cynthy K.One of Namibia’s outstanding sociocultural characteristics is the ethnic heterogeneity of its inhabitants, which stands at 25 distinct groups. The indigenous minority groups include the Kwe, Hai-dom, Joehansi and Khu groups, who are informally known as San communities, and the Himba, Zemba, and Ovatue, who among others 1 are part of the Ovahimba communities, which predominantly practice hunter-gathering and pastoral livestock farming. Historically, Namibia’s education system was divided along racial lines, with Blacks classified in an order of importance where the San and Ovahimba people were in the lowest categories. In this apartheid system Whites and Coloureds received unending privileges at the expense of the indigenous Namibians, of which the Ovahimba and the San communities were the worst affected. 2 When independence dawned in 1990, it signified political freedom long awaited by many. Since then the government has been dedicated to the process of educational transformation to bring about equitable access to quality education for all Namibians. This process included significant initiatives such as recognition of the San as an ‘educationally marginalised group’, emphasis on mother tongue education, use of satellite and mobile schools for Ovahimba learners, and Namibia’s Sector Policy on Inclusive Education. This chapter will examine the policy measures that the Namibian government has put in place to create an inclusive education environment.Item Inclusive education: Challenges of students with disabilities in institutions of higher education in Namibia(2010) Haihambo, Cynthy K.;This study was aimed to explore challenges of students with disabilities in higher education institutions in Namibia, as narrated and illustrated by themselves. Mixed methodologies, with specific reference to a small-scale quantitative survey and extensive qualitative design were employed as tools to understand the prevalence, extent and nature of challenges of students with disabilities in their pursuance of higher education in Namibia. Data was thus collected in two phases. The first phase consisted of a ten-item quantitative-survey which was largely used to determine the prevalence of students with disabilities in higher education institutions, and basic information regarding institutional standpoints pertaining to students with disabilities. Data acquired through this survey confirmed the prevalence of students with disabilities in Namibian higher education institutions. The second phase represented the qualitative design whereby data was collected through three main methodologies namely a narrative diary-based approach, a photo-voice and individual interviews. These methodologies ensured reliability of the data through triangulation. The study confirmed that inclusive education at the higher education level in Namibia was largely achieved through the goal of access, as all higher education institutions have admitted students with observable as well as hidden disabilities. However, a major finding of the study was that support and provision for students with disabilities was rendered in fragmented portions within and across institutions, and that the goals of equity and equality have not yet been achieved to the desired degree, if inclusive education was to become a reality for students with disabilities in higher education in Namibia. Students reported challenges related to physical accessibility of institutions; unavailability of educational material in alternative, as opposed to traditional formats; lack of sensitivity and skills of staff; as well as lack of structured support systems. The study also revealed that, notwithstanding the challenges students faced in their institutions, students with disabilities continued to perform their academic duties to the best of their abilities and were driven by their individual personal philosophies, many of which spoke of perseverance and courage, to make a success of their studies.Item Messages given to adolescents and young adults during initiation ceremonies and their relation to HIV/AIDS(University of Namibia Press, 2015) Haihambo, Cynthy K.According to Namibia’s national population census, the total population of the country stood at 2,113,077 people distributed over its 14 political regions (NSA, 2014). Of this, 43.1% of the population inhabited urban areas, and 56.9% lived in rural areas. The average household size in Namibia is 4.4. The population under the age of 15 stands at 760,707 (36%) while the population aged 15 years and above is 1,352,369 (64%). The employed population, which includes part-time and seasonal employment, stands at 690,019 (70.4%) and the total population that is unemployed is 290,762 (29.6%) (NSA, 2014). Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is regarded as one of the biggest threats to economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is acquired through the transmission of bodily fluids such as blood, vaginal fluids and semen. It is mostly contracted through sex (both heteroand homosexual) that involves the exchange of bodily fluids between individuals. Once it has entered the body, it compromises the individual’s immune system and weakens the body’s ability to fight diseases. In its most advanced stage, it develops from a viral infection to a disease that can lead to disability and death. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest HIV prevalence, globally, and is termed the worst affected region and is widely regarded as the ‘epicentre’ of the global HIV epidemic.Item Namibian boys' underachievement and under-participation in education(University of Namibia Press, 2023) Zimba, Roderick F.; Kasanda, Choshi D.; Haihambo, Cynthy K.; Kudumo, Marius; Kapenda, Hileni M.; Neshila, Kashinauua Faustina; Sheyapo, MirjamThe main purpose of the Namibian boys’ underachievement in education research project was to find out what accounted for the disparity in academic performance between male and female learners/students and what its educational and social-economic implications were. In addition, the study sought to explore factors which influenced Namibian male learners’/students’ underachievement and under-participation in education. Using a pragmatic parallel mixed methods research design, systematic, criterion and case study sampling techniques, we collected data from all 14 Educational Regions of Namibia by administering structured questionnaires to 4659 secondary school learners, 528 secondary school teachers, 182 parents, 122 University lecturers and 807 University and Vocational Training Centre (VTC) students. When collecting qualitative data, we conducted focus group discussions with sampled secondary school learners, secondary school teachers, parents and University students. From document analysis, we ascertained that at the secondary school level, challenges of some boys’ low survival rates, low promotion rates from grade to grade, high failure rates, high school leaving rates, and high dropout rates negatively affected their academic achievement and academic participation in school in all 14 education regions. At the tertiary education level, evidence showed that substantially more female than male students had been enrolled in all public and private Namibian educational institutions for three decades and that in general, during this period, female students had consistently and substantially performed better academically than male students in all tertiary education institutions. In summary, according to sampled learners and sampled teachers, some Namibian boys performed worse than girls because they distracted themselves from school work, withdrew from learning activities, engaged in self-destructive behaviour, believed they could do without education and because they were not interested in education as it was boring to them. In addition, some boys under-participated in education because they dropped out of school, did not take advantage of psychosocial programmes that were organized to promote their participation in education, and did not actively participate in learning activities. All this expressed some boys’ self-imposed exclusion from educational activities organized by schools. According to sampled learners, some boys underachieved in education because they spent less time on academic activities, preferred to work in isolation, were not eager to share academic information, did not care about their academic achievement, and they were less concerned about their future. Furthermore, sampled learners and sampled teachers reported that several parents undermined and sabotaged their sons’ educational achievement during socialization by giving them too much freedom to roam and loiter around aimlessly without restraint while strictly controlling the behaviour and movements of their daughters; allowing their sons to abuse alcohol and drugs, including, in some instances, sharing alcohol with them- alcohol they had easy access to through bars, night clubs, Shebeen outlets and Cuca shops (i.e. small retail shops in rural areas that include the sale of alcohol); not caring about what their sons did and how they spent their time; not giving their sons responsibilities at home to cultivate in them ethics of responsibility, hard work, discipline, commitment, persistence-virtues that promote academic achievement; not being concerned of their sons’ education, welfare, misconduct and misdeeds; and in some regions by criticising, ostracising, ridiculing, shaming and shunning their sons for going to school instead of looking after livestock. Moreover, University lecturers and University and VTC students reported that female students academically performed better than male students who underachieved at tertiary education institutions because they were motivated, worked harder, did not waste time socializing in dysfunctional ways (e.g. abusing alcohol and drugs), participated in learning activities, were collaborative, were willing to learn, were organized, were persistent and they did not easily drop out of universities when faced with difficulties. v We have discussed these and other findings in the rest of the report and made recommendations on how Namibia’s educational policy framework should be reviewed, reoriented, adapted and transformed to cater for the needs of boys who underachieve in education; how schools, teachers, fellow learners, parents, communities, University lecturers, University students and other educational stakeholders should support Namibian boys’ education. At the theoretical level, we have demonstrated how the data from this study could be used at the global, continental, Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional and Namibian national levels to reframe boys’ and girls’ education in a manner that promotes genuine gender parity in education, authentic and balanced social-economic development. We have also proposed that for all this to be implemented, a social cultural and participatory community-based transformation in support of boys’ functional socialization and education should take place in the Namibian society.