An investigation into secondary school teachers' perceptions of the factors that affect quality education in Windhoek education region

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate into secondary school teachers’ perceptions of the factors that affect quality education in Windhoek Education Region. Answers were sought to the following five questions: 1.What are the secondary school teachers’ perceptions of quality education in Namibia? 2. What are the factors that secondary school teachers perceive to be contributing to the attainment of quality education in the country? 3. How do the secondary school teachers in Namibia rank the following factors of quality education: quality teachers, facilities, environment, finding, instructional, and learning materials? 4.What are the major obstacles encountered by the teachers in the attainment of quality education in Namibia? 5. What steps should be taken in order to attain quality education in Namibia? A questionnaire was developed and used in collecting information from the teachers on their perceptions of quality education in Namibian secondary schools. The questionnaire was administered to 230 teachers in 14 secondary schools. Stratified sampling was used to select schools while stratified and simple random sampling methods were used to select 230 teachers from the schools. Oral interviews were also conducted with 10 secondary school teachers to obtain their views on the factors that affect quality education in Namibia, in addition, some interviews were held with 5 principals. Frequency tables and percentages were used to present and analyze the data collected. The results of the study showed that the majority of the teachers sampled 89.2% perceived quality education as ensuring the students’ mastery of the objectives and goals of education, which should be tested at the end of every grade. Another 86.6% of the teachers perceived quality education as the preparation of young people either for post secondary education/training or for work, while 83.9% perceived quality education as the acquisition of general knowledge about Namibia, science, history and technology. The key factor that were identified to be the attainment of quality education were: provision of qualified teachers in all the schools in Namibia (92.6%); making sure that all teachers in the schools were qualified in the subject of specialization (90%); equitable distribution of funds to all the schools in Namibia (88.7%); building laboratories and libraries in all the schools in Namibia (86.9) and having a good learning environment in the country (86.5%). The above findings were supported through the interviews held with the five principals who enumerated some obstacles to the attainment of quality education such as, lack of quality teachers in both the primary and secondary schools; lack of educational facilities in the schools; disintegration of discipline in schools, and overcrowded classes. They suggested that if government employed qualified teachers in all the school, provided educational materials to the learners and teachers, schools maintain discipline and class sizes reduced to below 30 in all schools, quality education would be attained. However, the development of curriculum that suits the Namibian learners and the provision of qualified teachers in all the schools in Namibia were ranked highest (92.6%) by the teachers, as factors contributing to the attainment of quality education in the country. The study recommended among other things that the Government and Ministry of Basic Education, Sports and Culture should ensure that more qualified teachers are employed into the teaching profession in spite of the finances involved; teachers should be sufficiently motivated by increasing their salaries and providing accommodation; teachers should be trained to become more efficient and effective; class sizes should be reduced to 25 learners in all schools as indicated in the secondary school policy because many teachers complained of large class size of 38 – 45 learners per teacher during the interviews; the government should increase, allocate and distribute educational materials equally, and corporal punishment should be re-visited in the schools because of student misconduct at school towards the teachers and fellow learners. In conclusion, the teachers in the Windhoek Education region demonstrated knowledge of the factors that contributed to and obstacles to the attainment of quality education. Their perceptions of quality education in Namibia and the factors that affect the attainment are in line with those held by Winch (1996:9) who stated that, “Any quality education system should be able to manufacture products or individuals that are suitable for the purpose for which they were designed or educated”, and Lewis et al (1999) observed that “Without well prepared, caring and committed teachers, our children will not be prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.