AR student command slams exclusion of Namcol learners from subsidised education

Allexer Namundjembo

The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) student command has criticised the government’s decision not to subsidise learners who enrol at the Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol) or other institutions to improve their Grade 11 and 12 results, arguing that the move undermines the constitutional right to education.

Speaking to the Windhoek Observer on Thursday, AR student command interim head of secretariat, Intelligent Katire said the government’s free education policy should benefit all learners, including those seeking to improve their examination results.

Katire’s comments come after the ministry of education, innovation, youth, sport, arts and culture ruled out extending financial assistance to learners rewriting subjects at Namcol, saying the measure was financially unsustainable and had failed to improve academic outcomes when implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.