The Namibia National Teachers Union (NANTU) has joined the chorus of those denouncing the sentiments expressed by the Education, Arts, and Culture Minister, Anna Nghipondoka.

NANTU acting President Daniel Humbu says Nghipondoka's sentiments, in which she squarely placed blame on teachers and education regional directors, are misplaced.

The union leadership is not reacting kindly to the minister's address when she announced the historic failure rate of the 2022 final examination results in December last year.

The union, says Daniel Humbu, did not expect a blame game, knowing that the line ministry has failed to attend to the teachers' cries.

He claims that Nghipondoka failed to consider contributing factors, which resulted in the 80% failure rate.

"There are no adequate teaching and learning resources at schools to assist teachers with the new implementation of the curriculum. No proper training was provided to implement the curriculum; in fact, the majority of teachers were not consulted during the review process in 2015."

The union has threatened that it will mobilize its members not to accept any classes beyond the norm.

The Deputy Executive Director at the Education, Arts, and Culture Ministry, Edda Bohn, stated that the normal teacher-to-learner ratio for a high school class is 35 learners per teacher.

The union has also requested that its members resist a multi-grade teaching style.

It also shared some pictures of its visits to over 300 schools, describing what they found as shocking and an environment far from conducive to teaching.

"Learners sharing a chair or a desk, one text book per subject. Empty laboratories, schools without running water or ablution facilities, understaffed schools, teacher recruitment delays, empty computer labs, and a lack of proper infrastructure."

Humbu says that it is hypocritical of the ministry to expect wonders from underresourced schools.

He says that the line ministry is one that receives a fairly large chunk of the national budget and has called on the ministry to be transparent with the budget.

NANTU, among others, recommends to the ministry that learners who did not qualify for tertiary institutions be given a second opportunity to repeat Grade 11.

The body also calls on the ministry to review the bureaucratic process for the recruitment of educators.

President Hage Geingob, TUCNA, and some public policy analysts have also expressed disappointment with the final examination results of last year.

The minister, Anna Nghipondoka, is expected to provide the president with a detailed report, which will be tabled before the Cabinet.