A Senior Researcher and Gender Specialist at the University of Namibia, Immaculate Mogotsi said pre-independence education statistics are not always reliable or comprehensive, making it difficult to determine exactly when and how the current gender disparities emerged.

Mogotsi, therefore, called for in-depth research to establish the historical roots of the problem.

She said historically, girls faced significant barriers to education, and after independence, Namibia introduced deliberate policies and programmes to improve girls' enrollment, retention, and completion.

As the country now develops strategies to address boys' academic challenges, she urged the government to ensure that these efforts do not reverse the gains made by girls and women.

“So, not only are we worried about the fact that boys are not excelling academically, but also, in terms of infant mortality, we are seeing more of our baby boys not making it past the age of five. So, when one looks at them, you ask, 'How many do we enroll?' Remember that boys have already been losing; they have been losing the battle. So, that is something that we need to check. If one also looks at the pre independence retention and dropout rates, the data are ‘wishy-washy.’ You know, it is data where you say, ‘Ah, it’s not reliable.’ This is the data gap. Because one also used to look at how data was collected before independence. It was collected along tribal lines.”

She recommends that parents take on an active role in mentoring, guiding, and supporting boys' education and also strengthen the capacity for teachers and hostel staff to be trained to identify boys who are struggling and provide appropriate support.