Hertta-Maria Amutenja
Only 17% of early childhood development (ECD) workers in Namibia hold formal qualifications.
This was revealed by education minister Sanet Steenkamp during the relaunch of the RightStart Programme in Windhoek on Thursday.
Steenkamp said the lack of qualified educarers in the ECD sector is a major barrier to lifelong learning and directly contributes to learning poverty in the country.
“In 2023, of 414 069 children aged 0 to 4, only 51 872 accessed ECD services in 2024, meaning over 87 percent of children aged 0 to 4 do not attend integrated ECD programmes, and 60 percent of pre-primary-aged children are not enrolled in preschool,” she said.
She cited findings from a national Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study that showed only 2% of Namibian parents know that children begin learning from birth.
“This lack of awareness means parents may not realise the importance of reading, speaking, playing with, and stimulating their babies’ minds and bodies,” she said.
The RightStart Programme, first launched in 2019 and now embedded in government systems, is being relaunched to address these challenges.
It provides information to parents, carers, teachers, and community leaders on how to support the development of children from conception to age eight.
“It strengthens our national focus on this critical period by ensuring that accurate, practical, and culturally grounded information reaches those who care for and raise our children in every home, every classroom, and every community,” said Steenkamp.
She said the programme is aligned with the Nurturing Care Framework and places the child at the centre of development, starting from pregnancy.
It forms part of Namibia’s roadmap to end learning poverty and is integrated into the Swapo party manifesto implementation plan, vision 2030, and the sixth National Development Plan (NDP6).
The 2024 National End-of-Phase Grade 3 Literacy and Numeracy Assessment showed that only 28% of learners achieved the minimum pass rate in literacy and only 32% in numeracy.
“These gaps are further widened by urban-rural and public-private disparities,” Steenkamp said.
She added that learning poverty, defined as the inability to read a simple text or do basic maths by age 10, remains a major concern.
“Nine out of ten African learners aged 10 are unable to read a simple text or perform basic math tasks.”
The ministry is realigning the national curriculum for children aged 0 to 4 with the framework developed by the ministry of gender equality and child welfare. The European Union (EU) and UNICEF are providing technical support.
Steenkamp also announced that a pilot school feeding programme for ECD centres will be rolled out, targeting 39 000 children, with support from the EU.
She said coordination across ministries and sectors is essential for the success of ECD.
“ECD cannot advance in silos. Every ministry, every region, and every sector has a critical role to play.”
The RightStart Campaign will be scaled up to operate in all 14 regions. The goal is for 80% of parents to report increased awareness and for all regional plans to include RightStart activities.
Speaking on behalf of civil society organisations, Nicolette Bessinger from Lifeline/Childline Namibia said challenges affecting children, including violence, abuse, trauma, mental health, and malnutrition, are systemic and intergenerational.
“RightStart has the potential to be a long-term solution and serve as an ideal overarching framework for providing support in early childhood education, parenting, child protection, and nutrition,” she said.
She added that networks such as the Namibian Child Rights Network and the Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia (NAFSAN) are ready to collaborate under the RightStart umbrella.
“We welcome and appreciate the many more NGOs, CBOs and FBOs who work tirelessly on the ground as part of a strong civil society in support of RightStart Namibia,” she said.
Minister of gender equality and child welfare Emma Kantema pledged renewed commitment to the RightStart Programme, emphasising inter-ministerial collaboration to support children’s development.
“The first 1 000 days of a child’s life, which is from conception to age 2, are the most important. This period is a golden window of opportunity, as it is the period in which the brain develops at an astonishing rate, forming up to 1 000 neural connections per second,” she said.
Kantema said the ministry will focus on ensuring children thrive by age 2 through family-based early childhood development interventions.
The RightStart Programme is a national campaign aimed at raising awareness on the importance of early childhood development in Namibia.
