The effects of cost-sharing on equity in access to secondary schools in Namibia : a case study of Oshikoto Region

This study is an attempt to examine the implementation of the cost sharing policy in Namibia. The study was planned and designed to investigate the effects of cost sharing in six secondary schools in the Oshikoto Region and how it impacted on equity in access of learners to secondary schooling. All education stakeholders form the Director of the Educational Region, Inspectors, principals, learners and parents participated in the research study by way of answering either questionnaires or taking part in interviews with the researcher. The study gathered a wealth of information from those interviewed relevant to the study of the effects of cost sharing in an independent Namibia. The study revealed that the cost sharing policy has affected households and learners of the Oshikoto Region negatively. Due to the fact that the majority of parents in the Region live in rural areas with less developmental infrastructure and hence are therefore unemployed, they find it hard to sustain the escalating cost of education at secondary level. The result of the innaffordability of school fees forces many parents to take their children out of school in order for them to go to urban centres to look for work. Whilst the implementers of the policy of cost sharing maintain that the policy has been implemented successfully, they are quick to acknowledge that there are a number of challenges facing them in the actual enforcement of the policy due to the level of income of most parents in the Region. Parents and learners on the other hand complain about the escalating cost of education at secondary and boarding schools in the Region. The cost of books and supplementary have become enormous and have been shifted to parents to bear. The government while advancing the highest budget allocation to education cannot keep up with the new demand of infrastructure and growing population. The findings of the research suggest that the implementation of the cost sharing policy have different negative bearings of parents and learners in rural areas more than their counterparts in urban centers. While the cost sharing policy was intended to serve as a collective effort by all stakeholder in the advancement and improvement of an effective education delivery in Namibia, little cognizance has not been given to other socio-economic factors affecting the majority of parents in effectively contributing to the education of their children. The findings further suggest that more broad-based research is needed to be undertaken to determine the extent to which the policy of cost-sharing affects other Regions in Namibia, in comparison to the Oshikoto Region