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REPLACEMENT
OF THE IGCSE/HIGCSE SYSTEM WITH THE NSSC CURRICULUM AND EXAMINATION
SYSYTEM Interview
with the Director of Examinations and Assessment, Mr. Cowley van der Merwe
Photo: Director
of Examinations and Assessment, Mr. Cowley van der Merwe The Public Relations Officer Ms. Ester Paulus
interviewed Mr. van der Merwe to find out more about the new Namibia
Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC). When was the
Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) curriculum and examination
system implemented? The NSSC is the new final exit level qualification of
the Namibian School System. The syllabuses leading to the new
qualification were already implemented in Grade 11 at the beginning of
2006. The Grade 12 candidates of 2007 are the first group to
write the new Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) Ordinary and
Higher Level Examinations, replacing the IGCSE and HIGCSE examinations of
Cambridge International Examination in the What arrangements
have been put in place to ensure that the NSSC qualifications are
recognized nationally and internationally? To make sure that the new NSSC Ordinary and Higher Level
qualifications are recognised and accepted as at least equivalent in
standard to the IGSCE and HIGCSE qualification, the Ministry of Education
entered into an Accreditation Agreement with the University of Cambridge
Local Examination Syndicate (UCLES). The new NSSC syllabuses and examinations is of high
quality and they will be accepted and recognised inside and outside the
borders of the country and they are equivalent standard to IGCSE and
HIGCSE. Detailed plans and schedules have been developed in
collaboration with Will the Ministry
have the capacity and resources to administer the new examinations? Checks and balances were built into the development
processes to ensure that functions were not taken over from Which
Directorates from the Ministry were involved in developing the new NSSC
curriculum and examination system? The National Institute for Education Development (NIED) and the Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment (DNEA) were responsible for the development of the new NSSC curriculum and examination system respectively whilst the Namibian Qualification Authority (NQA) was involved with the development of the requirements for the NSSC qualification and the registration thereof on the National Qualifications Framework. What changes were made to the syllabuses? The NSSC syllabuses were developed from the IGCSE/HIGCSE
syllabuses with the assistance of Changes made within syllabuses: -
Both the IGCSE and the HIGCSE Mathematics syllabuses were
upgraded to include more topics at ordinary level. -
The Development Studies syllabus was upgraded with the
inclusion of more topics relevant to the Southern African context. -
Management essential non-overlapping topics in the Natural
Environmental syllabuses were incorporated in the Ordinary level Geography
syllabuses and the Environmental Management syllabuses were phased out. -
The IGCSE subjects, Child development, Religious Studies and
Music were phased out because of the low candidate enrollment. -
The seven specialised IGCSE technical subjects will be
examined as Ordinary level syllabuses only up to 2007 after which they
will be phased out. Design and technology will remain the only
“technical subjects” at both NSSC Ordinary and Higher levels. - Literature which was a separate syllabus from the First Language English and German was intergraded into these two Ordinary level syllabuses as other first languages literature was already part of the language syllabuses. Does the number
of subjects to be offered to a candidate remain the same? The structure of the NSSC senior secondary curriculum
remains the same as before namely six subjects: English and another
language, three subjects constituting a field of study, and a
supplementary subject selected from the options available. What grade
symbols will be used to report the achievement of candidates? The grading scales remain the same as was the case for
IGCSE and HIGCSE A* (highest) to G (lowest) for Ordinary level and 1
(highest) to 4 (lowest) for Higher level. Will learners
still receive grade 12 certificates? Two types of NSSC certificates will be awarded, namely
the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Subject Award and the Namibia
Senior Secondary Group Award. The NSSC Subjects Award will be awarded to
all candidates who have been graded in one or more Ordinary or Higher
level subjects and will be similar to the IGCSE and HIGCSE certificates
that were issued for the past twelve years. Who will be
eligible receivers of the NSSC Group Award? The NSSC Group Award is a new qualification and will be
awarded to candidates who are graded in six subjects and meet the minimum
requirements applicable to the group award. Will there be changes in the admission requirements to tertiary institutions? The University of Namibia and the Polytechnic of Namibia and other institutions of higher learning accredited with the Namibia Qualification Authority have satisfied themselves about quality and standard of the new NSSC qualification and will accept it for purposes of admission to tertiary studies if the minimum admission requirements determined by each institution, on the basis of the NSSC qualification, are met. In August 2005 the Ministry of Education approached the
Matriculation Board in From 2008 Namibian candidates with the NSSC qualifications will be admitted on the same requirements as were applicable to the IGCSE and HIGCSE qualifications.
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