Editorial, Reform Forum Number 14

The editorial committee is pleased to welcome all the readers to this second edition of the Reform Forum for the year 2001. NIED as a curriculum centre that is mandated to spearhead educational reform and renewal wishes to express its gratitude and indebtedness to all educators who have been contributing to the running of the Reform Forum, especially through the writing of articles.

The Reform Forum remains indeed the mouthpiece of all educationists in terms of addressing educational issues through debates, research and knowledge sharing. Hence, our appeal to all education stakeholders to continue writing articles to this Forum.

More and more fascinating and challenging, articles are being written and this range from research issues to best ways of how to improve the education sector in terms of classroom teaching and the operations of an efficient and effective education system.

The first article, Sharing research techniques in the new millennium: Drawing from the experience of Oshakati bomb blast, prepared by Paulina Uugwanga and Sacky Ipinge, describe the various methods of collecting data in doing qualitative research, e.g. recalling, snowballing or networking, and recording. The article outlines difficulties and challenges that any researcher may encounter in doing a research study. The authors of this article clearly highlight the do' and don'ts that researchers should be aware of in doing qualitative research studies.

B. Thekwane, in the article entitled A guide to the teaching of learner-centred mathematics, addresses the problems and challenges which mathematics teachers currently experiences. It sorts to suggest guidelines to teachers, as to how they should go about teaching mathematics in a learner-centred approach. The guidelines presented are but just ideas and thoughts that should be debated, reviewed and agreed upon, so as to draft national guidelines that will be used in all schools to facilitate a learner-centred teaching and learning approach.

The article on Peer coaching in Caprivi, by Val Sismey, addresses the lessons learnt through the implementation of the ELTDP project. It describes how peer coaching staff development program for secondary English teachers was implemented in the Caprivi region. The description is offered both as a record of process and as inspiration for anyone who would be interested in trying out a similar system. The writer conclude the article with the following statement, Peer coaching is perhaps one way of allowing the teachers to control their own development and give them a sense of ownership in the education process.

G. Tjipueja, in the article entitled, Provision of equal access to boys and girls in formal schooling in Namibia, describes the Namibian experiences in terms of how the Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture, has dealt with issues of gender differences in schools. In specific, the article addresses two major aspects namely, national patterns of enrolment of girls and boys, and some possible reasons why gender imbalances appear in Namibian schools. The article in its conclusion highlights various policy strategies that the Ministry through stakeholder consultation can consider for implementation.

Last, but not least, Jani van Greunen in the article, Lets talk about the Customer Service Charter - Part 2, discusses issues related to efficiency and effectiveness in ensuring a customary-orientation educational system. The article main focus is to address the following questions, Can Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), as a management tool, make the difference?

Can it bring a radical change in effectiveness and efficiency, while meeting the customer-orientation principle? The above questions are fully addressed and the author conclude as follows, BPR, driven by a customer focus, has immense possibilities for administrational transformation in the Namibian Educational system, and has the potential to enhance ongoing instructional transformation that is the essence of sound education. A condition for success would be that methodologies and approaches were integrated and adjusted to the needs of Namibia and that a visionary leadership were employed.

Once more, our readers are reminded of the major purpose of the Reform Forum. The Reform Forum is mainly published to stimulate fruitful discussions about educational renewal and reform and to further the development of education in Namibia. Hence, the debates should continue and more educators are therefore invited to participate in this critical discourse.

Editorial Committee