In May 2008, the Eastern Norway Research Institute (ENRI) was selected to evaluate the role of NAMAS in assisting the Ministry of Education of Namibia in the field of Entrepreneurship. As such, NAMAS has played an active role in the development of pedagogical entrepreneurship in Namibia.
Some facts about Namibia
There are some densely populated areas in the North, while areas in the South are very sparsely populated (ibid.). Much has been done in recent decades, but there is still a long way to go before all Namibian children complete ten years of education.
Background for the subject Entrepreneurship
Many empirical studies have shown that entrepreneurship education positively contributes to young people's creativity and self-respect, as well as their skills in collaboration and decision-making. They have also shown that this education changes young people's attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and young people who participate in entrepreneurship education are also more likely to become entrepreneurs compared to the general population (see e.g. Johansen et al. 2007).
Key actors
HUC has been involved in the project since the end of 2004 and became a major player from 2005 onwards.
Structure of the report
Various role players are proposed for interviews, including students, teachers at the Junior Secondary School, teacher educators at the Colleges of Education and representatives from NIED, Bank Windhoek and UNIDO. Our selection of informants consisted of several parties: a) students and teachers from the pilot group, b) teachers from a College of Education, c) representatives from NIED, d) a representative from HUC and e) a representative from NAMAS.
The semi-structured interview
The evaluation of Pedagogical Entrepreneurship is based on "Terms of Reference" provided by NAMAS and NIED (Ørsnes 2008). Some of our informants were interviewed individually, while others participated in group interviews.
The phenomenological interview
Using interviews and document studies, we were able to cover many important aspects in our interviews in Namibia.
Group interview
Second, compared to the individual interview, the group situation places "a longer distance between the researcher and the informant". Rubin and Rubin (1995) point out that this is the case since the researcher lacks time to build a relationship of trust with each member in the group.
Norway and Namibia; challenges across borders
NAMAS and HUC soon became closely involved in the project and NORAD provided economic resources for Norwegian participation. Of this income, approximately NOK 1.9 million is spent on the local budget in Namibia (salaries and project activities), NOK 1.0 million is spent on the consultancy services of the expert group at HUC, approximately NOK 0.3 million is spent on information and this evaluation, and approximately NOK 0.3 million is spent on work in Windhoek and Elverum (indirect costs).
Overall experience
Interview topics included general experiences, collaboration with different parties and future challenges of introducing the Enterprise.
Cooperation with different parties
The cooperation with the other parties in the ESC was, from NAMAS' point of view, very fruitful. One important issue for NAMAS was that Entrepreneurship should be a practical subject that could fit into a rural context. NAMAS did not make specific demands when it came to the content of Entrepreneurship, but it was important to the organization that the subject should not be too theorized.
Future challenges
This chapter presents the roles played by the group of experts from Hedmark University College (HUC). In addition to investigating these reports, we interviewed Ødegard prior to our field study in Namibia. The interview lasted approximately two hours and was based on the topics raised in the expert group reports and the questions to be addressed according to the "Terms of Reference" for the evaluation (Ørsnes 2008).
The role of HUC
This consisted of courses and workshops with teachers and students in seven secondary schools in Namibia and the training of 45 teachers from all 13 regions of the country. This consisted of courses and workshops with teachers and students at two schools of education in a pilot group. HUC has been involved in the development of a teacher's manual and an entrepreneurship curriculum and curriculum, both at the College of Education and Junior High School levels.
Overall experiences and success factors
In cooperation with NAMAS, they also organized a visit of the PG members to Norway (October 2005). The group has also attempted to follow up with PG members through email correspondence. A fourth success factor for HUC's role in the project is the close collaboration with NAMAS.
Challenges
Cooperation with NAMAS
Cooperation with PG and NIED
The piloting of Entrepreneurship in the college was allowed – as it was supported by the Government – but it was not a popular venture. In the years ahead it is important that the work done in the colleges is followed up (either by NIED or the Namibian University). Among other things, HUC gave advice to NIED in relation to curriculum development and he was interested in the Norwegian perspective.
Visions for the future
HUC presents a broad understanding of entrepreneurship - centered on a teacher's guide, curriculum and textbooks. First, entrepreneurship enjoys political support, but perhaps the idea is to create a binding political document or strategy on entrepreneurship, similar to what is done in Norway (MER, MTI and MLGRD 2006). Fifth, some work needs to be done in higher education colleges that did not participate in the planning and implementation of Entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship coordinator
- The overall experience
- Cooperation in the PG
- Cooperation with HUC and other actors
- Future visions
However, these teachers have experience teaching Entrepreneurship and the PG consists of resource people that NIED will use for the future development of the subject. He notes that the Norwegian group of experts has played a very important role in the development of the project. It is a personal hope for him that the person who follows him as the second coordinator, will be one of the members of the pilot group.
Chair of the ESC
- Overall experience
- The PG
- Cooperation with HUC
- Politicians
- Future visions
This group can create valuable material for use in the implementation of the subject in the rest of the Namibian schools. HUK can help monitor – or at least create the tools for monitoring – the future progress of Entrepreneurship. There is a research unit at NIED and it is suggested that HUC can help this unit with the assessment of the subject.
Overall experiences with the pilot group
These women have been involved in the development of the new entrepreneurship syllabus and curricula now taught at two colleges in Namibia. The interview lasted approximately 2.5 hours. the teachers) are even more focused on the traditional way of teaching Business Management. They think it's a mistake to have Business Management teachers on board from the start.
Experienced challenges
The informants argue that perhaps not all PG teachers are ready to teach Entrepreneurship. The right way would be to involve all colleges of education in the project and use the first two-year period to qualify new teachers. It would be much better to have a group of enthusiastic new teachers instead of the difficult task of transforming former Business Management teachers.
Cooperation with other parties
Needs for the future
In the planning phase of the evaluation, various ideas about the involvement of the teachers in PG were discussed. The approaches chosen included observation of two classes (and thus the teacher) and a group interview with all teachers in PG. We decided to conduct longer individual interviews with the teachers in the two schools we visited.
Teacher 1
- Overall experiences with the pilot group
- Teaching Entrepreneurship
- Cooperation within the Pilot Group
- Cooperation with other parties
- Visions for Entrepreneurship
The informant says that she feels supported by the management of the school, and that they have a positive attitude towards the project. The informant tried to include many managers/entrepreneurs at the beginning of the project period, but she did not get the response she wanted. The new teachers have much less experience in teaching Entrepreneurship compared to the members of the PG.
Teacher 2
- Overall experiences with the pilot group
- Teaching Entrepreneurship
- Cooperation within the pilot group
- Cooperation with other parties
- Visions for Entrepreneurship
One way could be further collaboration between the pilot schools and HUC through workshops on "good examples of teaching Entrepreneurship", and PG teachers could then present these good examples to other Namibian teachers. She says that the PG teachers are ready to support and guide the new teachers, to make the implementation as smooth as possible. She also thinks that PG has already spent a lot of time on training (seminars) and support.
School 1
- Highlights and entrepreneurial competences
- Challenges
- Business start ups
- Class relations
In groups 8 and 9, the students did a lot of group work, but cooperation did not go well in many groups. At the same time, most students had difficulties when instructed to solve problems for which there was no "right answer". On the question of the relationship between students and teacher, the students did not say much.
School 2
- Highlights and entrepreneurial competences
- Challenges
- Business start ups
- Class relations
On a more general level, the learners found it very positive that the subject was so practical. Before the in-service seminar (presentation for teachers), the Market Day and the Entrepreneurship Day (preparation and management of a business), the learners had a lot to do. One of the learners has already set up his own kiosk (a shop that sells snacks such as chocolate, popcorn and ice cream).
The function of pre-service training
The focus of this review is a discussion of the assistance provided by the Namibian Association of Norway (NAMAS) to the Ministry of Education (MOE) in the field of pedagogy.
The function of in-service training
The use and integration of methodologies in teaching
Advice for continued work on Entrepreneurship
The development of teaching aids and other materials is an ongoing activity, as the subject is related to a constantly changing field. MER, MTI and MLGRD (Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development) (2006): See opportunities and make them work. UNDP (2008): Human Development Report. United Nations: New York Available at: http://hdrstats.undp.org/indicators/147.html.
