Namibia has over 100 thousand school drop outs mostly because of bullying, sexual harassment and rape reports The Namibian.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) survey with community based organizations 41 percent gave the above reason as the main reason for school drop outs.
Namibia 2011 census shows that at least 103, 768 children were out of school; 13 082 were at pre-primary; 36 084 at primary school; 25 308 at junior secondary; and 29 294 at senior secondary level.
Another reason for the high numbers of school drop outs included lack of basic needs such as lack of food and clothing.
“Although we have made progress in ensuring education for all, we still face challenges such as keeping children in schools,” said Unicef’s country representative Micaela Marques de Sousa
Namibia’s Education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa said the factors which may push children out of school or put them more at risk of never attending classes again will be the focus during the two-day out-of-school children conference that will be held in Windhoek on 23 and 24 June that aims at improving the situation.
