Page 18 - Windhoek Graduation (20 May)(SESSION 2)(PhDs, Masters)

Executive Dean: Dr Alfonse Mosimane
Faculty of Education and Human Sciences
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Associate Dean: Dr John Nyambe

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION

CANDIDATE: KHAMA Rejoice N

CURRICULUM VITAE

Rejoice N. Khama was born in the Zambezi region. She obtained her Matric
certificate at Kizito College. Her Qualifications include: a Secondary Education
Diploma; Higher Education Diploma from the University of Vista in South Africa;
Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Education Management) from the
University of South Africa; a Bachelor of Education (Postgraduate) degree from Rhodes University in South Africa
and a Master of Education in Leadership, Management and Policy Studies from the University of Namibia. Her
professional career includes working as a teacher, a subject head and facilitator for Social Studies at Ngweze
Primary School, a member of the Social Studies Working Group at NIED which drafted a new syllabus for social
studies, Head of Department (HOD) for Social Studies at Bethold Himumuine Primary School, Senior Education
Officer at the Adult Education Directorate, where she was and still is involved in developing adult learning and
teaching materials in Indigenous Namibian languages and in English, providing training to adult education
educators, conducting research as well as monitoring Adult Education programmes. Her further management
experience includes working as a Silozi Curriculum Committee member at the National Institute for Educational
Development (NIED), as well as a member of the Namibia Open Learning Network Trust (NOLNET) management
committee, where she is involved in developing directives and offering guidance on the execution of activities
by the Secretariat and standing committees in the administration of the institution’s affairs.

CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION

Experiences of the school feeding Programme in two schools of the Zambezi Region, Namibia

The doctoral study was undertaken and completed under the supervision of Prof. Africa Zulu as main-supervisor
and Dr David Nkengbeza as a co-supervisor, both from the University of Namibia.
The School Feeding Programme (SFP) is used in Namibia as a poverty alleviation measure to ensure that poor and
vulnerable learners who come from underprivileged families get to eat at least one meal a day and are able to
stay and concentrate in school. However, poverty continues to afflict the Namibian people. The purpose of this
study was to investigate implementers’ experiences of the SFP in two schools of the Zambezi Region. The study
couched within two conceptual frameworks, Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. The review of literature addresses aspects such as, the influence of the SFP on education, health and
socio-economic consideration, the overview of different country cases of the SFP, challenges and measures to
implement the National SFP. The study employed the constructivist paradigm rooted in the qualitative approach
and a case study design of the two schools of the Zambezi region of Namibia. Purposive sampling was used
to select participants from the participating schools. The study utilised interview guide, focus group discussions
and observation data collection instruments and data was analysed using content analysis, interpretive
phenomenological analysis and semiotic analysis. The study observed the proliferation of strong evidence that
the National SFP has potential to improve enrolment, attendance, retention and reduce dropout rates among
poor and vulnerable children. Also observed was the emergence of multiple challenges which threaten the
running and implementation of the programmes, such as lack of training, minimal community participation,
the absence of a SFP policy, and lack of monitoring and evaluation. The study recommends that the Ministry of
Education, Arts and Culture must develop a Namibian School Feeding Policy and improve the coordination of
the programme. It exhorts the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and
Land Reform to support the SFP. Schools are encouraged to intensify the monitoring of learners’ hygiene, guide
cooks and promote food production training.

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