Life after Grade 12: for many girls in Namibia, staying at school until finally making it to Grade 12 is neither easy nor a matter of course.

"I have to clean the house, cook, wash the laundry, and when I am ready to study, I am tired. My mum does not understand, and I am not allowed to argue," a Grade 12 student from Hage Geingob High School tells Sister Namibia at a one-day Girls' Conference organised by FAWENA, the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Namibia.

What are the obstacles to girls gaining matric?

Most of the Grade 12 girls from Hage Geingob School who attended the Girls' Conference said that they walk to school between 30 minutes and one hour every day. And most of them encounter numerous problems that make it hard to reach their goals. They have to look after younger siblings at home after school and have neither the time nor the space to read or write in peace. "And if I stay at school in the afternoon to study, my parents accuse me of seeing boyfriends," one student complains. "And my family always puts so much pressure on me--threatening to send me back to the north to work on the land if I don't perform well," reports another.

Poverty, high pregnancy rates, sexual abuse, parental pressure to take care of household chores at the expense of school work and a lack of parental support for school activities are all factors that make it difficult for girls in Namibia to reach the final goal of school life: a Grade 12 certificate.

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For this reason FAWENA held a one-day Girls' Conference for 170 Grade 12 girls from different high schools in Windhoek on 28 September 2005, the Day of the Namibian Child. The conference was hosted in partnership with Dawid Bezuidenhout High School. The first conference of this kind was held a year ago at the same school.

Themes of the Girls' Conference

According to Neshani Andreas, Programme Officer of FAWENA, the conference was a response to the high pregnancy rate in schools and was to focus on dealing with rape, sexual abuse and adolescent reproductive health and HIV/Aids related matters, as well as about life after Grade 12.

The conference was officially opened by Minister for Home Affairs, Ms. R. Nghidinwa, who has been the chairperson of FAWENA since 2004. During the course of the day, the girls were presented with talks by prominent Namibian women such as Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Becky, R. K. Ndjoze-Ojo (who is also Vice-chairperson of FAWENA and who was the first Black English teacher at Dawid Bezuidenhout in 1986); psychologist Dr. Evi George, who talked about rape and sexual abuse; Dr. Nicodemus, Namibia's former business woman of the year and former manager of Namibia Wildlife Resorts; and Ms. Theresia Samaria, who talked about living positively with HIV.

Their chosen careers

Most girls interviewed had clear ideas of what their dreams for their future are. They want to become journalists, psychologists, accountants, teachers, nurses, lawyers, dentists, doctors or environmentalists at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. All these professions need prolonged post-school training. The girls know that in a country with 35% unemployment, their only chance to get a good job one day is to continue education after Grade 12 and become as highly qualified as possible.

Anna Amoomo

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Anna is in Grade 11 at Khomas High School. She was born in Ondangwa but grew up in Windhoek.

"I live with my aunt and uncle in Windhoek West with a younger brother and younger cousins. Usually I walk to school, it takes me about 15 minutes. My aunt and uncle support me financially, and if possible my mum and dad also help out. My brother sometimes helps me with my homework. My aunt is always telling me to persevere, because nothing will happen if I lie on my back. So I will get out there and try my best!

I want to study and then get a job so that I can support my parents, who will need my help when they get older, and I also want to support all my cousins.

I would like to do my post-school training at UNAM and enrol for a Bachelor of Pre-Medical Training.

I am a sort of natural doctor--people come to me if they hurt themselves, or burn themselves ... That's why I want to study medicine, even if I cannot become a qualified doctor, that's what I want to do.

My advice to my friends and the other girls out there is: Don't run through life, but walk--and rather try failing then failing to try!"

Judy Haoses (not her real name)

Judy is in Grade 12 at a secondary school in Windhoek. Coming this far was a continuous struggle. "Nobody cared about my education when I was a child," she says, "My parents constantly quarreled and there was no time for me, although I really was a smart kid and wanted to learn as much as possible. When my mother finally divorced my father, I was left alone with him, and that was even worse, because he started to abuse me emotionally for many years. This really affected my schoolwork, my marks got bad and I stayed away from school for many days. During all this time a teacher at my school helped me a lot, she always cared about me.

I had no other friends at that time, and at one stage I became anorexic. But this teacher always talked to me, took me to hospital, I studied even when I was in hospital. I passed Grade 10 this way.

One day, that was last year, I couldn't take it anymore at home, I ran away to Windhoek to my mother, who was at that time engaged to a new man, a nice man. They gave me a space in their house to study and they cared about me. I am now aiming to pass Grade 12 with 40 points, I am aiming high. My accounting teacher helps me to think about my future and to make plans; she is like a mother to all of us. She thinks about every girl and what she could do or study after finishing school. Also our guidance teacher, she helps us to deal with problems, such as mood swings. Good and kind teachers can really make a difference in your life.

My favourite subjects are Accounting and Business Management and my dream is to study abroad, to become a chartered accountant. However, I first have to work here for at least two years, because my mother cannot afford to pay for everything. I now feel confident that I can make it, although my guidance teacher still helps me to find my way.

But I would like to tell my fellow sisters out there: The problems that you experience in your life are the ones that make you stronger in the future! And with respect to sex: I will abstain from sex for the time being. Life is too tough to be sexually active, and it's too hard to bring a child into this world. I will wait for the right time and the right person."

Meroline Kahambuee

"I grew up in Windhoek and first went to school at M. H. Greef Primary School. I stay with my mother, my stepfather and my smaller sister in Otjomuise. I have been at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School since Grade 8. I walk to school every day and back, I walk for 45 minutes or more. My mum pays for my school fees, and a teacher pays for additional things such as my matric dance, she is like a guardian to me.

My favourite subjects are English and Business Management, and my dream is to study and then to find work. I want to study law at UNAM, I already sent in my application forms to UNAM and to the Polytechnic for a Bachelor of Law. The complete programme will take seven years altogether, including practical work after the four-year Bachelor of Law course. My guidance teacher helped me to take this decision.

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My mum helped to pay for the applications, it was N$ 65 for UNAM and N$ 45 for the Polytech. She is a cleaner at a school, it is not easy for her. But still, my mother is my motivation; she wants her children to have more than what she had.

Why do I want to study law? I want to become a state advocate because I heard that Namibia does not have enough of them. State advocates give legal advice to government officials and institutions and help them with lawsuits. I know that I will make it. I will put the extra effort into it. My advice to my fellow students out there? Do not stop your future for anybody else!"

Vennesa van Wyk

I am in Grade 11 at Khomas High School and grew up in Windhoek. I live with my mum in Katutura, she supports me all the way, she helps me with my homework, and also my sister helps me where she can. My dad helped out financially at first, but since he passed away my mum has to support us on her own. She is a hairdresser in Pionierspark.

My favourite subject is Mathematics and yes, I am absolutely certain that I will pass Grade 12! I would like to study at Brigham Young University in New York, either Mathematics to become a maths lecturer, or occupational therapy. My dad left a trust fund for me and I will also look for scholarships.

I strongly believe that sex is only for married people, for two people who love each other, so I am abstaining. I want to go for my dreams! And I want to tell everybody out there: Just do it! And whenever you lose, don't lose the lesson!"

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What kinds of jobs are available after matric?

Judy, Meroline, Vennesa and Anna all aim for a university education. According to Heila van Vuuren of Jobs Unlimited, a well-known Namibian employment agency, there is only 4% unemployment rate for young people with university education compared with the overall 50% unemployment for young people under the age of 21. However, after the ongoing financial struggle to get their children through school for 12 years, many parents just do not have the means to finance any form of post-school training.

So what chances do school leavers have with a Grade 12 certificate and nothing else?

There is always a need for people working as receptionists, secretaries, bookkeepers and especially in the retail business, Haila van Vuuren stresses.

"If you are prepared to work hard, to start small and be satisfied with a small salary at the beginning, you have the chance to get further with time. For example you can start as a saleslady at Shoprite or Edgars and become a branch manager within a few years."

The important thing, when you only have Grade 12, is to use every opportunity to become as multiskilled as possible, van Vuuren added. This includes the skills of being creative, the ability to fit into teams and most of all computer skills. "Every field today requires computers."

From her long experience of finding jobs for people--skilled or unskilled--van Vuuren has the following advice: "Don't have an attitude of entitlement--no one owes you a job ... or a living. You owe it to yourself to make your life a success ...

And don't think that when you have a job--that's it ... the rest will come easy and you're set for life. Your work ethic and honesty are very important. Jobs Unlimited never works to help those who have bad references regarding their work or their honesty."