Relevance of performance indicators to schools’ academic improvement

Abstract

The performance of grade ten learners in the Zambezi Region of Namibia has been seen to be below standard. This came to light when performance indicators (PIs) were used as yardstick by which internal and external school evaluators assessed whole school performance in Namibia. This led to focus this case study on grade ten school performance of the mentioned region. To mitigate this, an exploration of teachers’ perception(s) of the relevance of performance indicators were sought to understand the academic improvement and development in two selected secondary schools. The case study dealt with two purposefully selected schools where one principal, two heads of departments and five teachers were selected from each participating school. Interviews and reflections were used to generate data. Analysis of data generated was framed by interpretive paradigm since the study was exploratory. The study found that teachers acknowledged the importance of PIs in improving teaching and learning and believed that they can help in improving the provision of quality education if fully implemented. Further, school principals experienced many challenges in the implementation of these PIs. Basing from the facts obtained in the study that PIs are vital for improving some parameters in schooling, we therefore recommend that some continuous professional development must be put in place to sensitize the implementers.