Keeping the national standard? Contextual dilemmas of educational marginalization in Namibia

This qualitative study describes how Namibian policy actors make sense of educational marginalization when faced with contradictions between the value of diversity and the need to maintain the national standard. Policy actors in higher levels of the hierarchical system are more influenced by international ECE agendas while those at the community level want contextual solutions. The study concludes that this policy formation context is caught between local realities and globally defined international standards; however, policies that are disconnected from the sociocultural context of implementation are unjust and antithetical to the holistic development of children and a hindrance to national development.