Every few weeks, the topic “The boy child” dominates public discourse. Barely a day passes without television programmes, newspaper headlines, or radio talk shows asking the same question: Is the boy child really falling behind?
The timing raises an interesting question. Why has the “boy child” suddenly become a national conversation? Is it because Namibia has entered a new era in which women occupy more political leadership positions? Or has society only now begun paying attention to problems that might have existed for years? It’s safe to say that Namibia has an unprecedented level of female representation in political leadership.
In 2025, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah became the country’s first female Head of State, and other women also occupy several of the country’s political offices, leading some citizens and observers to question whether Namibia is gradually moving towards a “Gynarchic Society”.
Although women have made significant progress, especially in politics, men still dominate many areas of society, for example in traditional authorities, commercial agriculture, mining, construction, transport, and many parts of the private sector. Economic and social power is shared between men and women, but the balance remains unequal across different sectors.
So, why has the conversation shifted so strongly towards the boy child? Many have spoken about the boy child’s academic struggles, and yes, the boy child has really been struggling academically. For example, the Ministry of Education’s 2023 Education Management Information System (EMIS) report recorded 8,720 boys dropping out of school compared with 8,432 girls, and research by the University of Namibia has also found that boys generally have higher repetition and dropout rates and even lower academic performance than girls. Beyond that, few studies have examined other contributing factors with clear evidence.
Poor academic performance may be just the tip of the iceberg in explaining why the boy child is falling behind.
To understand these issues properly, we need to look beyond academic performance, as most of the debates and arguments so far have focused mainly on this single factor. There are a few other factors, such as substance abuse, crime, fatherhood, mental health and many more.
However, when discussing the boy child, these factors are not often invoked to explain why boys are falling behind. While these are also important social issues, there is little research and evidence proving that they are the direct causes of the boy child being left behind.
Most available evidence shows that boys are underperforming academically compared to girls.
It does not conclusively explain why. As a result, much of the public debate relies on assumptions rather than evidence.
Some Namibians find the sudden controversy over the boy child difficult to ignore, as it emerged around the same time Namibia inaugurated its first female President and appointed a Cabinet in which approximately 57% of ministers are women. For some, this timing suggests the conversation is less about new evidence and more about a reaction to women’s growing representation in politics. They question why the boy child did not receive the same level of national attention years earlier if these challenges had existed all along.
It is therefore worth asking whether the debate around the boy child is sometimes driven more by politics than by evidence.
Terms like “Gynarchy” or “Women Dominance” can be used as powerful political statements, but that should not distract us from looking carefully at the facts.
Based on the available evidence, Namibia has not really reached a Gynarchy, nor does it appear to be halfway there.
What the country has achieved so far, one would say, is greater female representation in politics, and perhaps a sign of progress towards gender equality, not female dominance.
This does not mean the issue regarding boys should be dismissed if there’s clear evidence that the boy child is falling behind.
Therefore, needs should be taken seriously, and actions and ways to mitigate this social issue should be pursued, rather than allowing it to remain a public debate. Perhaps the most important question is not whether Namibia is moving towards a Gynarchy, but whether the country is succeeding in creating equal opportunities for all its citizens during this era.
These two factors are not contradictory.
Namibia can celebrate the empowerment of the girl child and the rise of women into political leadership, while also acknowledging that many boys are facing tremendous challenges.
The country’s future depends not on choosing one over the other, but on ensuring that neither is left behind.
*Jivan Gariseb is a Political Science student at the University of Namibia. He writes in his personal capacity.
The post Opinion – Namibia’s gender shift: The left behind boy child appeared first on New Era.
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