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The collection and compilation of national education statistics in pre-independence Namibia was a function of the central Division of Statistics, which co-operated closely with the central education department and an education statistics committee appointed by the eleven education authorities. The eleven authorities used a common questionnaire to collect statistics from schools, and the central Division of Statistics compiled annual education statistics reports for the country. Data processing was mainly done manually between 1983 and 1990, and only a small portion of the data was entered into spreadsheets towards the end of the period. The last education statistics report under this dispensation was produced in 1989 (Department of Economic Affairs, 1989.) Ad hoc requests for statistics normally had to be processed manually. Some information was not published as it was considered to be ‘confidential’.

The change of government structures in 1990 and 1991 provided the opportunity for reforming the collection and processing educational statistics. It became necessary to establish a record of existing schools, including their positions, and to provide means of informing the process of expanding the provision of education. The Namibian Education Management Information System (EMIS), which also included a Geographic Information System (GIS) for school mapping were developed against this background.