Higher education in Namibia

Until 1990, the education system of Namibia was shaped by the policies located within the framework of apartheid ideologies. The independence of Namibia in 1990 heralded

46

a new era in education provision and philosophy, informed by the past historical inequities and driven by four goals, namely: access, equity, quality and democracy (Namibia Vision 2030, 2004). One of the basic functions of higher education in any country is to satisfy varying needs of skills development and training.

At the moment Namibia has a small higher education base consisting of two public tertiary institutions of general education, UNAM established in 1992, and the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), which was transformed from the Polytechnic of Namibia at the beginning of 2016. Namibia also has one private university which is the International University of Management (IUM) and Institute of Open Learning (IOL).

A number of smaller private colleges offer higher level qualifications in the country. The Institute of Open Learning (IOL) and Namibia College for Open Learning (.

Namibian institutions of higher education offer education at the levels of certificates, diplomas, undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees and post graduate degrees. The Namibian Training Authority (NTA) controls seven vocational centres. They offer a variety of courses for school leavers, including: plumbing, welding, electrical general, automotive electrical, bricklaying, cabinet making, technical drawing, dressmaking, hospitality, office management and automotive mechanics. Vocational students.in Namibia are given government grants to support them in attending Vocational Training Centres.

There are a number of specialized further education institutions set up by government, the private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations. These include the College of Arts (COTA) in Windhoek; The University Centre for Studies in Namibia (TUCSIN) in Windhoek, Oshakati, Rundu and Rehoboth; the Namibia Maritime Fisheries Institute (NAMFI) in Walvis Bay; the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) in Arandis and the Katutura Youth Enterprise Centre (KAYEC) in Windhoek, Ondangwa and Rundu.

47

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has the legal mandate to coordinate higher education provisions in Namibia. In addition, according to the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP, 2007) the Higher Education Act, establishing the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) serves as a central advisory and regulatory body that can interpret national development policies, priorities and goals in tertiary education and training.

Educational institutions in Namibia and their portfolios are accredited by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA), which evaluates and accredits national institutions and degrees, as well as foreign qualifications of people who wish to demonstrate the national equivalence of their degrees earned abroad.

UNAM is an example of a dual mode university. A ‘dual mode’ means that the university caters for both conventional and off-campus students. Dual mode universities use conventional methods of teaching for residents on-campus and commuting students as well as integrating teaching at a distance to reach off-campus part-time and international students. Some of these universities allow on-campus students to take advantage of the courses developed for distance learning. These universities are historically established, dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The UNAM Annual Report (UNAM, 2015b) states that starting with some 3000 students in 1992, UNAM’s 2015 enrolment topped 20,000, including full-time, part- time, and DE students. Eight faculties cover the humanities and social sciences; education; law; agriculture; science; engineering; economics; and medical sciences, which saw the first 35 medical doctors graduate in 2016. There is furthermore the Namibia Business School, which is part of UNAM.

The UNAM website (2016) indicates that UNAM now has 12 campuses in the several regions of Namibia. Each of these regions have a variety of natural resources and UNAM’s strategy has been to come up with ideas that could harness these resources to the fullest, and take its courses to people in those communities. The expansion of the university is connected to the policy of decentralization so that the University does

48

not function in a vacuum. It is one way of empowering society and thus reinforcing democratic principles of societal existence.

According to ETSIP (2007), the higher education system faces the challenges of adaptation and transformation into a vibrant network of national institutions capable of producing a highly skilled labour force – one that can drive Namibia into a knowledge- based economy. One such challenge is that students with rural schooling are at a noteworthy disadvantage.as they transition to higher education, as Namibia’s universities teach exclusively in English. Part of the contest is that many teachers are themselves not adequately equipped in English, so they cannot competently teach the students in English.

Harambee’s Prosperity Plan for Sustainable National Development has been initiated in 2016 year by President Hage Geingob. Harambee Prosperity Plan (2016) reinforces and complements the overall national development goals. It is built on four pillars: effective governance, economic advancement, social progression, and infrastructure development. Higher education is covered specifically under the pillar of social progression. The plan’s goal is to fill developmental gaps, as well as vocational training and ICT.

Much has been achieved with education in Namibia since independence. However, transformation of education is an ongoing process. To attest to that, the current Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Dr. Ithah Kandjii-Murangi states that higher education needs transformation through transparency. She urges that focus should be placed on key areas such as establishing effective communication between the ministry and the institutions of higher learning, innovation that targets employment creation and enhancement and expansion of vocational education training (New Era, 2015).In the next section the role of the UNAM in ODL is discussed.