WINDHOEK- Out of the N$500 million budget allocated to the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust), an approximately 70 percent goes towards personnel expenditure.
This translates into Nust spending about N$350 million on salaries and related expenditures.
During the 2019/20 financial year, government allocated the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation N$3.1 billion and about N$9.4 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), of which N$500 million is earmarked for Nust, N$911.9 million is for the University of Namibia (Unam), and N$1.1 billion for Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) in the budget year and N$3.4 billion over the MTEF.
The allocated amount of N$500 million to Nust means that there has been budget reduction of about N$100 million, compared to the N$600 million that was allocated during the 2018/19 financial year.
In an interview with New Era, Nust Communications and Marketing Director Kaitira Kandjii says the university, as a service delivery entity, allocates a significant amount of its budget to human resources and other related costs.
He revealed approximately 70 percent of the total budget allocation is spent on employment and related costs.
Hence, Kandjii said the university relies heavily on its other revenue streams such as tuition, short courses, and income from consultations to fund the shortfall.
New Era wanted to find out what Nust’s general reaction towards its N$500 million budget allocation for the 2019/20 financial year.
In this regard, Kandjii reacted that although Nust is well aware of the overall performance of the economy and its current outlook, it was concerning to learn that the university’s budget allocation was reduced to N$500 million for this current financial year.
“This represents a 39 percent reduction from the 2018 total subsidy. As such, the university immediately reverted to the drawing board to reconsider its provisional budget submitted to the Nust council in November last year,” he remarked.
He said this translates to immediate implementation of stricter controls to curb spending on nonessential activities, without compromising on the university’s mandate and the quality of service delivery to its stakeholders.
Asked whether the allocated funds are sufficient to cover for all its planned activities, Kandjii responded that the current year’s budget cut has adverse effects on both the strategic and operational goals of the university.
However, he said the institution remains committed to its core mandate of providing quality education.
Further, he is optimistic that with the adoption of stringent cost-cutting measures, as well as renewed focus on sourcing external revenue streams, the university is determined to ensure that the current year spending is in accordance with the available resources.
Nust awarded its first-ever doctoral degrees this year -making history in the process.
Moreover, Nust is also offering programmes in cyber-security at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The universty is also expected to soon have a centre of excellence in information technology, as a result of the Indian government commitment.