NKURENKURU – Chairman of the International University of Management (IUM) Governing Council Dr David Namwandi says IUM intends to employ some of its students who are still studying in order for them to acquire the requisite working experience being demanded by employers.
Namwandi, the founder of the institution, revealed the plan during the official opening of the 2019 academic year for the IUM Nkurenkuru Campus that took place on Monday in Kavango West.
“We have noted with great concern that companies and government are asking for a work experience that students don’t possess when they are fresh from university,” he said.
“Now what our university has decided is to employ you while studying, from your second year, because we want you to gain at least three years’ experience by the time you leave this university and those who perform will be employed full-time after the expiry of their three years’ employment period and that also means you will be receiving a salary,” he added.
Namwandi said those in doubt should wait and see how the programme will be executed.
“There are some doubting Thomases, I don’t know why people are so doubtful, they are saying what Namwandi wants to do they just want to attract more students but we are almost through with registration, we are not here to play with people’s minds, we mean business when we talk, within two months you will see those people working,” he noted.
However, there is a catch as Namwandi was unambiguous saying: “I’m not going to employ all of you, only those who are highly disciplined and performing well. If you don’t perform forget it.”
Namwandi urged students to work hard on their modules and achieve good results. He also told students that the university believes all students are ambassadors of the university and when they go out into society, they should give a good image as they represent the university.
‘’All nursing graduates that IUM trained are employed, go and interview them, in fact the private hospitals are telling us to train more nurses, but our facilities cannot accommodate everybody, we are in demand because we give proper training that is required by the industry,” he concluded.