By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK The Polytechnic of Namibia on Friday formally announced a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in America that can be of great benefit to Namibian students. The announcement was made on Friday by the institution’s director of computer services and the rector, Dr Tjama Tjivikua. “Namibia is extremely plagued by extremely high internet access costs, not the least because of telecommunication monopolies. Therefore I am proud to announce that the MIT will save us a lot of precious international bandwidth while offering a service that many Namibians have long been waiting for,” said Laurent Evrad, the director of computer services at the Polytechnic of Namibia. MIT’s Open Course Ware makes the MIT academic’s course materials used in the teaching of almost all of its undergraduate and graduate subjects available free of charge. “This programme will allow our staff and students as well as the general public to increase their level of knowledge, while confirming the Polytechnic as an emerging global university of technology,” said Tjivikua.