Thought Leaders

KJ Dell’Antonia reassuringly writes that it is still possible to “raise optimistic kids in pessimistic times”.
 “There are excellent reasons for anyone – nations, businesses, schools – to seek out the optimistic.

Good governance is high on the agendas of some higher education institutions. Although this is the case, good governance seems difficult to practise all the time.

Children are the future of society in that they are tomorrow’s adults who will then mould their families. It is befitting that we look at the challenges they face, especially when their mental safety is under attack.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), each year countless species is driven closer to extinction, while criminals make billions from the sale of protected wildlife and forest products.

This opinion is response to the article ‘Fishing rights nearly hooked’ which appeared in the New Era newspaper of 17th October 2019.

I was very shocked to read about the alarming figures of teenage pregnancy in our country and I shift the blame on our government.

While negative thoughts are a natural (and irritating) occurrence, psychologist Lisa Firestone says we need to handle them with care: they can easily lead to debilitating distress. In particular, she warns against self-hatred or self-doubt. In their place, Firestone suggests a COAL attitude which translates to “curious, open, accepting and loving.”  

Three years ago, when the National Commission on Research Science and Technology (NCRST) mooted the idea of a multidisciplinary academic journal, some critics never thought that such a proposal would yield any meaningful results. Others said it was a far-fetched idea which would fizzle or evaporate into thin air. But dedicated scholars from NCRST, the University of Namibia (Unam), the mother university, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the International University of Management (IUM), believed in the idea of the journal and took upon themselves the mammoth task of setting up structures, rules and regulations that have culminated in the first edition of the Namibia Journal for Research, Science and Technology that was launched last week in Windhoek.

There is a way in which a new day opens with the pregnant promise of new possibilities, and opportunities for higher levels of success. With some luck, people on a team, in an organization, or institution, may even attain the benchmarks that have previously seemed elusive.  

Higher education without quality is useless and a waste of money and time. That there should always be quality in higher education is not debatable.