Rudolf Gaiseb

Only undergraduates at public and private tertiary institutions, including technical and vocational trainees, qualify for subsidised education. This means registration fees and tuition fees are covered by government.

This announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, Sanet Steenkamp, yesterday, who added that postgraduate studies will not be covered.

 Other eligibility criteria will be identified and applied to the funding of postgraduate studies, while a national priority list of studies is being developed to serve as a key eligibility criterion for future postgraduate funding.

Meanwhile, non-Namibian citizens are not eligible for funding, and funding shall be discontinued for repeating students. 

Students pursuing second or more qualifications at the same or lower NQF level will not benefit.

Additionally, students pursuing courses abroad that are in priority fields of study but are offered in tertiary education institutions in Namibia, will not benefit.

This includes, students enrolled at institutions and/or in programmes not meeting legal and quality standard requirements according to approved National Quality Standards by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA), and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA).

Non-tuition fees will be given to these students and trainees on a loan of N$17 000.

“Students who owe tertiary education institutions are responsible for making necessary arrangements to settle their debts, as the Subsidised Tertiary Education Funding Model will not cover existing or future related debts,” she said. Significantly, continuing students who are supported by the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) and who are eligible under the Subsidised Tertiary Education Funding Model will be supported under the Subsidised Tertiary Education Funding Model from 2026 onwards.

“Those who are not eligible under the Subsidised Tertiary Education Funding Model will be supported under the current agreements with NSFAF,” she added.