The University of Namibia has said it reviewed most of the programmes that were not accredited, taking the comments of the review panels into account, and has submitted them to the National Council for Higher Education in December 2022 for consideration.

Giving clarity around the accreditation status of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, Unam pro-vice chancellor for academic affairs, Frednard Gideon yesterday said the university submitted 83 newly developed programmes in March 2022 to the National Council for Higher Education. (NCHE) for accreditation.

NCHE only accredited 64 programmes
out of the 83 submitted to it.

However, Gideon confirmed 17 programmes were not accredited and required action to address the gaps that the review panels identified.

“These 17 programmes are not being offered in 2023. The university has in the meantime reviewed most of the 17 programmes taking the comments of the review panels into account and resubmitted them to NCHE in December 2022 for consideration. If approved by NCHE, the university will offer these programmes in 2024,” he indicated.

Equally, Gideon emphasised that accreditation is not a test but rather an assessment and validation process culminating in passing judgement on each programme.

According to him, students who intended to pursue studies in these new programmes that were not accredited can register for courses of the old curriculum. 

The council constituted a review panel that conducted reviews from the end of August until October 2022.

The panel members were constituted from academia, industry, and quality assurance bodies in Namibia, as well as experts from Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and the United
Kingdom.