RUNDU - National Council member and Rundu Rural constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu has said the university of Namibia’s Rundu Campus should now focus their intake on the newly introduced courses for the 2023 academic year and not on the lower and upper primary education courses that have flooded the streets with unemployed graduates.

In reality, getting a lower and upper primary teaching post in the two Kavango regions have become a nightmare, as hundreds of graduates over the past years are still unemployed. Some of these graduates say only those with money or from connected families are able to get these positions.

The Kavango East Regional Council has over the years been calling upon the University of Namibia in the region to also train teachers for secondary education as well as introduce other courses in addition to establishing an agriculture training facility and the institution towards the end of last year sent out a notice for new academic courses for this year.

“I think it’s a good move, it’s what we have been crying for all along, the introduction of secondary education, the introduction of commerce and law, health and veterinary medicine amongst others,’’ Mbangu said. 

The Rundu campus have decided that this year, those planning to join the campus will be spoilt for choice as the campus introduced some new courses and increased courses in their different faculties.

 From this year, the campus will offer a bachelor of education in secondary education (honours), in various specialisations from mathematics and chemistry to mathematics and physics as well as biology and chemistry.

The faculty of health science and veterinary medicine will offer a postgraduate diploma in health service management, and nursing.

The campus will also offer a bachelor of law, honours degree.

Mbangu strongly advised that the Rundu campus must now reduce the intake of the degree in primary education because the region has a lot of graduates in the streets that are not yet absorbed into schools as teachers as the number of posts available is lower than the demand. 

“The campus should now focus on these new courses and limit the intake of lower and upper primary education until such a time when those unemployed graduates are employed, it will not serve any purpose to have a high intake. We applaud the higher education ministry through Unam for attending to our demands as a region,’’ he said.

- jmuyamba@nepc.com.na