WINDHOEK-The President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the International University of Management (IUM), Epaphras Sheya Ngolo, is calling for free education at local institutions tertiary education.
Ngolo says with the free education, all students from different background poor or rich will have access to education. Also a social justice activist, he says his plans as SRC head is to restore the dignity of students and to advance their interests. “We are here to challenge an unjust system of the education, question the unquestioned and stand up for the voiceless students. We are here to fight for an equitable funding policy of the students,” says Ngolo, adding that they need free education to liberate students from mental slavery.
“Education must be free in terms of its content and in terms of its monetary value. We want people’s education for people’s power. Free education is not some dreams cooked by young people, it’s a promise that the government made to us and we want it to be fulfilled. Let it be known and forever be remembered that it’s only a mobilised youth that can shake the core of an unjust system.”
As member of the 2019 SRC, Ngolo says they also intend to amend or come up with a policy to reduce the high unemployed graduate’s rate. “The same way the economists come up with price ceiling and price floors to protect consumers and producers (who are mostly politicians with business companies) from exploitations, graduates should also be protected in the job industry.”
As a Namibia National Students Organisation (NANSO) Secretary for Khomas Region, Ngolo also have some tips for students and motivate them to rise above their limitations or their personal concerns, to attend to the broader concerns of all humanity. “Students should not be ordinary students, they should question the unquestioned, as Martin Luther King Jnr said, The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically, intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education. We should get educated and develop ultimate knowledge that must be taught in school.”
He adds the quest for money should not determine their choice of degree but their quest for knowledge must be the decider. “We have every right to be outraged. Students should not be naïve to think that the world we live in is not inherently patriarchal and racist.”
Ngolo says the biggest challenge they face as SRC is to keep the council united or to maintain unity among students, especially during times of difficulties.
He adds other challenges is questioning the unquestioned, which is a revolutionary concern and it remains a battle between the past and the future. “The leadership is trying not to find itself on the wrong side of history. One of our responsibilities is to act when injustice is being inflicted upon our students and to represent our constituency, which is the student populace. We are students’ servants and our masters have mandated us to [create] a conducive studying environment for them to excel academically,” explains Ngolo.
Ngolo is a Business Administration graduate and is currently studying towards his honours degree.
CAPTION: Free education….President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the International University of Management (IUM), Epaphras Sheya Ngolo, who is called for free education at the tertiary level.