At face value, it appears that Namibia has stellar institutions of higher learning contributing towards its aspirations of an educated citizenry able to compete globally with first world countries.
However, a subterranean analysis would reveal that Namibia is facing a crisis of “pirate institutions” masquerading as centres of excellence while their actual goal is to exploit the Namibian Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) in particular and desperate students in general.
The desperate students are usually the Grade 10s and 12s who failed to meet the entry requirements of top tier institutions.
These institutions all have a genetic trait. Usually, a foreign-owned institution with the promise of qualification can gain students employment in and outside of the country.
They come in and offer basic certificate and diploma courses – often in fields that are saturated with unemployed graduates. Additionally, the courses they offer are usually unaccredited by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) and contain archaic curriculums.
Moreover, their courses and curriculums are never relevant to the National Human Resource Policies, the National Development Plans, Vision 2030 and the Harambee Prosperity Plans.
In these current times, education and curriculum must be agile and ready to adapt to the unknown, readjusting along the way of constant changes in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Therefore, it is unacceptable that these institutions come in and offer curricula that are not up-to-date, and does not prepare students for the real world, needless to say for the challenges that the country faces.
Besides the challenges mentioned above, their financial policies and regulatory documents are by a hair’s breadth student-friendly – designed to trap students in debt with no refund policies when they opt to deregister. With NSFAF or the students footing the bill for the entire academic year even in instances where a student deregistered in a week after enrolling and paying registration fees.
These institutions offer bare minimum services whilst charging ridiculous amounts for mere certificates and diplomas. In the era of digital transformation, these institutions still operate in primitive ways. Not one management information system in place, no accessible websites, no portals, etc. This is a crisis that must be addressed.
The National Council on Higher Education (NCHE) and the relevant stakeholders must step in and ensure congruency amongst institutions of higher learning. Curriculum specialists must not only be included in the dialogue on education and development.
They should take part in the assessments that approve the registration of these institutions. Moreover, courses and curriculums offered must align with national development policies and strategies. It is imperative that educators be aligned with long-term development dialogue and strategies and, thus, update curriculum according to the needs as they arise.
If not addressed, curricula will continue to fail to facilitate learning. Consequently, with poor learning outcomes, education will remain irrelevant. In addition, inequities between the poor and the rich, and between the developed and the underdeveloped world will perpetuate and even widen. Likewise, job market saturation and unemployment will consistently be on the increase.
Quite frankly, there is no necessity for foreign and new institutions to come in, set up and offer redundant courses. Institutions must come in and offer courses in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, tailor-made and suited for higher learning and vocational institutions.
Come and teach us how to build cars, trains, boats and aeroplanes – how to make life-saving medicine and all world-class technological advances that are necessary for the future of this country. Do not come and set up five campuses or centres all offering caregiver courses, certificates in English and keyboard and word processing. Note that the aforementioned courses are in no way mentioned to denigrate the holders of such qualifications.
Furthermore, there must be an effort to harmonise entry requirements for institutions across the board. There is no way that one student registers for a course with 25+ points at the University of Namibia (Unam), and the other registers with 12 points for the purported “same course” at one of these pirate institutions. In a scenario like this, one thing is for sure: there will be a guaranteed degeneration of particular fields of study. Therefore, entry requirements must be regulated and ideally be similar with small margins of variation.
Similarly, tuition must also be regulated. Again, there is no way one student can pay N$20 000 for a degree at Unam, and the other pays N$30 000 for a diploma in the same field at one of the pirate institutions.
Somewhere, somehow, we have lost the plot, notwithstanding that those private institutions are not subsidised by the State. However, the regulation of tuition fees is necessary to curb this daylight robbery from students and parents who find themselves vulnerable and at the mercy of pirate institutions.
All in all, the 2022 academic year has begun. Pirate institutions are on their usual recruitment campaigns, searching for students to prey on. Students must ensure they verify whether a particular institution of higher learning is accredited by the NQA and registered with the NCHE.
Moreover, it is imperative that the course they wish to register for is similarly accredited. To those who will not obtain the entry marks for top tier institutions, try again. Do not drown yourself, your parents and your guardians in debt whilst enriching a select few at a pirate institution. This will come at the expense of your and the countries future.
* Malcolm Kambanzera is a third-year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Honors student at the University of Namibia and serves as the National Secretary for Education, Training and Research of the Namibian National Students Organisation (NANSO).