After being donated land by the Keetmanshoop municipality in 2013 and following the commissioning of a feasibility study, the University of Namibia inaugurated its newly-constructed lecture hall earlier this week at its southern campus in Keetmanshoop.
Delivering the keynote address, chancellor Nangolo Mbumba said the inauguration demonstrates that with measured steady steps, the tertiary institution has finally completed its first new lecture hall complex on this new campus.
“I am delighted to note that the University of Namibia has taken a deliberate decision to relocate Geoscience programmes from the Unam main campus to the southern campus to complement efforts of the mining industry and in turn afford students an opportunity for internship,” he said.
The chancellor said the main aim for establishing a campus for higher learning was to offer and cover qualifications in the fields of education, management sciences, nursing and geosciences.
“These fields of study empower our citizens, particularly the youth, to meaningfully participate in the socio-economic development of our country,” he pointed out as the significance of choosing Keetmanshoop as a viable location for the establishment of a campus in the southern and western parts of the country.
Referring to the current developments in the mining, oil and hydrogen industries in the country, Mbumba called upon the youth, particularly in the //Kharas region, to seize the opportunity and enrol for the variety of academic and professional qualifications offered at the campus.
“Our youth will be able to only fully participate and benefit economically from these industries’ value chain if they are skilled and have requisite know-how,” he added.
The chancellor expressed his gratitude towards the mining sector for making funding available for student scholarships, laboratory equipment and internship opportunities for students at the campus.
Also speaking at the event, //Kharas governor, Aletha Frederick said the government’s investment in the development of higher education institutions in //Kharas has returned excellent dividends for the region and the Namibian nation at large.
“The government’s disbursement of close to N$70 million to date towards the completion of the state-of-the-art Unam southern campus in Keetmanshoop brings us closer to the reality of becoming a resource and research hub that could support the much talk about green-hydrogen-based fuels industry,” she reasoned.
She also raised the concern that many of the region’s learners are still unable to access tertiary education, and that it should be the concern of the leadership to collectively devise turnaround strategies to change this phenomenon.
‘’Nevertheless, I want to emphasise that we have now the opportunity to take full advantage of the demographic dividend on offer from institutions of higher learning in the region to access, improve their skill sets and position themselves to shape their career dreams,” said the politician.
Unam’s vice chancellor Kenneth Matengu highlighted the role universities play in development strategies as that of participating in economic development planning by generating economically viable knowledge and engaging with regional partners to cause and respond to skills demand.
“It is also to give academic and/or scientific support to government officials in using valid and reliable evidence for defining development strategies and interventions – and lastly to use their international connections and knowledge generated to connect the regions to the global scale,” the academic explained.
“I would also like to express my gratitude to the government of Namibia for their unwavering support of higher education and for recognising the importance of bringing university education to all corners of the country,” Matengu concluded.