Albertina Nakale
Windhoek-Following the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso)’s prompt intervention to rescue thousands of desperate students who were required to pay upfront a 50 percent deposit in tuition fees, the University of Namibia (Unam) management has agreed to reduce the required payment to 20 percent.
Since the beginning of the 2018 academic year, Unam says, all students are now allowed to commence registration prior to paying the N$2,000 registration fee and the 50 percent tuition fee deposit.
But the university has rejected acknowledgement letters from the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) being used by first-year students at registration, which means everyone is required to pay the N$2,000 plus the deposit.
Unam says if payments are not made by February 9, the registration status will lapse and one will be required to re-register during the late registration period.
In an attempt to assist the students, Nanso submitted its proposal to the Unam Council to reduce the 50 percent compulsory payment.
Nanso communications officer, Matheus Taapopi, confirmed that Unam management had agreed to a 20 percent deposit on tuition fees from the initial 50 percent.
Nanso leadership made their formal submission to the Unam Council on Monday before it sat on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in consultation with the government has agreed that the institution will waive the late registration fee during the registration period.
It was agreed that NUST would reduce the current amount of N$4,000 as registration fee to N$2,000 with immediate effect for all new students.
Treasury has stepped in with additional funds of N$150 million to NSFAF, which has run out of funds to guarantee payments to students enrolling for the 2018 academic year.