The Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation has engaged with the University of Namibia (UNAM) to integrate students who were studying in war-torn Ukraine to complete their studies.

A total of 51 Namibian nationals, mostly students, have been repatriated from Ukraine in March since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022.

Responding to Nampa’s questions recently, the ministry’s senior public relations officer Selma Ngola said the ministry has engaged with Unam, particularly the school of medicine to explore ways that could be used to integrate the students, mostly in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and engineering.

She noted that thus far, Unam has looked at the fields of study categories and has requested all first to fourth-year students to submit their academic documents through the National Student Financial Assistance Funds (NSFAF) for evaluation and consideration, adding that the university will further look into different support systems for fifth and final year students.

“It should be noted with due diligence that our local universities have strict admission requirements which have bearing on the quality and reputation of the institutions and this should not be compromised,” she emphasised.

Ngola indicated that there are however many factors and dynamics involved in transferring students from one academic institution to another, such as the availability of the programmes, education systems, academic calendar year and requirements by regulatory bodies.

She further noted that the students returned in March 2022 and the academic cycles of Unam start from January/February and end in October/November, while that of Ukraine starts in August/September and ends in May/June for the summer holidays, stressing that the students from Ukraine returned in May 2022 when they were approaching the end of their academic cycle.

Ngola also revealed that another challenge facing the ministry is that the intake of additional students will require more resources which were not budgeted for.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency