The Namibia National Students Organisation (NANSO) has called on local institutions of higher learning to look at the country’s economic situation and ease registration requirements for the 2022 academic year.
During a press briefing here on Thursday, NANSO secretary for education Malcolm Kambanzera said they are worried that fees payable at registration continue to be a concern for many prospective students. Thus, institutions should reduce their registration fees and ease their registration requirements to allow students to register.
“In this year that has been declared the year of reimaging, we ask that institutions of higher learning re-look at their registration regimes so that they reflect the economic realities of the many Namibian children seeking tertiary education, especially in the recovery of the COVID-19 global pandemic. We hope they explore more realistic and affordable payment plans for students who are self-funded, especially where these payment plans are made requirements at registration,” said Kambanzera.
This comes after the New Era newspaper reported this week that, as of the end of 2021, student debt at the University of Namibia stood at N.dollars 400 million, while Namibia University of Science and Technology recorded an amount of N.dollars 80 million in outstanding fees, and both universities’ students with outstanding fees will not be allowed to register.
With regards to class resumption, he said all institutions currently have a blended learning system that gives lectures discretionary powers on whether to teach online or through contact lessons, but NANSO is of the opinion that it is time to return to face-to-face learning full-time.
“We are wary of the exclusionary nature of online learning where some students have little access to the internet and often miss classes. We are confident that migration to full-time face-to-face learning will mitigate this exclusion while ensuring that the highest levels of quality teaching are delivered in lecture halls and classrooms,” expressed Kambanzera.
He added NANSO had also engaged student representative councils to engage students on mental health and suicide prevention because suicide among students keeps happening every year and it can be attributed to financial and academic pressure.
Source: Namibia Press News Agency
