The document summarizes the higher education landscape in Namibia. It describes the background of higher education developing after independence from colonial rule. It outlines the public and private higher education providers, including two public universities, vocational training centers, and one private university. It discusses the regulatory framework including the Namibia Qualifications Authority and National Council for Higher Education. It also briefly describes the national qualifications framework and need to diversify higher education opportunities.

1. The Higher Education Landscape in
Namibia
Ehrenfriede Mukungu
Accreditation Assessment & Audit Officer
NQA - Namibia

2. Outline of the Presentation
 Background
 Public Higher Education Providers in Namibia
 Private Higher Education Providers in Namibia
 Regulatory Framework
 Qualification Framework
 Observation
 Conclusion

3. Background
• Namibia became independent in1990, after she was colonialized by the
German Government as well as the South African government.
• During the time of colonialism, the education system was segregated along
ethnic and racial lines.
• The policy document, Towards Education for All: A Development Brief for
Education, Culture and Training (1993) state that Schools has to make a
dual selection. First they separated people on the basis of race. Then,
within each group, there was a further selection of the few who would
reach the higher levels of the separate education systems. The uneven
allocation of resources ensured that a larger percentage of White than of
Black children would be selected for further education.

4. Background - Continue
• This led to inequalities and disparities in the quality of education
offered to the various ethnic groups.
• The segregation of society thus ensured that Blacks remained inferior
to Whites in terms of Education, jobs, authority, influence and
income.

5. Background - Continue
• Higher Education in Namibia started around 1979/80.
• Prior to this, students wishing to pursue higher education had to go to
South Africa or other countries abroad.
• The public institutions has its roots in the establishment of the
Academy for Tertiary Education by Act No. 13 of 1980.
• Act, No. 9 of 1985 was promulgated and, by it, the Academy
consisting of a university component (the present University of
Namibia ), a Technikon (the current Namibia University of Science and
Technology) was established.

6. Background - continue
• In Namibia, there are various types of Higher Education programmes:
General formative academic programmes
Professional oriented academic programmes
Vocationally oriented programmes

7. Background - continue
• Vision 2030, set a gross enrolment target of 48% by 2030.
• A review conducted on HE in Namibia in 2011, indicates:
That the gross enrolment ratio for Namibia – the proportion of 20-24
year olds in HE was 10.5% in 2011;

8. Background - continue
As per Namibia National Development Plan 4 (NDP4) there is
• Limited (insufficient) provision of vocational and technical education
• poor (and inaccurate) perceptions of vocational and technical education
and
• decrease in technical and vocational expertise in the country
As a result, government embarked on a programme to:
 Increase the provision of VET and technical education,
 targeting especially the impoverished areas
 Introduce competency based education and training
 Improve the standard of qualifications for educators
Providing adequate equipment and infrastructure for VET centres

9. Background - continue
HE in Namibia is guided by:
The Namibia Qualifications Act 29 of 1996
Higher Education Act No 26 of 2003
Vocational Education & Training (VET) Act No 1 of 2008
University of Namibia Act 18 of 1992
Polytechnic of Namibia Act 33 of 1994 – amended in 2015 to pave
way for the Namibia University of Science & Technology

10. Public Higher Education Providers in Namibia
• Public HE is provided by two public universities and Vocational Education Centres
(VTCs).
• Government is the major source of funding for the public institutions followed by
tuition fees
University of Namibia (UNAM) – established in 1992. Website provided the
following information:
- Eight faculties and two schools
- 12 campuses nationwide and 9 regional centres
- Enrollment number increase tremendously from 2000 at inception to 19 506 in
2014.
- Growth not only in student numbers , also in programmes offered as well as
number of staff members.
- Registered 137 students for PhD Programmes in 2014

11. Public Higher Education Providers in Namibia-
continue
UNAM has various international collaboration
- Offer courses on face to face mode as well as on distance
Namibia University of Science & Technology (NUST)- established in
1994 as a Polytechnic, gazette as a University in 2015
- NUST aimed at:
Increase qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering &
Mathematics (STEM)
Increase enrolment in STEM.
Expand enrolment in postgraduate studies

12. Public Higher Education Providers in Namibia-
continue
VTCs established under the Vocational Education & Training (VET) Act
No 1 of 2008
- Run through a body known as Namibia Training Authority (NTA)
- NTA responsible for external assessment and certification of students
at VTCs
- 6 VTCs accredited by the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA)
- Two (2) other public institutions, established by Acts of Parliament,
the College of the Arts and the Namibia College of Open Learning
(NAMCOL) are also accredited by NQA.

13. Private Higher Education Providers
• Private HE Providers rely on tuition fees as main source of income, as
well as donors and sponsors from private organizations
• Students studying at accredited HE institution receive funding from
the government.
• Only one private university in Namibia, the International University of
Management(IUM)
• IUM cater for almost 8 000 students and operates from five
campuses.

14. Private Higher Education Providers - continue
• The number of private colleges are unknown
• Know only those accredited by NQA – they are 33.
• Accreditation is currently not compulsory and anyone can thus set up
a training institution.

15. Regulatory Framework
NQA was established by an Act of Parliament, ACT No. 29 of 1996.
The government saw the need for a central body that will be able to
mobilize national stakeholders towards:
• Specify the types and levels of competence needed in qualifications
• Evaluating training offered by public and private providers
• Determining whether required knowledge, understanding and skills
were being developed.
• Currently NQA granted accreditation to 41 training providers,
including 6 VTCs, two Public colleges, one private university and 33
private colleges.

16. Regulatory Framework - continue
National Council for Higher Education is established by the Higher
Education Act No 26 of 2003.
NCHE objectives are to promote
the establishment of a coordinated higher education system,
 the access of students to higher education institutions,
 quality assurance in HE;
 advise on the allocation of moneys to public HE institutions.
Vocational Education & Training (VET) Act No 1 of 2008

17. Regulatory Framework - continue
• Namibia Training Authority (NTA) was established by the Vocational
Education & Training (VET) Act No 1 of 2008 to:
regulate the provision of vocational education and training;
provide for the funding of vocational education and training;
provide for the imposition of vocational education and training levy;
provide for the appointment of inspectors and designation of quality
system auditors;
to provide for incidental matters.

18. Qualifications Framework
The National qualifications Framework of Namibia has the following 10 levels:

19. Observation
• There is a need to diversify the higher education landscape as it:
Enhance national competitiveness
Provide differentiated access to higher education
Suited to meet the diverse needs of students in developing countries
There is also a need to increase the delivery of open and distance
learning in Namibia

20. Conclusion
Although there are some challenges in Namibia HE landscape, most of
them are addressed through the National Development Goals of the
country.