Let’s Boost Local Institutions First

Open Letter To Honourable Nahas Angula

IT is my pleasure to call you ‘Honourable’ for the honourable things you are doing for this country and and also as a psychological boost for faithfulness and all that. But apart from the honourable things you have done for us, it would be even more honourable to consider turning the Polytechnic of Namibia (POL) into a world class technological university at some stage.Everything works at Polytechnic and you well know its impact on the national economy.Project Sunrise (aimed at sending students to study in the fast developing countries of South East Asia) is developing fast and, what is more amazing, is the fact that it is driven by local talent, people who where trained at local institutions.So, my question is: “Why should we consider sending students to other countries at a point when we could instead upgrade local institutions? The POL together with the University of Namibia are the two most influential players in this regard.I wonder whether five, 10 or 30 years from now, we will be realising Vision 2030 by investing in human capital or will we be fighting unemployment and stagnation? Development is not what we talk about but is about what we can do and be proud of.Tokenism leads to dead-ends, but practical experience is here to stay.If we could emulate a move by South Africa’s minister of education who integrated technikons with technikons and universities to form new and bigger universities and so on.Good examples are the Cape Technikons that were integrated with the Peninsula Technikons to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the Port Elizabeth Technikons that were integrated with the University of Port Elizabeth to form the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, to mention but a few.In our case, UNAM does not need to integrate with the Polytechnic.What could be done is that the university that the President proposed for Tsumeb could be turned into a Faculty of Mining and Mineral Technology where courses like Mine Surveying, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy and Geology could be offered.This could then be integrated with the POL.The Polytechnic’s name could then change to the Namibian University of Science and Technology.To make this new prestigious university even stronger, the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre could also be integrated into the new Namibian University of Science and Technology.- Faniel Maanda – WindhoekBut apart from the honourable things you have done for us, it would be even more honourable to consider turning the Polytechnic of Namibia (POL) into a world class technological university at some stage. Everything works at Polytechnic and you well know its impact on the national economy. Project Sunrise (aimed at sending students to study in the fast developing countries of South East Asia) is developing fast and, what is more amazing, is the fact that it is driven by local talent, people who where trained at local institutions. So, my question is: “Why should we consider sending students to other countries at a point when we could instead upgrade local institutions? The POL together with the University of Namibia are the two most influential players in this regard. I wonder whether five, 10 or 30 years from now, we will be realising Vision 2030 by investing in human capital or will we be fighting unemployment and stagnation? Development is not what we talk about but is about what we can do and be proud of. Tokenism leads to dead-ends, but practical experience is here to stay. If we could emulate a move by South Africa’s minister of education who integrated technikons with technikons and universities to form new and bigger universities and so on. Good examples are the Cape Technikons that were integrated with the Peninsula Technikons to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the Port Elizabeth Technikons that were integrated with the University of Port Elizabeth to form the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, to mention but a few. In our case, UNAM does not need to integrate with the Polytechnic. What could be done is that the university that the President proposed for Tsumeb could be turned into a Faculty of Mining and Mineral Technology where courses like Mine Surveying, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy and Geology could be offered. This could then be integrated with the POL. The Polytechnic’s name could then change to the Namibian University of Science and Technology. To make this new prestigious university even stronger, the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre could also be integrated into the new Namibian University of Science and Technology.- Faniel Maanda – Windhoek