Nust allows students in arrears to attend graduation

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) has announced that students who have outstanding debts will be allowed to attend their graduation ceremonies this week, but will not get their qualifications until they clear the arrears.

According to Nust spokesperson John Haufiku, the decision was made yesterday after a meeting between the university management committee and the student representative council (SRC).

“Management, after a discussion with SRC, resolved to allow students who are indebted to be part of the ceremony,” Haufiku said in an interview with Desert Radio.

Haufiku noted that the key consideration was the fact that the university had relaxed its rules last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevented students from attending graduation ceremonies.

“Even though the university rules are clear that for one to graduate, they must have met their academic and financial obligations, this rule was relaxed last year because the previous two years there was Covid and students had not been attending graduations,” said.

However, Haufiku added that although students who owe outstanding fees will be allowed to graduate, they will not receive their degree or academic transcripts until they settle their fees.

Last week, Nust SRC president Martha Ambabi wrote a letter to the chairperson of the Nust council, Florette Nakusera, demanding an urgent response to the issue of students with outstanding fees not being allowed to attend the graduation ceremony.

Ambabi stated in her letter that the Nust executive committee had decided that students with outstanding balances would not be allowed to attend either graduation ceremony, which would have affected over a thousand students.

“This decision affects over a thousand students and as SRC president, I’m mandated by the SRC constitution to act and speak on behalf of my constituents with the full backing of the entire SRC,” Ambabi wrote in her letter.

She had warned that if the university did not provide a favourable response, the SRC would boycott the graduation ceremony.