EDUCATION

The education and higher education ministries received close to 53% of the budget allocation for the social sector in the 2024/25 financial year. The allocation for these two ministries accounts for nearly 24% of the total budget. The total budgetary allocation to the two ministries accounts for about 9.5% of the GDP.

A total of N$18.4 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture for the 2024/25 financial year – an increase of 9.5% compared to the previous financial year. Personnel expenditure accounts for 79% of the ministry’s budget. Education Minister Anna Nghipondoka pointed out in her budget motivation speech that the personnel expenditure has remained constant between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. She attributed this to the ministry’s efforts of instituting payroll efficiencies through mandatory annual payroll verification exercises and monthly payroll monitoring.

An amount of N$970 million, representing a mere 5% of the ministry’s total budget allocation, has been budgeted for capital expenditure for the development of education facilities, including the construction of 12 schools and the renovation and upgrading of schools and basic education facilities countrywide. The development budget includes a provision of N$110 million for the building of school hostels countrywide. Provision of close to N$1.5 billion in development expenditure has been provided for in the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.

During the 2023/24 financial year, the ministry completed a primary school in Otavi, a school hall and kitchen in Otjiwarongo, two school hostels in the Kavango West Region and two in the Zambezi Region. A total of 510 classrooms and 70 ablution facilities were built through a procurement agreement with August 26 Construction, while the construction of another 512 classrooms has been launched. Despite the accelerated building of education facilities, the ministry is still faced with a shortage of over 3,400 classrooms and over 1,000 hostel blocks.

A total of 40,682 full-time and 35,394 part-time candidates sat for the 2023 Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) examinations. Just over 25% of the 40,682 full-time candidates obtained the required 25 or more points to advance to the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) level or to tertiary education in 2024. This represents an increase of 3.8% compared to the 21.4% who qualified in 2022. A total of 8,134 full-time candidates registered for the NSSCAS in 2023.

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Higher Education Vote has been allocated N$4.8 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, an increase of 13% on the preceding year.

The University of Namibia (UNAM), which has close to 29,000 students enrolled at 12 campuses, received state funding of N$1 billion in the 2024/25 budget. The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) was allocated N$505 million in the 2024/25 budget. It has a total enrolment of over 16,000 students and, in addition to its main campus in Windhoek, it has campuses at Lüderitz and Eenhana and ten regional centres to assist distance learning students.

NSFAF

The Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) received 31,114 applications for financial assistance for the 2024 financial year, of which 23,785 met the funding requirements. The fund provided financial assistance to 20,131 students in 2023.

The fund’s budget allocation has been increased by over 50% from N$1.6 billion for the 2023/24 financial year to N$2.3 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. The fund has granted loans and grants of N$17.5 billion to 176,310 students over the past decade. NSFAF has, however, had little success in recovering debts of over N$5.2 billion from 52,000 beneficiaries with outstanding loan repayments.

Higher Education, Technology and Innovation Minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi announced in June 2024 that eligible continuing and newly awarded students at higher education and vocational training centres will receive N$10,000 as a student loan for non-tuition fees as from 2024.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRES

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is provided at eight vocational training centres (VTCs) run by the Namibia Training Authority. Construction of the Keetmanshoop VTC was expected to be completed by the end of August 2024, while the Khorixas VTC was expected to begin its first trainee intake in September 2024.

With colleges at Khorixas, Keetmanshoop, Nkurenkuru and the expansion of the Kai//Ganaxab Youth Skills Training Centre to include a TVET college scheduled for completion in 2024, the growing number of candidates who want to enrol for vocational training will be accommodated. Several private businesses and VTCs also offer a variety of trade and specialised training courses.

PRIVATE SECTOR EDUCATION

Article 20 of the Namibian Constitution provides for the establishment of private schools, colleges or other institutions of tertiary education, subject to registration with the education ministries and several other requirements.

The number of private schools offering quality education in Namibia has proliferated in Namibia over the past three decades and there are currently over 250 registered private schools throughout the country. Some schools offer the NSSCO and ASL curricula, while others offer curricula such as the Independent Examination Board, Cambridge system and more. The Namibian Private Schools Organisation (NAPSO) is affiliated with 21 private schools throughout the country.

The regulations of the Higher Education Act (No. 26 of 2003) require that private institutions offering higher education programmes are registered with the education ministry in order to be granted authority to offer higher education programmes.

A total of 69 training institutions and the programmes they offer were registered with the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) as at March 2024. These institutions offer a wide range of qualifications in various fields, ranging from certificates and diplomas to degrees.

The privately owned International University of Management (IUM) is accredited with the NQA and the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). It offers 91 programmes at its campuses in Windhoek, Ongwediva, Walvis Bay and Nkurenkuru, a city branch in Windhoek, the Centre of Excellence for Education in Ongwediva, the TVET Okahao Campus and the IUM Swakopmund Research, Training and Conference Centre.

Namibia’s second privately owned university, the Welwitchia University, was established as the Welwitchia Health Training Centre in 2013. It was granted full university status by the NCHE in June 2024. The university will invest N$2 billion to construct new campuses in several towns in the country and will introduce 15 new programmes over the next two years.

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