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 - Windhoek
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 - Windhoek