Unam For All
I WRITE this letter with deep confusion and heartfelt sadness.
I have been a student of the University of Namibia for three years now and have made various observations during my stay at Namibia’s premier institution of higher learning, which are very saddening. I want to highlight certain issues that stood out for me during the three years and that don’t seem right.
First is the issue of the cultural festival celebrations from the 5th – 8th September 2012. Applications were called for stalls at the festival of which only a limited number of applicants where accepted.
But this number used to be larger in previous years allowing more students to take part.
One wonders what the reason was behind only a limited number of applicants being accepted. Furthermore, most of the applicants accepted were from within the country, while the university has a vast number of students from across the continent.
If the majority of students accepted are Namibians, where is the culture of academic excellence and cultural diversity for the past 20 years? Wouldn’t it be wise to ensure that each and every student at the university is equally represented?
Secondly, year in and year out, come registration time, you will see the same students assisting at registration or any other Office of the Dean of Students (ODS) activities even after they have called for new applications.
The questions that I am then left with are, whether other students don’t apply for such opportunities or whether they don’t they meet the criteria all the time? Every year it’s just the same individuals that you see and who act like they are the owners of the university.
I would love to see that all the students of Unam, be it old or new ones, be given a fair chance by ODS to excel in whatever endeavour that they may undertake and not the same individuals year in and out.
This way ODS may also regain the trust that it has lost from the student community, and me in particular, as a mother body because at the moment it seems like only certain students are favoured and eligible to work at ODS activities, even if new candidates make themselves available.
Concerned Student
Unam Main Campus