ONGWEDIVA – The University of Namibia (Unam) is growing steadily, the institution’s vice chancellor Lazarus Hangula has said.
He was addressing the graduation ceremony of Unam’s northern campuses last Thursday.
“This growth is not only in the number of students registered with the university, but also in the number of postgraduate students as well as the programmes, ” Hangula said.
One of the programmes he highlighted is the Ogongo Agricultural Campus which has shown tremendous progress in its rice and mahangu farming, a project made possible by Unam’s collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The faculty of agriculture and natural resources is one of the largest and oldest faculties within the University of Namibia Ogongo campus is the seat of the departments of crop science and of integrated environmental science.
The university, which opened its doors over 20 years ago to about 3 000 students, now has 24 280 students mdash; including some from 22 other countries.
“The university is slowly but surely shifting its focus from quantity to quality, capacity development, innovation and higher skills, ” the vice chancellor added. As agriculture is the foundation for food security in the country, the university has been applauded for spearheading agricultural development projects in the country.
The faculty of agriculture and natural resources departments are distributed throughout the Unam satellite campuses.
The department of agricultural economics and extension is at Neudamm, the department of animal science (Neudamm), the department of crop science (Ogongo campus), the department of fisheries and aquatic sciences (Sam Nujoma campus), the department of food science and technology (Neudamm campus) and the department of integrated environmental science (Ogongo campus).
The faculty aims to assist and guide students towards getting their dream career in agriculture and be able to provide solutions on food security, malnutrition and other challenges the country faces.
Other developments are a library being constructed at the Hifikepunye Pohamba campus at Ongwediva, which has nearly 2 000 students. The library is expected to open next month.
“This library will be open 24/7, which will enable it to provide unlimited access to those who are willing to grab the studying opportunity, ” he said.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos Engineering campus, also at Ongwediva, is undergoing the construction of its phase three, which will be known as the ‘German Wing’. The German Government donated 8 million euros to the project.
The newly established southern campus is also slowly finding its feet, Hangula said, adding that the first graduation of six students is a sign that the campus is heading into the right direction.
“This shows that Namibia is gradually becoming part of the global commonwealth of learning and that Unam is slowly realising its vision of being a beacon of excellence in the SADC region, ” Hangula stated.
