Big cuts in tertiary education
Big cuts in tertiary education

Big cuts in tertiary education

The minister of higher education anticipates the operational budget of her ministry to be cut by as much as N$1.5 billion.
Jana-Mari Smith
JANA-MARI SMITH



The Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation’s operational budget faces a potential 40% slash, which could see the ministry’s purse reduced by N$1.5 billion.

Minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi yesterday said it was likely that the operational budget of the ministry would be reduced by N$1.5 billion, or about 40%.

The higher education ministry was allocated N$3.41 billion for the 2016/2017 financial year, when the budget was tabled in February 2016.

In October during the mid-term budget review, over N$92 million was cut from the ministry’s operational budget when finance minister Calle Schlettwein announced new austerity measures.

Kandjii-Murangi yesterday said the funding cuts formed part of government’s overall fiscal consolidation and that the ministry would be forced to make tough choices about which programmes and projects would be affecting and to what extent.

Nevertheless, she told journalists that the reduced amount would most likely be spread across all institutions and operations falling under the ministry, and that the ministry did not yet anticipate “any serious problems” with regard to stopping programmes.

The minister assured potential students in need of financial support that the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), would continue to help them despite the “economic hardship faced by government”.

Tough times

Kandjii-Murangi’s announcement came a day after the University of Namibia had announced that it would freeze all vacancies and new positions, including those that had been approved, with immediate effect.

In an internal memo, vice-chancellor Lazarus Hangula cited financial difficulties for the abrupt decision.

The memo announced a restriction of employment of part-time staff and said no student assistants or student demonstrators would be employed by any of the university centres, faculties or offices without written approval.

Staff were urged to “assist with carrying additional workloads, if and where possible and as may be required in order for Unam to continue to deliver effective and efficient services to our clients, the students.”

The university released another memo on the same day, informing staff that it was unable to honour its December promise to implement salary increases in February.

“The adjustments for 2017 will, however, be implemented to all staff to whom the salary adjustments are applicable at such a time that the financial position improves,” the memo read.

Key activities

The minister took the opportunity to highlight activities planned for 2017, which included the construction of two vocational training centres, as well as starting work on creating a Centre of Excellence in Technical Vocational Education.

The ministry will finalise a policy on higher education and the national job attachment and apprenticeship policies.

Kandjii-Murangi said based on the latest examination results, the ministry expected an increase in the number of students enrolling for tertiary education, a process that should not be affected by the budget cuts.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-05

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 747.35/OZ UP +0.41% | Copper US$ 4.47/lb UP +1.36% | Zinc US$ 3 093.00/T UP 1.63% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.15/BBP UP +0.74% | Platinum US$ 999.07/OZ UP +1.89% Sport results: Premier League: Fulham 2 vs 1 Brentford | Manchester United 1 vs 1 Chelsea | Tottenham Hotspur 4 vs 1 Aston Villa | Wolves 2 vs 2 Crystal Palace | Southampton 1 vs 0 Everton | Nottingham Forest 3 vs 0 West Ham | Liverpool 2 vs 1 Brighton | Ipswich Town 1 vs 1 Leicester City | Bournemouth 2 vs 1 Manchester City | Newcastle 1 vs 0 Arsenal Weather: Katima Mulilo: 22° | 38° Rundu: 22° | 36° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 21° | 35° Ruacana: 20° | 36° Tsumeb: 24° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 33° Omaruru: 19° | 35° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Gobabis: 16° | 35° Henties Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 05:12, Low Tide: 23:16, High tide: 17:15 Swakopmund: 14° | 15° Wind speed: 18km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:10, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:13 Walvis Bay: 13° | 19° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 10:50, High tide: 05:09, Low Tide: 23:14, High tide: 17:12 Rehoboth: 15° | 35° Mariental: 14° | 35° Keetmanshoop: 13° | 33° Aranos: 14° | 36° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 10° | 30° Oranjemund: 15° | 31° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 19° | 36° Lubumbashi: 17° | 32° Mbabane: 12° | 22° Maseru: 6° | 26° Antananarivo: 17° | 28° Lilongwe: 24° | 33° Maputo: 18° | 26° Windhoek: 17° | 33° Cape Town: 13° | 22° Durban: 15° | 20° Johannesburg: 16° | 29° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 21° | 35° Harare: 19° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.64 | EUR to NAD 19.01 | CNY to NAD 2.46 | USD to NAD 17.45 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.26 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.13 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.64 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.01 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 132.48 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.33 | USD to EGP 49.07 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1664.36 | USD to ZAR 17.45 | USD to ZMW 26.95 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1876.57 Up +0.49% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14300.12 Up +0.21% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 30650.04 Down -0.59% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9845.11 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 747.35/OZ UP +0.41% | Copper US$ 4.47/lb UP +1.36% | Zinc US$ 3 093.00/T UP 1.63% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 76.15/BBP UP +0.74% | Platinum US$ 999.07/OZ UP +1.89%