Renthia Kaimbi
The minister of education, Sanet Steenkamp, has warned universities and vocational centres not to over-enrol students as the government prepares to roll out fully subsidised tertiary education next year.
Steenkamp issued the caution yesterday during the launch of the new funding model, which fulfills a commitment made by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in her April state of the nation address.
Starting in the 2026 academic year, the government will pay 100% of registration and tuition fees for first-time undergraduate students at public and private universities and for trainees in primary trades at vocational training centres.
Students will still be responsible for accommodation, meals, and other living costs.
Steenkamp said the goal of the funding model is to advance social equity and remove financial barriers to post-secondary education.
But she stressed that institutions must remain within their intake limits.
“All public and private tertiary education institutions must ensure that student intake is within their current carrying capacities,” she said.
“Any increase in enrolment beyond capacity must be avoided and discouraged, whilst institutions ensure reasonable human and infrastructure capacity developments without compromising the provision of quality education and training.”
She said funding will only be available for students enrolled at accredited institutions that comply with national quality standards set by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) and the Namibia Training Authority (NTA).
Eligibility is limited to Namibian citizens pursuing their first primary qualification.
The model excludes non-citizens, students taking a second qualification, repeat students, and those enrolled in unaccredited programmes.
Postgraduate studies are not covered. The ministry is working on a national list of priority fields of study to guide future decisions on postgraduate funding.
Support for non-tuition expenses will continue through means-tested loans from the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF).
The parental income threshold for access to these loans will drop from N$500 000 to N$100 000 to better target students in need.
Steenkamp also encouraged the private sector to continue offering scholarships to support the government’s efforts.
Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) president Dorothea Nangolo welcomed the funding model.
She said it improves access to education but raised concerns about the new income threshold.
“However, we are concerned that the new funding threshold of an annual income of N$100,000 will disqualify a significant number of students from receiving non-tuition fees funding, which means thousands of students will continue to struggle with accommodation and transportation costs,” she said.
