By: David Shoombe
In her maiden speech in Parliament, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah made a proclamation of free tertiary education as of 2026 for all first-year students.
This week, the Ministry of Education clarified who would qualify for the subsidised program.
While this has removed the burden from parents who are already struggling to balance their income, the move has been interpreted differently by various analysts. In turn, raising questions about the funding model, the quality of the subsidised program, and the sustainability of the targeted tertiary courses.
It is crucial to note that Namibia made history in Africa with this initiative, particularly in ensuring that the 21st century generation of Namibia is trained regardless of socio-economic backgrounds.
This is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, which encourages the insurance of inclusive and equitable quality education.
The point, therefore, is how the quality of the free tertiary programmes can attract more students. Is the free education of quality and does it answer to industrial needs? Another question is, are the country’s institutions not going to flood the market with graduates, as is the case with education and nursing faculties?
The challenge of the estimated 15,000 education graduates currently unemployed should not be ignored, but rather scrutinised. Granted, it is a noble idea to subsidise tertiary education, but more energy needs to be dedicated to ensuring the private sector expands to provide employment opportunities for said graduates.
It is also important to look at how this change in education will respond to the needs of the labour market. The issues of academic pragmatism must be addressed across all sectors, ensuring public frustrations are avoided by producing graduates that are not wanted by the private sector.
The 2025 Regional and Local Authority Elections saw young voter apathy and public frustration for several reasons, including limited job opportunities.
With the subsidised education, more young people are expected to enroll in tertiary vocational centres to obtain qualifications, thus only expanding the unemployment pool of the qualified. Hence, plans ought to be set in motion to ensure the economy expands in sectors that are labour-intensive to avoid more frustrated youth.
We have to celebrate the government’s decision cautiously, given the current unemployment trends among the youth, and work more diligently to restructure our economy. We must also ensure the subsidised courses are those required by the market to avoid wasting resources on outdated courses.
An educational overhaul is required at all universities, vocational centres, and training institutions for their courses to meet the skillset of today and tomorrow, and the government can use its fiscal muscles to push for such.
It is imperative to put more emphasis on institutional coherence, monitoring, and evaluation to keep track of progress and advise accordingly on implemented policies.
The subsidised education program can be a good tool to fund the needed skills the country yearns for, but only through coordination between the various institutions and the private sector.
