Africa-Press – Namibia. THE executive director in the Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Alfred van Kent, says there are still no Namibian students from Ukraine who have been enrolled at local institutions.
This comes after the ministry, a few months ago, said it would explore ways to enroll the students in local universities.
Van Kent said they cannot enroll students in the middle of the year, as the academic cycles of the universities differ.
“Universities in Namibia start in January/February and end in October/November, while the universities in Ukraine start in August/September and end in May/June.
“Students from Ukraine returned in May 2022 when they were approaching the end of the academic year,” he said.
Van Kent noted that local universities have strict admission requirements, which have a bearing on the quality and reputation of the institutions and that should not be compromised.
“The University of Namibia has looked at the categories of students who came from Ukraine and requested all first to fourth year students to submit their academic documents through the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF).
One of the Namibian students who were studying in Ukraine, who asked to remain anonymous, said most of the students were in their final year and waiting for their degrees.
“For the first years, I think they will be going back in September when school opens. I don’t think there are any students who have been enrolled in local universities, and I don’t think students will even want to go to local universities,” she said.
NSFAF acting chief executive officer Kennedy Kandume said most of the students repatriated from Ukraine are still in Namibia, and a few are in other countries such as Poland.
“Some of those who are funded by NSFAF have applied for transfers of institutions and countries of study, which was approved. Others are still trying to get admission at local institutions,” he said.
Kandume said admissions into local institutions are not guaranteed as there are criteria to be met.
“What I know is that there are two students so far whose payments have been processed for them to continue studying at Ukraine institutions via online learning,” he said.
The marketing officer corporate engagement & international relations at the University of Namibia, Simon Namesho, said the university has not taken in any Namibian students who returned due to the war in Ukraine.
“We have four faculties at the University of Namibia. The faculty of health sciences and veterinary medicine had an initial discussion on the possibility, but all its programmes are currently full. This assessment was done before having had to look at admission merits,” he said.
Namesho said spaces on programmes to possibly enroll students is one of the challenges.
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