Africa-Press – Namibia. THE UNIVERSITY of Namibia (Unam) has launched an investigation into its student intake for its bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBChB) programmes at the university’s Hage Geingob campus in Windhoek.
Unam spokesperson Simon Namesho yesterday said there are claims that 99% of the intake is from a certain group. This follows an NBC report earlier this week.
However, Namesho said it is important to highlight that professional qualifications and qualifications regulated by professional bodies at any university are highly competitive in terms of admission requirements.
“The number of students to be admitted is always limited. The university is conscious of this fact and is considering various options in consultation with the relevant body to address the situation,” he said.
He said the number of first years accepted to the university is regulated by professional bodies to ensure quality training. “Against this background, admissions to the Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBChB) programme at Unam the school of medicine is based on three primary considerations,” he said.
Namesho said admissions are based on prospective students’ admission points score, regional representation, and the quota of applicants as determined by the Health Professions Councils of Namibia.
“Prospective students from marginalised communities in Namibia, and in the majority of cases when meeting admission requirements, are afforded placement into the highly sought bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery programmes,” Namesho said.
He said notwithstanding the need for diversity sensitivity to which the university subscribes, it is important in a multicultural society not to arrive at conclusions just by looking at names as the only variable, as this in some instances could not be accurate.
However, the request for the release of student names who have been admitted to these programmes is inappropriate, he said. “As such, personal and confidential student information may not be released without the expressed permission or permissions from the individuals concerned,” he said.
He said releasing the students’ names could open the door to identity theft, fraud or other malicious activities. “The university’s executive management has, however, taken note of the public claims and instituted an internal process to establish all the facts surrounding this matter and to confirm or disapprove the claim,” Namesho said.
“It is important to consider that a claim is not always a fact. The matter of establishing all the facts is tedious as it requires information from different sources – hence the delay.
“The university will release a statement on the matter next week,” he said.
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