By: Joseph Sheefeni
Established two years after independence, the University of Namibia (UNAM) has grown to become the largest public tertiary institution in the country.
This week, the university celebrates its 30th anniversary under the theme "The Engaged University". Vice-Chancellor, Kenneth Matengu, said the achievements attained over this period are immense as the institution now has over 100 professors and nearly 500 staff with doctorates.
“With this anniversary, we want to showcase what we have achieved over the years. This includes growth in students and staff numbers and the impact of our research on agriculture and engineering,” said Matengu in an exclusive interview with TodayonOne. UNAM has over 30 000 students nationwide, 2 600 employees, and 12 campuses.
Matengu, who became the third Vice-Chancellor, further outlined the university's accomplishments. “We are now moving to innovative research and value addition to ensure that our laboratories also provide service to this country. In terms of academic programmes, we have had great success. Also in the number of professors; we now have over 100 in total. At the beginning we had very few professors,” noted Matengu.
Matengu told TodayonOne that the accomplishments attained include introducing priority programmes; such as medicine and dentistry. "This is in addition to the university already producing pharmacists and engineers amongst many other fields," Matengu added. Training at this level is a first for Namibia and is significant for the university.
Matengu says for the past three decades the institution of higher learning has been committed to achieving its objective, which is to produce competent human resources for the development of the country.
In celebration of the 30-year milestone, a number of activities are slated for the rest of the year, and the public is encouraged to join in and learn more about the University of Namibia.
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