Unam graduates top 2 700

WINDHOEK SELMA IKELA

A total of 2 721 University of Namibia (Unam) students, from ten teaching campuses and eight faculties across the country, graduated from the institution this year.
This was confirmed by Unam Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lazarus Hangula, who said these included 50 masters' degree and nine PhD graduates.
Hangula said the bulk of masters' degree candidates came from the education, sciences and economics departments, as well as from humanities and social science.
This year the total number of Namibian graduates from all Unam campuses across the country is more than 2 400, he said.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony at a local hotel late last week, Unam Chancellor, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, called upon graduates to use the skills they have acquired from the university for the development of their professional careers and the transformation of Namibia into a prosperous society, in which all Namibians can enjoy decent living standards.
I have no doubt that our nation will succeed in achieving these objectives through hard work, proper planning and prioritisation of our development programmes. I am confident that by joining hands and working as a united team, we shall achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves as a nation, said Pohamba.
He added government and academic institutions must work together, in order to find effective solutions and move the country forward. As reservoirs of knowledge, where we have experts in various fields, our tertiary education institutions should be at the forefront in finding appropriate solutions for the socio-economic development of our country. This should form part and parcel of the role of the university in society.
He also urged the university to continue promoting entrepreneurship as a strategy to empower people. Pohamba noted that this can be done by designing and offering training programmes that are responsive to the specific challenges facing school leavers.
From pre-primary education to tertiary education, we will continue to improve the capacity of these important sectors through the training of teachers and academic staff, (the) expansion renovation and modernisation of physical infrastructure at our schools and tertiary institutions, as well as the provision of bursaries and scholarships to young Namibians, he added.