Annual Report - University of Namibia

to provide the necessary academicand administrative support to staff andstudents.national development. We are very proudto be among institutions that are trainingfor the future of Namibia.As the only university and largest teachingpublic institution in the country, theUniversity remained under constantpressure to expand access to highereducation. UNAM remained concernedabout the limited number of graduatesat school leaving level who obtainedthe required C average to be admittedto undergraduate degree programmes.The Cabinet decision to merge the fourColleges of Education with UNAM is,therefore, a step in the right direction toaddress the quality of teachers at theelementary and lower primary levels.The establishment of the School ofMedicine has sparked national interestsfrom pupils all over the country includingstudents from high schools who traditionallydid not regard UNAM as their fi rst universityof choice. A similar trend was also noticedwith the new Faculty of Engineeringand Information Technology based atOngwediva in Northern Namibia.KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTSThe year under review got off to a roaringstart with the inauguration of the Faculty ofEngineering and Information Technologyat Onwediva by His Excellency Hifi kepunyePohamba, President of the Republic ofNamibia.All over the southern African region,engineers of all types are few and farbetween, yet they play a defi ning role inThe University Senate approved thecurriculum of the School of Medicine, thuslaying the foundation for the country’sfi rst ever School of Medicine. This enabledthe University to fl ight advertisements invarious media all over the continent andbeyond for staff for the School of Medicine.Recruitment of key staff members of theschool was done during this period.The University had a total staff complementof 815 during 2009. This fi gure includes 419academic staff, 259 academic supportstaff and 137 central administrative staff.Expatriate staff accounted for only 17% ofall academic staff, while females made up47% of the total number of University staff.In a foresighted effort to create adequateacademic human capacity for thenational university and to engenderhuman resources development capableof addressing the defi cit of the pastand spearheading socioeconomicdevelopment agenda in the country,the Council of the University of Namibiaestablished a Staff DevelopmentCommittee. UNAM has therefore mountedan aggressive staff developmentprogramme to build the local capacityof both its academic and administrativestaff. During 2009, 87 members of staffwere pursuing Doctoral degrees, 29 wereenrolled for Masters Degrees while 21 andnine others were enrolled for Bachelor’sand other qualifi cations respectively atUniversities in the region and abroad.Annual Report 2009 -5-