The first Vice-chancellors and Rectors Forum for Namibia has been established. Chair of the forum and Vice-chancellor of the University of Namibia, Professor Lazarus Hangula, said it created a framework for tertiary education in Namibia to consult, collaborate and share resources.

"It also provides a unique opportunity for these institutions to be able to articulate their academic programmes and qualifications for the benefit of students in particular and that of education as a whole."

The forum's three main members are the University of Namibia (UNAM), Polytechnic of Namibia and the country's sole private university, the International University of Management. Colleges of agriculture and education are also members by virtue of their integration into the faculties of agriculture and education of the University of Namibia.

Hangula noted that there are also numerous private colleges which the forum first needs to study, "to determine whether they are really colleges in terms of curriculum and accreditation" before they can join the forum.

The heads of tertiary institutions and Ministry of Education created the forum following calls for its establishment by Namibia's political leaders. Prime Minister Nahas Angula said the forum opened a new phase in the growth and development of higher education in the country.

"The forum signifies the need to both compete and cooperate. This seemingly contradictory intention defines the mission and values of higher education." He stressed the need for tertiary institutions to collaborate in order to form interdisciplinary research teams.

Angula condemned what he described as the duplication of programmes and unproductive competition. He gave as an example plans by the Polytechnic of Namibia to establish an aquaculture programme while the University of Namibia already has a similar programme.

He said competition and cooperation should be mediated through mission differentiation, urging tertiary institutions to identify their niche and define their core business.

The forum will among other things promote joint research activities, formalise academic credit transfers, share common resources and synchronise the costs of their programmes.

Namibia experiences a continued demand for access to higher education, with public tertiary institutions increasingly faced with the challenge of accommodating all who qualify to enter them.

* Utaara Hoveka works in the communications and marketing department at the University of Namibia.

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