The Head of Academic Affairs at the University of Namibia's Southern Campus has called on prospective students to apply for the Early Childhood and Junior Primary courses.

Rauna Namukwambi says that there are still spaces available for students who major in Khoekhoegowab, Afrikaans, and Otjiherero languages.

Namukwambi was speaking during an exclusive interview with nbc News at Keetmanshoop.

Namukwambi says that to ensure Namibian indigenous languages do not become extinct, students and Namibians from all walks of life should study these languages, as they come with many advantages.

"We are calling on all the Namibians who qualified through normal general admission criteria and those who qualify through conditional admissions to come to Southern Campus and apply and register for that cause because you will see people are interested in learning France, German, Spanish, and Afrikaans, but we also want indigenous people from Namibia to learn languages from Namibia, even if it is not their mother tongue. You can still learn various Namibian languages."

In an effort to revive Khoekhoegowab, which is one of the oldest languages spoken in southern Africa, the Department of Education in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa enrolled four students at the Unam Southern Campus to take part in the Bachelor of Early Childhood and Junior Primary English and Khoekhoegowab course.

The aim is for more South African students to take part in the course.

Namukwambi says this will subsequently open doors for such discussions about the potential recognition of Khoekhoegowab among the official languages and teaching as a medium of instruction in schools in South Africa.

"We have got four students who came from the Northern Cape Province; they were sent by the Department of Education to come and study qualification in education, and then they are majoring in English and Khoekhoegowab so that they can start teaching Khoekhoegowab in the Northern Cape. The reason they want to do it is that they want Khoekhoegowab to be one of their official languages if really people are well acquainted with the language, so we are expecting more and more students also from South Africa."

Apart from Education, Economics, Management, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Nursing, the southern campus equally houses the UNAM School of Geosciences, including the flagship programmes in Gemology.

-
Photo Credits
UNAM

Category

Author
Natangwe Jimmy