The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Technology, and Innovation, Natalia |Goagoses, has praised the UNAM Southern Campus at Keetmanshoop for the high standard of geoscience research. 

She paid a familiarisation visit to the campus. 

The southern campus is the only higher education institution that offers a specialisation in geoscience. 

The campus, with a student population of more than one thousand, also offers degree and diploma programmes in the fields of nursing science, education, and business administration. 

One of the campus' milestones in collaboration with partners in Germany was turning cut-down acacia trees into alternative building materials. 

|Goagoses says she was impressed with the achievements the campus has made since its establishment 10 years ago, amid some challenges. 

The campus currently operates from three different sites due to a lack of infrastructure in the recently constructed new campus building. 

It transpired that the National Planning Commission has approved a N$60 million budgetary provision over three years for the construction of specialised laboratories as part of phase two. 

The deputy minister pledged support to address the challenges the campus is encountering, which include limited library resources and vacancies for teaching staff in the geoscience field. 

|Goagoses also expressed concern over the low numbers of students hailing from the region enrolling in the geoscience field in the wake of the emerging developments in the green hydrogen and oil and gas industries in the southern coastal town of Luderitz.