NAMIBIA: University of Namibia Launches first Master’s Degree in English in Namibia

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Submitted by Moses E.D. Magadza on Mon, 03/10/2011 - 7:53pm

Namibians wishing to study English at Master’s level will no longer need to go abroad after the University of Namibia launched a Master of Arts degree in English. This will be the first time that this English degree will be offered in Namibia.

The University’s Senate recently unanimously approved the programme. The first intake of students will be in January 2012, according to Professor Jairos Kangira, who led the development of the programme, which will be offered by the Department of Language and Literature Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof Kingo Mchombu was upbeat when approached for comment.

“This programme will go a long way in improving the English language proficiency in Namibia which currently is officially acknowledged as low. The recent launch of the English Language proficiency programme for teachers by the Ministry of Education is a clear testimony of the grave concern by authorities and the need for improvement in the standards of English,” Mchombu said.

He congratulated all those who worked hard to develop the programme.

Ministry of Education

Kangira, who heads the Department of Language and Literature Studies and is also the technical advisor of the ELLP (English Language Proficiency Programme) at UNAM, said they considered the Ministry of Education’s concern about the low standard of English in developing this new programme.

This month the Ministry of Education ordered all teachers and heads of schools in the country to write an English Proficiency Test. The results are still pending.

However, well-placed sources said that once the results are out, the teachers would be graded accordingly and those who performed poorly will undergo a training programme to uplift their standards of English.

Experts have blamed successive colonial regimes in Namibia for downplaying the importance of English and say this has negatively affected generations. As things stand, there are reports that some teachers – especially in the rural areas – teach English and other subjects in local languages.

There are also reports of some learners being introduced to studying in English late in their teens, by which time their English language mistakes would have fossilised and difficult to correct.

The purpose of this qualification is to provide students with advanced knowledge and skills that will make them more proficient users of the English language in a variety of contexts.