The government has allocated N$663 million to cover registration and tuition fees for the first quarter of 2026 as part of the phased rollout of Subsidised Free Tertiary Education.
Finance Minister Ericah Shafudah announced the funding during the FY2025/26 Mid-Year Budget Review Statement on Tuesday, saying it forms part of a proposed N$814 million allocation to the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture.
“An amount of N$814 million is proposed for consideration to the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, of which N$663 million is to cater for registration and tuition fees for the first quarter (January–March 2026) in line with the approved stance on Subsidised Free Tertiary Education. The other N$151 million is for the recruitment of 665 teachers,” Shafudah said.
She explained that the allocation was made while maintaining fiscal discipline through resource reprioritisation. “In keeping with the fiscal sustainability narrative, we balanced these expenditure requests against the available resource envelope. As a result, the FY2025/26 Appropriation Amendment Bill provides for the reallocation of N$1.20 billion,” she said.
Shafudah noted that while the operational budget has increased, the development budget recorded a reduction. “In summary, we have increased the operational budget for FY2025/26 by N$826 million to a total of N$80.6 billion, while the development budget has decreased from N$9.6 billion to N$8.8 billion, representing a 9.38% reduction. Debt servicing cost is revised upwards from N$13.7 billion (14.8% of revenue) to N$14.3 billion (16.1% of revenue),” she said.
The minister reaffirmed government’s commitment to continued investment in education and health as key drivers of social progress. “We remain committed to funding education and healthcare, and that is how we turn investment into impact. I end with Her Excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s call for speedy, effective and efficient execution of projects to bring about much-needed jobs for our people, particularly the youth,” Shafudah said.
The announcement follows President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s April declaration that tertiary education at all state institutions will become fully subsidised from 2026.
“I am pleased to announce that from the next academic year, commencing 2026, tertiary education will become 100% subsidised by the Government. That means no registration fees and no tuition fees at all public universities and Technical & Vocational Education Centres,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said during her State of the Nation Address.
She explained that the rollout will be gradual, with students initially expected to contribute towards accommodation and related costs.
The decision is expected to ease the financial burden on thousands of students, with current registration fees at public institutions ranging between N$1,900 and N$3,000 for undergraduate programmes and up to N$9,000 for postgraduate studies. Annual tuition fees currently range from N$25,000 to N$40,000 per course.
