By Jivan G M Gariseb
When Namibia’s first female president, Her Excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, announced that tertiary and vocational education will be free starting in 2026, the nation erupted with hope, pride, and curiosity.
This is a breakthrough for students and families who struggle with registration fees and acquiring student loans.
It also signals the government of the day wants to empower the youth and help uplift the country’s human capital.
But excitement comes with a lot of questions such as “What about thousands of graduates who already acquired qualifications but no jobs? What about unemployed citizens who are not students?”
Most interestingly, whether Vision 2030, which is rapidly approaching, is achievable, with all these questions, lingering in my mind.
Will the new policy of subsidized education realistically contribute to those national goals, especially when unemployment keeps rising?
As the promise of free education moves closer to reality, it is crucially imperative to dive deeper into its impact on the bigger picture of Namibia’s socio-economic landscape.
Free tertiary and vocational education mark a turning point in Namibia’s history. For decades access to higher education has been unequal, largely dependent on household income. Starting in 2026, the barrier will be lifted. Meaning no undergraduate will stay at home because tertiary and vocational education will be free.
The president’s decision acknowledges that education is not a privilege but a national investment, an attempt to give opportunities to everyone, regardless of socio-economic background.
However, as transformative as this policy is “education alone does not equal employment”.
Across the country, the stories of young graduates who hope to secure jobs are what I hear on daily basis. Many ends up in informal sectors, selling goods on street, doing odd jobs, and unfortunately turning to crime, which has also significantly also increased in the past couple of years.
There are numerous factors that fuel this crisis such as a stagnant economy still recovering from past shocks; slow job creation in the private sector; insufficient support for youth entrepreneurship or even just skills mismatching between what students’ studies and what the country needs.
In the end, free education will give future students hope, but unemployed graduates remain in oblivion as they struggle to find direction in an economy that can’t benefit them.
Namibia’s unemployment rate, especially youth unemployment, is one of Namibia’s biggest challenges. It threatens not only economic growth but also social stability. A country cannot realize its development dreams when its young people are frustrated, indolent and losing hope in the systems.
The Founding President Sam S. Nujoma introduced “Vision 2030,” a national blueprint aiming to make Namibia a developed state by the year 2030.
But with only a few years left, and as calculated 4 years remaining, many Namibians are now questioning whether these goals are still realistic, especially with unemployment remaining high and increasing every year, and the economic growth is inconsistent and erratic.
So, does making education free help Namibia move closer to Vision 2030? Yes indeed, but only to a limited extent. Without an employment pathway and economic expansion, free education alone will not achieve the dream envisioned by Nujoma.
To ensure that free education contributes to Vision 2030 and does not worsen unemployment, government and private sector must work together to align education with industry’s needs, universities and vocational centres must offer programmes that match emerging markets for instance such as green hydrogen renewable energy or artificial intelligence.
Secondly Namibia must expand industrialization in order to process and add value to Namibia’s raw materials, which will significantly create thousands of jobs.
The president’s announcement of free tertiary and vocational education in 2026 is historic, inspiring, and potentially transformative. It opens doors that were once closed and gives young Namibians a fairer chance at success but education without possibility of employment is an “unfinished promise”.
For Vision 2030 to become more than just a dream, Namibia must pair free education with aggressive job creation strategies and, industrial growth as well as youth empowerment. Only then will the nation truly honour the vision set by our late president, His Excellency Dr. Sam Nujoma, and secure a vigorous future for the next generation as well.
*Jivan G M Gariseb is a Public Relations Officer for the UNAM Political Science Society and a Political Science Student
