Namibia’s College of Open Learning (Namcol) has graduated its first cohort of students from newly introduced advanced programs which include Bachelor of Arts in Youth Development and Post-Graduate Diploma in Open School Operations and Management.
Speaking at the occasion that had graduates among 950 students who got capped during the college’s 20th graduation ceremony, the Institution’s Chief Executive, Heroldt Murangi, noted that the need to expand and diversify the program offerings in the school works with the Namcol mandate – which is to contribute to the socio-economic development of Namibia by offering programs at all levels.
Two standout programs from the courses available are the Post-Graduate Diploma in Open School Operations and Management is an international qualification developed by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL).
Murangi explained that Namcol has been selected by COL to offer that mode of the program for the African region, and at a global level. Consequently, 10 students from Eswatini have benefitted scholarships to pursue the program that has attracted a high number of international students.
The graduation ceremony was held under the theme ‘The significance of eLearning in enhancing teaching and learning amid the pandemic’. So far, the college has seen growth with enrolled a total of 395 students for its Tertiary Programmes in 2008, and In 2020, it enrolled 4,357 students, plus 329 TVET trainees. It is impressive that the figures represent a huge but gradual increase in growth for the Institution.