Southern African Development Community to Enforce PhD for Lecturers

Southern African Development Community

UNIVERSITIES in some Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are moving towards making it mandatory for all lecturers to have doctorates or PhDs in the next few years, with several countries already implementing the initiative. Botswana has already implemented the idea while Zimbabwe has given a 2015 deadline for all its lecturers to update their qualifications.

Some Namibian educators, including Polytechnic of Namibia Rector, Tjama Tjivikua, have given the idea a thumbs up.

With the Polytechnic's transitioning into the University of Science and Technology, Tjivikua told The Namibian that more universities are increasingly requiring academic staff to acquire PhDs because the world has entered an era in which knowledge is the defining parameter. "To teach post-graduate students, especially at PhD level, the professor must have a PhD," he emphasised.

"Top universities in Africa such as Stellenbosch, for instance, only have 60% of their academic staff equipped with PhD degrees. The University of Cape Town has less than 70%, as has the Witwatersrand University," he said. Tjivikua said higher education institutions in Namibia, particularly the Polytechnic, are aiming to have the majority of their lecturers with PhD qualifications.

He said they are doing well in this regard, considering that 68% of its lecturers have attained masters (MA) degrees and PhDs.

Out of a staff component of over 400 full time lecturers, Tjivikua said 70 are PhD holders while 200 are MA degree holders. Although Tjivikua could not specify whether the majority of the PhD holders were Namibians or not, a reliable source at the institution revealed that out of the 70 PhD holders, many are foreign lecturers with only a handful of locals. The source also indicated that there are very few female PhD holders at the institution.

Lecturer in media studies at the Polytechnic, Bertha Amakali, who is currently pursuing her PhD degree, said that not only are lecturers required to have PhDs in countries like South Africa, but a background in the publishing of journal research papers is also a must.

Amakali said it proved to be a challenge for her to carry out research as part of her studies because Namibia has a poor publication output by PhD holders.

"It is a brilliant idea as it will improve the status and quality of education in the country," said Amakali.

University of Namibia (Unam) public relations officer Utaraa Hoveka said that the university has invested a significant amount of money to enable its staff to attain higher qualifications such as MAs and PhDs. He said more than 250 Unam staff are currently upgrading their qualifications locally and abroad.

"Lecturers are encouraged to get their PhDs and publish their work," Hoveka said, adding that Unam currently has 202 PhD holders, and 358 MA degree holders.

Unam humanities and social sciences lecturer Jairos Kangira said the MA degree is now equivalent to a mere "certificate of attendance".

"Almost everyone has a masters degree these days. There was a time when a certificate in education was the basic thing to have, but now it is the PhD and as academics, we must keep up with the changing times," he said.

Kangira, who recently represented Unam at a PhD students workshop in Durban, South Africa, conducted by the South African and Netherlands Partnership of Alternative Development, said the government of SA has taken the initiative very seriously and their aim is to produce over 6 000 PhD holders a year.

He revealed that the government of SA has introduced a fund that sponsors every PhD candidate to make this goal a reality. The workshop was attended by various SADC country representatives and the topic of mandatory PhDs for universities was the topic of discussion. Education minister David Namwandi said although the initiative is a good idea, Namibia must take baby steps because it is only 23 years old.

"We do not want to create instability. As much as we would like to move at the same pace as other countries, Namibia is still developing and we should not compare it to other countries whose universities have existed for centuries. Our aim is to encourage personal development for all, but it will not happen overnight," he said.