To deepen knowledge and guide planning in the higher education system, NCHE undertakes research on various issues. The resulting Research Reports are shared with relevant national policy and/ or planning authorities as well as the general public.
On annual basis, NCHE conducts a Public Lecture on topical issues in the higher education system. The Public Lectures benefit from insights of international experts and are attended by a wide range of stakeholders. The reports emanating from these lectures provide input to annual plans and policy decisions.
On periodic basis, NCHE undertakes graduate surveys. A graduate survey (also referred to as tracer study) is a study that traces graduates from education institutions, sometime after graduation. The main objective of graduate survey is to assess quality of higher education, its external efficiency and help explore strategies for its improvement to effectively contribute to socio-economic development. Results from the survey provide valuable insights for higher education policy makers, workforce planners and researchers, academics and administrators, and the graduates themselves. Careers advisors ought to integrate these findings into their career councelling which in turn assist prospective students to make informed course and career decisions.
The first higher education graduate survey conducted in Namibia in 2010/2011 targeted graduates who obtained qualifications from the University of Namibia and the then Polytechnic of Namibia from 1999 to 2008. The results from this study are contained in the report titled: Tracer Study of Graduates from Higher Education Institutions 1999-2008.
The second study targeted graduates who completed their studies in 2011 at the University of Namibia (UNAM), Polytechnic of Namibia and the International University of Management (IUM) and was conducted in 2013/14 but yielded low response rate, making it impossible to produce any meaningful publication. The survey has however served as a good experience and its methodology served as a field test/pilot for the next survey.
The third survey (2016/2017 National Graduate Survey) was conducted from October 2016 to March 2017 and the target population was the graduates who completed their studies in 2012 and 2013. The three Universities, namely; UNAM, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and IUM participated in the study. The 2016/2017 Graduate Survey Report was launched in February 2019.
The fourth survey (2019 National Graduate Survey ) started from February to May 2019. This survey covers 2014, 2015 and 2016 graduate cohorts from NUST, UNAM and IUM.
The fifth survey (2021 National Graduate Survey ) started from 26 March to 9 June 2021. This Survey covers 2017 and 2018 graduate cohorts from NUST, UNAM, IUM and IOL. The survey questionnaire is here attached (2021 National Graduate Survey Questionnaire ).
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