Universities cautioned on non-marketable courses

 

President Yoweri Museveni has warned public Universities in Uganda to stop offering courses which are not marketable to the labour domain in Uganda and abroad. 

 

He also announced that arrangements have been finalized to set up more public Universities including, Teso University.

 

 He, however, noted that the new universities must have courses that are closely aligned to the needs of society and the labour market. 

 

The President made the remarks in a meeting with the Teso delegation at State House, Entebbe which briefed him on the progress on the proposed Teso University. 

 

Museveni advised the Teso leaders to start with a few faculties which can be effectively funded instead of fragmenting the resources, a mistake, he said, many universities fall in.

 

The President termed the offering of non marketable courses to students as deceiving the students. 

 

“Courses at the university should either help students to create their employment or be employed by others”, he said. 

He cited Mbarara University of Science and Technology where students got employment soon after graduating because the courses offered there were marketable to Uganda and abroad. 

 

The President recalled that the University was started to produce students who would not look for jobs. 

 

He advised public Universities to always put marketability and needs of the society into consideration. 

 

“I hear some Universities are offering conflict resolution as a course. What will happen if there are no conflicts to solve? How many jobs are available for those who have done conflict resolution? The first time I saw a Mbarara University student looking for a job is when Professor Kayanja introduced Development Studies as a degree course”, he said. 

 

He noted, however, that Mbarara University of Science and Technology has realized its mistake and phased out the degree. He advised that although people need to understand development studies, this should be a paper not a full course as some universities have done.

 

The President stressed the importance of courses like science studies because many secondary schools lack science teachers, agro business, business administration, medicine, and computer science.  

 

“Our Universities should strive to produce for the labour market here and abroad”, he said. 

 

In addition, the President said these courses must be linked with practical work noting that many of the graduates will miss out on the oil market jobs because some oil companies want people who have been trained in theory and practical.