Makerere introduces fees for late registration

By Innocent Anguyo

MAKERERE University students will have to pay an additional sh50, 000 if they do not register by February 15.

A notice dated January 09 issued by Makerere University second deputy vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe directs students to register before February 15, irrespective of whether they have paid their fees or not.

"The registration platform has been set at zero (free) for the first two weeks to enable all students register and be invoiced. This will enable students and parents to know what they owe the university and plan accordingly," said Nawangwe.

After registration, students are required to print proof of registration and move with it in order to attend classes.

However, to register after January 15, a student will have to pay up to 60% of their fees on top of clearing the sh50, 000 for late registration.

All the 41,000 students of Makerere are expected to have registered by the sixth week of the semester or risk being barred from attending lectures. The seventeen-week semester started on Saturday January 31 and ends on Saturday May 30.

During registration, students select the papers (course units) they are expected to sit in a particular academic semester.

The registration process undertaken every academic semester is conducted online for continuing students and manually for freshmen in their maiden semester at the university. Registration for retake is equally done manually. Students who do not register are presumed to have shunned studies for that semester.

The Makerere University Revenue Collection Unit recently came up with a new policy that allows students to register for the first two weeks of the semester before paying fees. Initially, students were not allowed to register before paying fees.

According to Prof Edward Kirumira, the representative of Humanities' College Principals on Senate, Makerere's supreme academic body, the new registration policy will empower administrators to plan for the entire semester since the number of students will be established at the start of the academic quarter.

"Initially, by the start of the semester, few students register and you may allocate a small lecturer room for a course that eventually has many students. With this new policy, you may know the number of your students and plan for them accordingly," said Kirumira.