Govt to expand universities

By Anne Mugisa

The Government has embarked on the expansion of its six universities and two other degree-awarding institutions in a bid to increase enrollment in science and technology disciplines viewed as development shots.

The expansion targets enrollment of an additional 35,000 students in science and technology programmes at university and over 12,000 students through virtual learning.

The five-year programme which starts this month include Makerere whose enrollment stands at 40,000, Kyambogo with 25,000 students, Mbarara which has 3,500 students and Gulu whose enrollment is currently at 4,000 students.

The other institutions are Busitema and Muni University. The two degree-awarding institutions are the Uganda Management Institute and Makerere University Business School, which jointly have an enrolment of 13,600.

The Government has acquired a $101.2m from the African Development Bank (ADB) for the project. Uganda together with the beneficiary institutions will contribute a counter funding of $8.6m.

Maria Kiwanuka, the finance minister, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the Government, while Gabriel Negatu, the director for ADB, in charge of the East African Regional Resource centre, signed for his bank. The ceremony took place at the finance ministry headquarters on Friday.

According to Kiwanuka, the project dubbed support to Higher Education, Science and Technology (HEST), will address the constraints Uganda has had in human resource development and the challenges of the high unemployment rates.

She said that the HEST project will ensure the country’s improved ability for productivity through knowledge and skills and also help higher institutions to tailor programmes to the needs of the market. Kiwanuka added that the project will also help Ugandan graduates compete favourably in the regional and international markets.

“With the interventions, the expected results include the expansion of equitable access to science and technology, training and research. construction of laboratories, lecture spaces, technology workshops, e-learning centres, virtual libraries, faculty offices and business incubator or production units,” Kiwanuka said.

Negatu said the project will increase ICT usage in education and lower infrastructure costs but also increase enrolment among even the vulnerable groups.

“The project is designed in line with Uganda’s national development plan which aims at making the country regionally competitive,” he said.