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By Professor Venansius Baryamureeba 

The Higher Education Sector in Uganda is regulated by the National Council for Higher Education and other professional regulatory bodies and associations that have been set up by acts of Parliament without giving due regard to harmonisation of their mandates. 

This has led to a lot of confusion in the higher education sector, the most recent one being the case of students of King Ceasor University being declined deployment on the National Medical Internship Programme by the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council. 

For purposes of this article, we shall restrict ourselves to the three regulatory bodies i.e. the National Council for Higher Education, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council and the Uganda Law Council. 

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) is established by Section 4 of the Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001 as amended (herein referred to as UOTIA2001)as a body to regulate and guide the establishment and management of Higher Education  Institutions (HEIs) in Uganda. 

Specifically under sections 5(1) and (l) of UOTIA2001, the NCHE is required to ensure minimum standards for courses of study and to certify that an institution of Higher Education has adequate and accessible physical structures and staff for the courses to be offered by it. 

This is enjoined by Section 5(d)(ii) of UOTIA2001 which provides that NCHE  shall receive, consider and process applications for the accreditation of the academic and professional programmes of those institutions in consultation with Professional Associations and Regulatory Bodies. 

Thus, before NCHE accredits professional programmes it is required to consult professional associations and regulators in the disciplines of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, engineering, surveying, architecture and law to mention but a few. 
Professional Associations and Regulatory Bodies play more or less similar roles when it comes to accreditation and running of professional programmes. 

The key technical committee of NCHE charged with quality assurance and accreditation of both programmes and institutions is the committee on quality assurance and accreditation. 

The Medical and Dental Practitioners Council is established by Section 2 of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 1998 as the regulatory body for medical and dental profession in Uganda. Article 3(a) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 1998 provides that the council shall monitor and exercise general supervision, control over, and maintenance of professional medical and dental educational standards, including continuing education. 

Furthermore, article 39 provides for committees of council. Currently one of the committees is on education and training. Also Part III (articles 6-10) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 1998 provides for the management and staff of the council. 

The Uganda Law Council is established by Section 2 of the Advocates Act Chapter 267(as amended by Act 27 of 2002) as the overall Regulatory body of the Legal Profession in Uganda. 

Section 3 (a) and (b) of the Advocates Act Chapter 267 provides that the functions of the Law Council shall be— (a) to exercise general supervision and control over professional legal education in Uganda; and (b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), to approve courses of study and to provide for the conduct of qualifying examinations for any of the purposes of this Act. 

Section 5 of the Advocates Act Chapter 267 provides for the Secretary of the Council. Currently one of the committees of Council is the Committee on Legal Education and Training.   

These acts of professional bodies empower both  Medical and Dental Practitioners Council and the Law Council to monitor, and exercise general supervision and control over the professional education in Uganda under their mandates. 

In addition the Law Council is empowered by Section 3 (b) of the Advocates Act Chapter 267 to approve courses of study and provide for the conduct of qualifying examinations. 

The implication of this is that the Law Council can actually accredit professional programmes under its mandate without any involvement of the NCHE and this is where we have serious gaps. 

The NCHE exercises similar functions over both academic and professional programmes but when it comes to accreditation of professional programmes it is supposed to do it in consultation with Professional Associations and Regulatory Bodies. 

Furthermore, in the spirit of ensuring effective regulation at the East African Community (EAC) level, several regulatory bodies have been set up at EAC level.

In the area of Medicine and Dentistry, we have the EAC Medical and Dental Practitioners Regulatory Council that carries out regulatory inspections/audits at all institutions in the EAC running Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBCHB). Once an institution fails to meet its minimum standards, then its graduates cannot practice anywhere within the EAC.

Now how is the NCHE currently handling the matter of accreditation and routine inspections/audits of the professional programmes?  NCHE is guided by Section 5(d)(ii) of UOTIA2001 which requires it to undertake the process in consultation with the professional associations and regulatory bodies. 

An institution wishing to run a professional programme submits its curriculum to the NCHE. Then the NCHE appoints assessor (s) for the curriculum. 

Once the assessors report is positive NCHE puts in place an adhoc assessment committee where it requests the professional body like the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council or the Uganda Law Council to nominate persons to be part of the committee. 

This adhoc committee reports to the Quality Assurance and Accreditation of NCHE. Thereafter, the quality assurance and accreditation committee makes recommendations to the NCHE to either accredit or not accredit the professional programme. 

In my opinion, this process should be revisited and this is why. Apart from the assessors appointed to assess the curriculum, NCHE does not have sufficient professionals within the Secretariat or on the quality assurance and accreditation committee to effectively address matters of professional programmes. 

On the other hand, the professional bodies have the capacity that NCHE does not have.  For example, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council Secretariat, the Council and its committee on education and training all have experienced medical and dental practitioners. 

Similarly, the Uganda Law Council Secretariat, the Council and its committee on Legal Education and Training all have senior legal practitioners and academicians grounded in the law.  

So ideally, to still abide by the UOTIA2001 and other laws and ensure clarity and harmony in handling accreditation and routine inspections/audits of the professional programmes, an institution wishing to start a professional programme should directly submit its curriculum to the respective professional body. 

Then the professional body should set up an adhoc committee to carry out site inspection and then submit its report to its committee responsible for education and training of the Council. 

Then this committee should make recommendations to the council of the professional body on whether to accredit or not accredit the professional programme.

Once the council is satisfied, It’s the decision of the Council of the professional body that should be communicated to NCHE for ratification and issuance of a letter of accreditation. 

This will completely avoid a situation where NCHE accredits a professional programme without the consent of the respective professional body. 

Also, the letter of accreditation of a professional programme should stipulate the minimum requirements that must be maintained at all times and failure to do so the accreditation should be revoked even before the end of the accreditation period. 

This requires that professional bodies carry out annual inspections/ audits of all programme professional programmes being run in Uganda and share their reports with NCHE.

In summary, NCHE should delegate the key processes leading to the accreditation of professional programmes and the routine inspections/audits to the professional bodies that have sufficient professional capacity in the secretariat, committee responsible for education and training and the council. 

NCHE should be kept informed through reports from professional bodies. 
In May 2023, Uganda Higher Education Sector was locked in a scandal of expired academic and professional programmes.  

Pursuant to Section 5(f) of the UOTIA2001that requires NCHE to receive and investigate complaints relating to institutions of Higher Education and take appropriate action, the issue of expired academic and professional programmes was amicably settled by the NCHE after extensive consultations with all the stakeholders. 

Quality matters in higher education institutions cannot and should not be resolved through litigation. Now the High Court of Uganda (Civil Division) in Miscellaneous Cause No. 0155 of 2023 Munyambabazi Brian and Masereka Ronald (applicants) versus Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council and Attorney General (Respondents): 

a) issued an order of Certiorari against the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council quashing their decision not to deploy the applicants and other medical students of King Ceasor University to the National Medical Internship Programme; 

b) issued a Declaratory order that the applicants and other medical students of King Ceasor University who duly completed the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery  (MBCHB) have a right to be deployed for internship; and 

c) issued an order of Mandamus compelling the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council to forward the names of the applicants and other medical students of King Ceasor University for medical internship.

Even if this matter goes up to the Supreme Court there shall be no winners. 

This is a matter that should be resolved through mediation by a neutral party. The key stakeholders including the students, King Ceasor University, NCHE and the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council should agree on a way forward to all the underlying issues through a binding mediation agreement.  

In the event this fails, the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council has a duty to ensure that half-baked graduates should not be passed by the practitioners as competent as this will transfer the associated risks to the patients. 

In this regard, I would urge the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Council to be guided by Section 1(h) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 1998 that provides that “internship" means the prescribed period of supervised practice from the time a practitioner obtains the first degree to the time of satisfying the supervisor that the practitioner is competent. 

By this clause an intern can even stay on internship for a much longer period for as long as he/she has not fulfilled all the requirements of internship or can even be suspended from internship before completion.

The writer is a Higher Education Expert and Board Chairperson Uganda Technology and Management University (UTAMU)—barya@utamu.ac.ug