Makerere lecturers refuse to set exams

May 05, 2009

THE fate of over 5,000 students from the Faculty of Arts at Makerere University is unclear after lecturers declined to set the end of semester examinations citing non payment of their teaching allowances.

By Fortunate Ahimbisibwe

THE fate of over 5,000 students from the Faculty of Arts at Makerere University is unclear after lecturers declined to set the end of semester examinations citing non payment of their teaching allowances.

In an April 29 letter to the acting vice-chancellor, the Arts dean, Dr Hanington Sengendo, said the university last sent money to the faculty in February.

He said the faculty needs sh570m to pay the lecturers before examinations start. The timetable has been released by all faculties.

“As a result of non-payment, the staff are demoralised. The examinations are less than two weeks away and they have not submitted examination question papers.

Many of the part-time lecturers have indicated that they are unlikely to set examinations until their payments have been met, and since they are part-time, there is little we can do to discipline them,” Sengendo said.

The Makerere University Academic Staff Association chairman, Tanga Odoi, recently said they had presented the grievances to the university management.

“We have told them to release our salaries and if they do not, we shall not release the results. Faculties are stuck because they have no money to pay part-time lecturers,” he said.

Sengendo said the communication that the university would not pay part-time lecturers came after many of them had started teaching.

The dean last week met the part-time lecturers who maintained that they would not set examinations until they are paid.

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