EDUCATION

KAMPALA - Close to 20,000 students have been admitted for the forthcoming academic year on the private scheme, under various programmes, at Makerere University.

According to the official list released Tuesday, the Bachelors of Laws (Day) was the most competitive with a 57 cut off point mark, followed by Laws (Day) at 52 points and then civil engineering at 47.6 points.

Other courses which are, and have for the past years been very competitive include architecture at 46.5, Civil engineering at 45.8, electrical engineering (Day) at 44.8 and Journalism and Communication (Day) at 44.7.

The other very competitive courses are electrical engineering (Day) at 43.9 points and Medicine and Surgery (Day) at 43.3. (See attached Graphic).  

However, this year, journalism and communication and then medicine and surgery, have not overly been highly ranked; as has been in the past years.

This is partly because students performed poorly in Biology, worse than any of their predecessors in the last five years. 

Meanwhile, there are 2,693 students who were admitted on the national merit this year. Of these, about 1,600 were males.

The state minister for higher education Dr. John C Muyingo, in an interview with New Vision, congratulated all students who have managed to get admitted to Makerere.

“All other public and private universities will soon have their lists out. As a student, make sure you follow up diligently to see if you were admitted,’ he says.

He also advised those who cannot pay tuition yet qualify for the Government’s students’ loan scheme, to take advantage of the opportunity.

“The Government felt there are so many bright students, who may not be able to afford tuition and has for years been extending loans to pay their tuition. Credit should be given to the President who prioritizes education matters of the country,” Dr. Muyingo added.

More so, Charles Ssentongo, Makerere University deputy academic registrar noted that admission letters will be distributed from Makerere University.

“Students should follow up and pick their admission letters. If they delay, past the deadline to be set, their vacancies will be passed on to other students,” he noted.

How are admissions done?

The higher education admissions process takes place in two stages. First, all students who wish to be considered for admission under government sponsorship to public universities fill out the Joint Admissions Committee application forms; and rank their top six choices of degree programmes offered in public universities.

They also select four choices of diploma programs at other public tertiary institutions.

This process was completed and the list was released last month; after the Committee, had made its selections.

Districts have also admitted the best students from their localities, and the lists have already been approved by the Central Government and later released.

The minimum qualification for entry into Makerere and other public universities is two principal passes obtained at the same UACE sitting. However, to earn a Government scholarship, students need to be outstanding.

This year, courses in Civil Engineering, Petroleum Geoscience and Production, Electrical Engineering and education had the highest cut off points on Government admission in universities like Makerere and Kyambogo.

Others are Procurement and Supply Chain Management, Software Engineering and Industrial and Organisation Psychology.

More so, the affirmative action policies, with add additional 1.5 to 4 points to a student’s scores, are in place for women, applicants with disabilities, talented athletes, and the children of Makerere employees.

Students who have not have been admitted on national merit, are the ones who have now been admitted to the private admissions scheme.

At this point, it is for self-sponsored students in public universities. Whereas the Private Entry Scheme (PES) was started at Makerere University, all the other public universities have adopted similar programmes.

The programmes are usually advertised and students apply. About 90% of the student population in public universities is privately sponsored.

Due to the limited places, private admission is also merit-based – only the best-performing students have been admitted.

The other public universities will release their lists later. 

It is, therefore, not automatic that when one obtains the minimum qualification of two principal passes, he/she will be admitted.

The private admission selection process is actually the same as that of government scholarship admissions. 

Students who miss out in public universities can alternatively join privately owned ones.

Find the full list of private students admitted at Makerere University in today’s New Vision newspaper.