IUIU named best private university

EDUCATION    

KAMPALA - Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) has been named the best private institution in the country.

IUIU won the 2019 Visionaries of Uganda Award, beating off competition from Uganda Christian University, Bishop Stewart University, Nkumba University, Kampala International University, Mountain of the Moon University, among others.

Busitema University was declared the best among the public universities in Uganda.

This was at the awarding ceremony organized by the National Planning Authority and the Visionaries advisory board at Kampala Serena Hotel last week.

The winners of Visionary Award are analyzed and selected from various sectors including health, business, and banking, education, science, and innovation, among others.

While presiding over the ceremony, Vice President Edward Ssekandi applauded the awarded institutions for their contribution towards the socio-economic transformation of Uganda to a middle-income country.

"I congratulate all the nominated universities and institutions upon this achievement, but I urge you to continue supporting the country's efforts towards achieving the Vision 2040," Ssekandi said

While receiving the award, IUIU vice-rector in charge of academic affairs Professor Ismail Gyagenda commended the government for prioritizing the education sector and continuously supporting the development of the university.

He attributed the achievement to IUIU's policy of adhering to the quality assurance framework of the National Council for Higher Education.

"Our policies and programs are tied to the vision of the nation (2040) in terms of producing human capital for the development of the country," he said.

He, however, said that this year's nomination did not come as a surprise because the institution has always prioritized market-based programs as a means of addressing community needs.

"As academicians at IUIU we have been offering programs which are market-based and are able to solve community's problems," Gyagenda said.

Visionaries of Uganda team leader Mwesigwa Job applauded IUIU for producing quality and innovative graduates who have contributed tremendously towards the development of the country.

"We looked at the quality of students that have passed through the University, charter of its establishment, the relevance of courses taught in relation to the current world market. We also looked at innovations that IUIU has recently exhibited," Mwesigye said.

The IUIU's recent innovation projects include the pothole detector, electronic Mopping agent and a guiding jacket for the blind and the deaf among others.

Mwesigwa noted that such innovations if put to use, would enable Uganda to achieve the 2040 Vision.

Per capita income (how much money is earned by each citizen annually) is expected to stand at about $9,500 (about sh35m) by 2040 from the current $506 (about Shs1.8m), according to Vision 2040.

The average real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate is also projected to be more than 8.2% per annum during that period translating into a total GDP of about $580.5b for a projected population of 61.3 million people.

Mwesigwa also commended IUIU's academic programs saying that they answer the needs of the country that is trying to transform the socio-economic spheres of its people.

IUIU's academic registrar Dr. Halima Wakabi said that this was the second time they were receiving the visionaries award as the best private university.

In 2017, IUIU won the visionaries award as the best private religious university.

However, this year, the university has been voted the best among the private universities in the country. 

Award's aim

According to Mwesigwa, the awarding ceremony aims at profiling organizations that are sustainably improving the lives of Ugandans to a prosperous, creative middle-income status country.

Visionaries of Uganda Consortium was launched in 2013, as an association of both government and non-government organizations which accredit outstanding individuals' and organizations' contributions towards the socio-economic transformation of Uganda to a middle-income status nation by 2020.

Visionaries of Uganda is in line with the government's Vision 2040 which President Yoweri Museveni launched in 2013.