Can they maintain similar standards here?

By Angella Ndagano

DOROTHY had her son’s interests at heart when she persuaded her husband to send him to the United Kingdom (UK) to pursue his bachelor’s degree. To Dorothy’s dismay, her son came back after three years without completing school.

All he had to show for his time abroad was an addiction to drugs. In the absence of his parent’s supervision, Dorothy’s son used the tuition fees for his own pleasure.

For Moses, it was the weather that deterred his asthmatic daughter from completing her degree in Canada. She was always admitted to hospital during winter. The doctors said she had failed to adjust to the weather conditions.

Such are some of the trials of parents who send their children abroad in the quest for high quality university education. However, with the current university trends, parents may not have to go through the hustle of sending their children abroad.

Foreign universities are opening branches in the country, while others are collaborating with institutions of higher learning to offer degrees on their behalf. Experts say this trend is closely linked to a new law passed in July to tighten the issuance of student visas in the UK.

The BBC last week quoted officials who estimated that the plan will eventually reduce the number of students by 75,000 down from roughly 250,000 a year at present. This is a big blow to Ugandan students because UK is a leading destination for many Ugandans seeking university education.

International University of East Africa, Victoria University and Cavendish are the universities currently licensed by the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) to offer international degrees.

Phenny Birungi, the NCHE assistant executive director, says more universities of this kind are expected to crop up because of the latest development in UK’s education rules.

“There are so many universities that want to establish themselves here. If we were to allow every university that wanted to establish itself, we would have hundreds of universities,” he says.

“Some universities do not even want to go through our procedures because they think we shall get carried away just because they are coming from abroad. Others come with a lot of enthusiasm and later get discouraged after they realise they have to go through certain procedures.”

The quality of education:
Is it possible for a university to offer the same quality of education its partner university abroad offers? Will the degree that is studied in Uganda be valued at the same level with that offered in Europe? These are some of the questions that are running through the minds of parents who are thinking of enrolling their children in these universities.

“We ensure that the programmes taught here are similar to those taught abroad,” Birungi confirms.

In addition, the council critically looks at the degrees offered before they can be accredited and maintains the right to revoke the licence in case it feels the university is not providing quality education.

Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, the vice-chancellor of Makerere University, expounds on the issue of quality.

“There are many universities around the world that have campuses overseas; they usually maintain the same standards. For consistence, they sit the same exams,” he says.

“More so if a university is affiliated to a recognised institution, the latter will be keen on the quality to prevent its name from being tarnished.”

When most people hear the word affiliated, they envision an institution that wants to cheat unknowing citizens. Many have fallen victim to such institutions and are unwilling to trust any university that claims it is offering foreign degrees.

“I do not trust any affiliated university. My brother once joined one that claimed affiliation to a university in India. After a year, it could not be traced,” recalls Drake Nsubuga.

However, Gulu University vice-chancellor Prof. Nyeko Pen-Mogi says there is no need to worry as long as the university has been licensed by the NCHE.

“The NCHE regulates the universities. It is supposed to separate the genuine ones from the false ones,” he explains.

Birungi concurs. “If a university claims to be awarding degrees on behalf of another, we cross-check with the mentioned university and it presents us with a memorandum of understanding to prove that they are in a partnership.”

Nonetheless, Birungi agrees there are illegal universities that mislead the public by claiming they are offering degrees from countries like India, UK and the US.

“People have come to us crying because the degrees they attained are fake. As long as the university is not licensed by us, the degree will be invalid,” he warns.

Birungi cites the example of Kayiwa International University which claims to be offering American degrees as one of those that is operating illegally. He says the university is not licensed by the NCHE, so all the degrees it is offering are illegitimate.

NCHE has a list of all the licensed universities on its website. It also makes it a point to publish a list of the licensed universities in the newspapers.

A wake-up call for local universities
Educationists agree that the presence of international universities will force the local universities to improve their services.

“If the universities are providing high quality service, the already established universities have to follow the same trend or risk losing students,” says Alex Kagume, the deputy vice-chancellor, academics at Uganda Christian University.

“Competition is healthy and with it comes better quality,” notes Byaramureeba.

The cost
With challenges like travelling costs and the cost of living abroad, the universities present a cheaper option.

But Kagume says: “These universities are very costly so they will be afforded by the rich. In fact, they cannot compete with the existing ones in terms of cost.”

Byaramureeba says although it is a cheaper option, the students will miss out on the vast learning experience.

“Learning goes beyond sitting in the lecture room. A person who studies abroad learns much more from the environment.”