3,000 students get govt scholarships
CLOSE to 3,000 students, the majority of whom sat A’level last year have been admitted on Government sponsorship in the five public universities.
By Francis Kagolo
CLOSE to 3,000 students, the majority of whom sat A’level last year have been admitted on Government sponsorship in the five public universities.
The list of the students admitted under the merit category was released by the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board (PUJAB) yesterday.
Makerere University took the highest number of about 1,800 students, followed by Kyambogo, Gulu, Mbarara and Busitema universities.
About three quarters of the students have been admitted for science courses, following a 2005 Government policy to promote science education to spur development.
Bachelor of medicine and surgery is leading with 168 students. Of these, 80 will go to Makerere, 47 to Gulu and 38 to Mbarara.
Other courses with over 80 students include bachelor of law, development economics and commerce.
Top schools in the central region have continued to dominate the government admissions, while male students continue to scoop most of the government scholarships, mainly in science courses. About 80% of those admitted in most science courses are male.
For instance, of the 80 students admitted for bachelors of medicine and surgery at Makerere, 62 are male. Only 10 out of 30 admitted for the same course at Mbarara are female.
The admissions board attributed the trend to the fact that boys performed better in science subjects compared to girls.
“At A’ level, boys dominate science classes and most of the applications we receive for science courses are boys,†Charles Ssentongo, a registrar at Makerere University and PUJAB member, explained.
Development studies, drama, business-related courses, education, and law are the few arts courses that received students this year. It is only in these courses that the board admitted more girls (about 56%) than boys.
The admissions board will sit again in two weeks to admit 40 talented sports students, 64 students with disabilities and another 896 under the district quota system.
Each district used to get 11 scholarships, but following the increased number of districts from 80 in 2009 to 112 this year, the figure will reduce to about seven this year.
Public universities have also started receiving applications from private students.
Makerere announced 20,521 vacancies on the private scheme, while Kyambogo has 8,000. The other three public universities have about 2,000 vacancies each.
Students who want to join Makerere on the private scheme have up to June 2 to apply, said Alfred Namoah, the academic registrar.
Private universities like Muteesa I, Kampala International and Uganda Christian University have also begun admitting students.
Public universities this year raised the cut-off mark for most courses by about two to four points, following the improved performance recorded in last year’s A’level examinations, where 98.8% of candidates passed compared to 98.6% in 2009.
About 62,440 candidates scored two principle passes in last year’s A’level examinations, the minimum needed for admission to university.
The Government sponsors only 4,000 students.
CLOSE to 3,000 students, the majority of whom sat A’level last year have been admitted on Government sponsorship in the five public universities.
The list of the students admitted under the merit category was released by the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board (PUJAB) yesterday.
Makerere University took the highest number of about 1,800 students, followed by Kyambogo, Gulu, Mbarara and Busitema universities.
About three quarters of the students have been admitted for science courses, following a 2005 Government policy to promote science education to spur development.
Bachelor of medicine and surgery is leading with 168 students. Of these, 80 will go to Makerere, 47 to Gulu and 38 to Mbarara.
Other courses with over 80 students include bachelor of law, development economics and commerce.
Top schools in the central region have continued to dominate the government admissions, while male students continue to scoop most of the government scholarships, mainly in science courses. About 80% of those admitted in most science courses are male.
For instance, of the 80 students admitted for bachelors of medicine and surgery at Makerere, 62 are male. Only 10 out of 30 admitted for the same course at Mbarara are female.
The admissions board attributed the trend to the fact that boys performed better in science subjects compared to girls.
“At A’ level, boys dominate science classes and most of the applications we receive for science courses are boys,†Charles Ssentongo, a registrar at Makerere University and PUJAB member, explained.
Development studies, drama, business-related courses, education, and law are the few arts courses that received students this year. It is only in these courses that the board admitted more girls (about 56%) than boys.
The admissions board will sit again in two weeks to admit 40 talented sports students, 64 students with disabilities and another 896 under the district quota system.
Each district used to get 11 scholarships, but following the increased number of districts from 80 in 2009 to 112 this year, the figure will reduce to about seven this year.
Public universities have also started receiving applications from private students.
Makerere announced 20,521 vacancies on the private scheme, while Kyambogo has 8,000. The other three public universities have about 2,000 vacancies each.
Students who want to join Makerere on the private scheme have up to June 2 to apply, said Alfred Namoah, the academic registrar.
Private universities like Muteesa I, Kampala International and Uganda Christian University have also begun admitting students.
Public universities this year raised the cut-off mark for most courses by about two to four points, following the improved performance recorded in last year’s A’level examinations, where 98.8% of candidates passed compared to 98.6% in 2009.
About 62,440 candidates scored two principle passes in last year’s A’level examinations, the minimum needed for admission to university.
The Government sponsors only 4,000 students.