Deogratias Bukenya
It is customary for Makerere University students to boast and regard themselves as intellectuals.<br><br>A saying posits that “a conscience is what hurts
It is customary for Makerere University students to boast and regard themselves as intellectuals.
A saying posits that “a conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.†After two years at Makerere I wish to prove the mentality wrong.
In the first instance, about 50% of the students can hardly express themselves in English.
Their academic survival entirely depends on cheating in examinations, reproducing other people’s course works and plagiarising research papers, especially dissertations. Does this reflect intellectualism?
When it comes to the dress code especially on the part of female students, you cannot convince a stranger that this is a community of intellectuals! On October 15 when I went to watch a football match between Lumumba and Nkurumah halls, I felt like quitting the Makerere.
Besides the poor, skill-less and clan-like game, the “intellectuals†use vulgar language to boost their teams! In fact a friend who has just joined the university who was seated next to me asked whether these players were university students or thugs from Owino! Mind you, these intellectuals also boast that they are the ‘leaders of tomorrow’. In every hall of residence there is a culture ministry which entirely in charge of inventing obscene vocabulary!
At Makerere it is very risky to wash your clothes and leave them outside to dry. Last semester during the annual “mega benching†(where male students of one hall visit female students of another hall) a resident of Mitchell Hall stole a mobile phone from a female student of Mary Stuart! Are these “intellectuals†not going to embezzle public funds when they become public servants in the near future? Who then is going to fight corruption in Uganda when the so-called leaders of tomorrow have also acquired thieving skills?
Intellectuals are people who can sit at a round table and resolve matters amicably. On the contrary, at Makerere, students ‘treasure’ violence in resolving their grievances with the top administration as the only option! Who did not hear of strikes and demonstrations which characterised last semester over faculty and non-residence allowances?
Was striking the most appropriate solution to solve these small issues?
Several students have approached me to stand for guild presidency next semester but I don’t feel like leading a society devoid intellectu consciousness.
The writer is a Mass Communication student at Makerere University
A saying posits that “a conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.†After two years at Makerere I wish to prove the mentality wrong.
In the first instance, about 50% of the students can hardly express themselves in English.
Their academic survival entirely depends on cheating in examinations, reproducing other people’s course works and plagiarising research papers, especially dissertations. Does this reflect intellectualism?
When it comes to the dress code especially on the part of female students, you cannot convince a stranger that this is a community of intellectuals! On October 15 when I went to watch a football match between Lumumba and Nkurumah halls, I felt like quitting the Makerere.
Besides the poor, skill-less and clan-like game, the “intellectuals†use vulgar language to boost their teams! In fact a friend who has just joined the university who was seated next to me asked whether these players were university students or thugs from Owino! Mind you, these intellectuals also boast that they are the ‘leaders of tomorrow’. In every hall of residence there is a culture ministry which entirely in charge of inventing obscene vocabulary!
At Makerere it is very risky to wash your clothes and leave them outside to dry. Last semester during the annual “mega benching†(where male students of one hall visit female students of another hall) a resident of Mitchell Hall stole a mobile phone from a female student of Mary Stuart! Are these “intellectuals†not going to embezzle public funds when they become public servants in the near future? Who then is going to fight corruption in Uganda when the so-called leaders of tomorrow have also acquired thieving skills?
Intellectuals are people who can sit at a round table and resolve matters amicably. On the contrary, at Makerere, students ‘treasure’ violence in resolving their grievances with the top administration as the only option! Who did not hear of strikes and demonstrations which characterised last semester over faculty and non-residence allowances?
Was striking the most appropriate solution to solve these small issues?
Several students have approached me to stand for guild presidency next semester but I don’t feel like leading a society devoid intellectu consciousness.
The writer is a Mass Communication student at Makerere University