Makerere still leads in quality education
MAKERERE University has noted with concern the article titled, “Under funded and Overrun, ‘Harvard of Africa’ Struggles to Teach†by Emily Wax in <i>Washington Post</i>. The article raises issues revolving around the ‘embarrassing’ state of affairs at the university.
By Hellen Kawesa
MAKERERE University has noted with concern the article titled, “Under funded and Overrun, ‘Harvard of Africa’ Struggles to Teach†by Emily Wax in Washington Post. The article raises issues revolving around the ‘embarrassing’ state of affairs at the university.
It contains exaggerations, it is one-sided and gives a gross misrepresentation of the true picture of the university.
Wax appears to have relied on secondary sources for her information. She did not make effort to interview any member of management at the university, as any objective journalist would have done.
Consequently, she missed the opportunity to get a realistic picture of the state of affairs. I respond to her article as follows:
There are no university scholarships except government ones, which are awarded on merit by the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board which falls under the ministry of education. All beneficiaries are notified months before joining the university and they report to Makerere with the knowledge that they are either government or privately sponsored students.
There has therefore never been a case of either ‘scholarship funds running out’ or ‘students begging for scholarships’. The university does not control any scholarship fund. It only administers one funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
It is true that there has been an influx of students at Makerere but no lectures are conducted with students’ legs ‘dangling outside’. The current student population is 32,000, not 40,000, and the university has worked hard to expand teaching space by over 30% alongside the student increase in the last 10 years.
There is an additional 15,000 square metres of teaching space.
This drive has been funded by both internally generated revenue and support from development partners.
The university has this year embarked on a decongestion exercise in the halls of residence but has always maintained a realistic room allocation policy. It has at no time required or sanctioned students to share beds as Wax claims.
Plans are underway to privatize the feeding and accommodation of students.
Additionally, student intake has been reduced by 10% starting this academic year and will continue to go down every year until an optimum number is reached.
Makerere’s academic programmes remain among the best in Africa. The university has, as a priority, integrated ICT in all its functions including teaching and research and has also introduced e-learning to increase access and address overcrowding. The university is working to ensure that graduates leave when they are fully computer literate.
It should be noted that the university only introduced ICT on full scale in 2000 and its implementation is being done in phases. The next phase, which is the third one, will connect all halls of residence to the Local Area Network and increase the number of computers on the campus.
Makerere has also worked hard to ensure that its curriculum remains up todate and balances sciences and humanities, research and teaching, and community service and outreach.
The university continues to excel in research in areas of medicine, technology, agriculture and social sciences, among others. Such high quality research has won Makerere numerous collaborations and projects with reputable international institutions.
The latest such project is the ultra-modern Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at the Faculty of Medicine, which was constructed with support from Pfizer Inc at $15m. It is a regional centre of excellence for HIV/AIDS treatment, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, with capacity to treat patients, train physicians, conduct research and develop needed models of HIV/AIDS care in Africa.
IDI currently trains 200 medical workers from the region per year and provides free treatment to 10,000 patients per year. The Faculty of Computing and Information Technology has grown into one of the biggest faculties at the university.
It offers diploma, degree and post-graduate programmes to over 4,000 students from Uganda and the region. It collaborates with international institutions and hosts international programmes like the Cisco Certified Networking Associate, the IT Essentials and International Computer Driving License and Prometric, among others. It is expanding its infrastructure and its goal is to be a leading ICT training center in the region.
These two indicate that Makerere is growing from strength to strength. Makerere hosts programmes and research projects that are internationally recognised and approved by reputable international institutions, with which it collaborates.
That international organisations of this stature can partner and collaborate with Makerere is not only a sign of the confidence they have in the university but also an indication that it is on the right track. Therefore to refer to it as sinking is erroneous.
Like in any growing university, there is overcrowding at Makerere. However this does not stop Makerere from being ‘a center of academic excellence, providing world-class teaching, research and service relevant to the sustainable needs of society’, as its mission states.
Additionally, Makerere continues to offer quality higher education to a growing number of young Ugandans, East Africans and over 1,000 international students, something she is very proud of.
Makerere’s genuine friends who have taken the time to visit and see for themselves what is on the ground have appreciated the conditions under which the university operates. They have supported it by becoming development partners working together to make Uganda and Africa a better place as ‘We Build for the Future.’
The writer is PRO
Makerere University
MAKERERE University has noted with concern the article titled, “Under funded and Overrun, ‘Harvard of Africa’ Struggles to Teach†by Emily Wax in Washington Post. The article raises issues revolving around the ‘embarrassing’ state of affairs at the university.
It contains exaggerations, it is one-sided and gives a gross misrepresentation of the true picture of the university.
Wax appears to have relied on secondary sources for her information. She did not make effort to interview any member of management at the university, as any objective journalist would have done.
Consequently, she missed the opportunity to get a realistic picture of the state of affairs. I respond to her article as follows:
There are no university scholarships except government ones, which are awarded on merit by the Public Universities Joint Admissions Board which falls under the ministry of education. All beneficiaries are notified months before joining the university and they report to Makerere with the knowledge that they are either government or privately sponsored students.
There has therefore never been a case of either ‘scholarship funds running out’ or ‘students begging for scholarships’. The university does not control any scholarship fund. It only administers one funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
It is true that there has been an influx of students at Makerere but no lectures are conducted with students’ legs ‘dangling outside’. The current student population is 32,000, not 40,000, and the university has worked hard to expand teaching space by over 30% alongside the student increase in the last 10 years.
There is an additional 15,000 square metres of teaching space.
This drive has been funded by both internally generated revenue and support from development partners.
The university has this year embarked on a decongestion exercise in the halls of residence but has always maintained a realistic room allocation policy. It has at no time required or sanctioned students to share beds as Wax claims.
Plans are underway to privatize the feeding and accommodation of students.
Additionally, student intake has been reduced by 10% starting this academic year and will continue to go down every year until an optimum number is reached.
Makerere’s academic programmes remain among the best in Africa. The university has, as a priority, integrated ICT in all its functions including teaching and research and has also introduced e-learning to increase access and address overcrowding. The university is working to ensure that graduates leave when they are fully computer literate.
It should be noted that the university only introduced ICT on full scale in 2000 and its implementation is being done in phases. The next phase, which is the third one, will connect all halls of residence to the Local Area Network and increase the number of computers on the campus.
Makerere has also worked hard to ensure that its curriculum remains up todate and balances sciences and humanities, research and teaching, and community service and outreach.
The university continues to excel in research in areas of medicine, technology, agriculture and social sciences, among others. Such high quality research has won Makerere numerous collaborations and projects with reputable international institutions.
The latest such project is the ultra-modern Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at the Faculty of Medicine, which was constructed with support from Pfizer Inc at $15m. It is a regional centre of excellence for HIV/AIDS treatment, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, with capacity to treat patients, train physicians, conduct research and develop needed models of HIV/AIDS care in Africa.
IDI currently trains 200 medical workers from the region per year and provides free treatment to 10,000 patients per year. The Faculty of Computing and Information Technology has grown into one of the biggest faculties at the university.
It offers diploma, degree and post-graduate programmes to over 4,000 students from Uganda and the region. It collaborates with international institutions and hosts international programmes like the Cisco Certified Networking Associate, the IT Essentials and International Computer Driving License and Prometric, among others. It is expanding its infrastructure and its goal is to be a leading ICT training center in the region.
These two indicate that Makerere is growing from strength to strength. Makerere hosts programmes and research projects that are internationally recognised and approved by reputable international institutions, with which it collaborates.
That international organisations of this stature can partner and collaborate with Makerere is not only a sign of the confidence they have in the university but also an indication that it is on the right track. Therefore to refer to it as sinking is erroneous.
Like in any growing university, there is overcrowding at Makerere. However this does not stop Makerere from being ‘a center of academic excellence, providing world-class teaching, research and service relevant to the sustainable needs of society’, as its mission states.
Additionally, Makerere continues to offer quality higher education to a growing number of young Ugandans, East Africans and over 1,000 international students, something she is very proud of.
Makerere’s genuine friends who have taken the time to visit and see for themselves what is on the ground have appreciated the conditions under which the university operates. They have supported it by becoming development partners working together to make Uganda and Africa a better place as ‘We Build for the Future.’
The writer is PRO
Makerere University