Wildlife school is ashambles
Aug 06, 2006
SPOTLIGHT: The once prestigious United Nations’ funded Uganda Wildlife Training Institute (UWTI) in Katwe is in a state of disrepair due to neglect by the government.
By Emmy Allio
and Kyomuhendo Muhanga
THE once prestigious United Nations’ funded Uganda Wildlife Training Institute (UWTI) in Katwe is in a state of disrepair due to neglect by the government.
For two weeks, the students are on a sit-down strike protesting poor management, welfare and lack of proper teaching.
The principal, James Lutalo resigned two weeks. seven students, including the guild president Robert Ntegeka, his deputy Agnes nanvuma and a lecturer Swahib Okoth believed to have led the strike have been suspended and the institute’s board will decide their fate. However, the remaining seven students have rejected Lutalo’s deputy, Tonny Kiringi as care-taker principal.
The institute located in Katwe, 68 km south of Kasese town is the second institute of its kind in East Africa. The other is the College of African Wildlife Management in Tanzania. Founded in 1989, UWTI is housed in the former Lake Katwe salt factory.
Ntegeka and Nanvuma said they had written to the Ministry of Education, on the pathetic conditions under which they studied. “There is no water, and dormitories are leaking,†Ntegeka said.
The students said they also wanted an explanation from the principal why they had had no lectures for two months but were ignored. They also claimed they had been tipped that the institute was not recognised by the national Council for higher education and that old students had failed to get jobs because employers rejected the institute transcripts. They said the school has never held any graduation ceremony. “Whoever finishes is given his or her academic transcript in form of a ‘to whom it may concern document’,†they said.
While Latalo says the institute was legal, the National Council for Higher Education says its status is yet to be regularised under the new Universities and Other tertiary Institutions Act 2001.
Lutalo dismissed talks that their transcripts were not genuine. He said the only problem was that, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the biggest employer of their students had stopped recruitment.
At the institute, construction works that started way back in 1992 have stalled and some blocks have lost roofing sheets to thieves. The lecture rooms and dormitories are dilapidated with no electricity and running water. There are no recreational facilities.â€
The students accused the institute management of spending more time running their businesses than at the school. They also said the institute’s governing council chaired by Dr Henry Busulwa of Makerere University, Kampala, sits only once a year except when students riot.
They said the institute has only four lecturers teaching both certificate and diploma courses. One lecturer, Moses Pachwa, is also a second year diploma student. As a result, the student enrolment has plummeted from 50 to 19. There is only one government-sponsored student. Yet the school is fully funded by the government. Each private student pays sh750,000 per year.
Joseph Mundu, the Education Ministry’s Assistant commissioner for vocational education confirmed receiving the students’ petition and that an officer had been dispatched to investigate the matter.
On combining students, Lutalo said: “Because we offer modular courses, it is okay for first and second year diploma students to attend lectures jointly.â€
He blamed the ministry, saying the institute was autonomous when it was under the ministry of tourism and employed staff of the national parks to train. But under ministry of education, the college is a department with no access to national park staff. “The staff at the institute is so thin, is another reason why we offer joint lecturers,†Lutalo said.
Ends
and Kyomuhendo Muhanga
THE once prestigious United Nations’ funded Uganda Wildlife Training Institute (UWTI) in Katwe is in a state of disrepair due to neglect by the government.
For two weeks, the students are on a sit-down strike protesting poor management, welfare and lack of proper teaching.
The principal, James Lutalo resigned two weeks. seven students, including the guild president Robert Ntegeka, his deputy Agnes nanvuma and a lecturer Swahib Okoth believed to have led the strike have been suspended and the institute’s board will decide their fate. However, the remaining seven students have rejected Lutalo’s deputy, Tonny Kiringi as care-taker principal.
The institute located in Katwe, 68 km south of Kasese town is the second institute of its kind in East Africa. The other is the College of African Wildlife Management in Tanzania. Founded in 1989, UWTI is housed in the former Lake Katwe salt factory.
Ntegeka and Nanvuma said they had written to the Ministry of Education, on the pathetic conditions under which they studied. “There is no water, and dormitories are leaking,†Ntegeka said.
The students said they also wanted an explanation from the principal why they had had no lectures for two months but were ignored. They also claimed they had been tipped that the institute was not recognised by the national Council for higher education and that old students had failed to get jobs because employers rejected the institute transcripts. They said the school has never held any graduation ceremony. “Whoever finishes is given his or her academic transcript in form of a ‘to whom it may concern document’,†they said.
While Latalo says the institute was legal, the National Council for Higher Education says its status is yet to be regularised under the new Universities and Other tertiary Institutions Act 2001.
Lutalo dismissed talks that their transcripts were not genuine. He said the only problem was that, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the biggest employer of their students had stopped recruitment.
At the institute, construction works that started way back in 1992 have stalled and some blocks have lost roofing sheets to thieves. The lecture rooms and dormitories are dilapidated with no electricity and running water. There are no recreational facilities.â€
The students accused the institute management of spending more time running their businesses than at the school. They also said the institute’s governing council chaired by Dr Henry Busulwa of Makerere University, Kampala, sits only once a year except when students riot.
They said the institute has only four lecturers teaching both certificate and diploma courses. One lecturer, Moses Pachwa, is also a second year diploma student. As a result, the student enrolment has plummeted from 50 to 19. There is only one government-sponsored student. Yet the school is fully funded by the government. Each private student pays sh750,000 per year.
Joseph Mundu, the Education Ministry’s Assistant commissioner for vocational education confirmed receiving the students’ petition and that an officer had been dispatched to investigate the matter.
On combining students, Lutalo said: “Because we offer modular courses, it is okay for first and second year diploma students to attend lectures jointly.â€
He blamed the ministry, saying the institute was autonomous when it was under the ministry of tourism and employed staff of the national parks to train. But under ministry of education, the college is a department with no access to national park staff. “The staff at the institute is so thin, is another reason why we offer joint lecturers,†Lutalo said.
Ends