Makerere drops on continental ranking
Apr 23, 2007
MAKERERE University has dropped to the 54th position among the 100 best universities in Africa from last year’s 23rd position, and to the 6,429th in the world.
By Fortunate Ahimbisibwe
MAKERERE University has dropped to the 54th position among the 100 best universities in Africa from last year’s 23rd position, and to the 6,429th in the world.
Uganda Christian University was ranked 98th and none of the other universities in Uganda qualified for the rating.
Webometrics, the group behind the research, is based in Saudi Arabia. It uses the available contents and communication process via the Web/Internet as a basis to gauge the popularity of a university worldwide. A statement on the website said the primary objective of the ranking was to encourage universities to publish their research on the Web.
The latest ranking, posted on its website, has sparked off angry reactions from Makerere managers, who questioned the criteria.
Vice-chancellor for academic affairs Lilian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza blamed the results on the level of research Makerere has published on its website, the key determinant of the ranking, and in international journals.
Tibatemwa said the university was implementing an ICT policy to boost its standards and that academic staff will be required to publish in journals across the world. A lot of Makerere’s academic research is still in hard copy form and was not considered for the ranking, she added.
“Our academic units are doing so well in research only that they have not been making it available on the Internet. In most cases, our academic staff have not published their research in journals.â€
She added: “The ranking cannot be taken as the only basis for a good university.â€
However, another academic explained the causes of the slide of the 84-year-old Makerere, once known as the ‘Harvard of Africa’, as mainly under-funding, high student numbers and low quality of teaching.
The Academic Staff Association chief, Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba, added: “It is sad that Makerere continues to slide. The major reasons are poor facilities, the quality of teaching is low and the student/teacher ratio is extremely high. We must address these immediately or we shall continue riding on the past glory.â€
Eight of the best universities are in South Africa. The first 10 in that order include the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, the University of Pretoria, Stellenbosch University, the University of Witwatersrand, the University of the Western Cape, the University of South Africa, the University of Kwazulu Natal, the American University in Cairo and Universite de la Reunion.
The University of Dar-es-Salaam was ranked 13th, Egerton University, 21st, the National University of Rwanda, 47th, Moi University, 64th, Sokoine University of Agriculture, 75th, Kenyatta University, 82nd and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, 85th.
Other ranking from the 11th to 20th in that order are the University of the Free State, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of Dar-es-Salaam, the University of Zimbabwe, universite cheikh anta diop de Dakar, the University of Namibia, the University of Mauritius, Cairo University, the University of Johannesburg, the Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport.
MAKERERE University has dropped to the 54th position among the 100 best universities in Africa from last year’s 23rd position, and to the 6,429th in the world.
Uganda Christian University was ranked 98th and none of the other universities in Uganda qualified for the rating.
Webometrics, the group behind the research, is based in Saudi Arabia. It uses the available contents and communication process via the Web/Internet as a basis to gauge the popularity of a university worldwide. A statement on the website said the primary objective of the ranking was to encourage universities to publish their research on the Web.
The latest ranking, posted on its website, has sparked off angry reactions from Makerere managers, who questioned the criteria.
Vice-chancellor for academic affairs Lilian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza blamed the results on the level of research Makerere has published on its website, the key determinant of the ranking, and in international journals.
Tibatemwa said the university was implementing an ICT policy to boost its standards and that academic staff will be required to publish in journals across the world. A lot of Makerere’s academic research is still in hard copy form and was not considered for the ranking, she added.
“Our academic units are doing so well in research only that they have not been making it available on the Internet. In most cases, our academic staff have not published their research in journals.â€
She added: “The ranking cannot be taken as the only basis for a good university.â€
However, another academic explained the causes of the slide of the 84-year-old Makerere, once known as the ‘Harvard of Africa’, as mainly under-funding, high student numbers and low quality of teaching.
The Academic Staff Association chief, Dr. Augustus Nuwagaba, added: “It is sad that Makerere continues to slide. The major reasons are poor facilities, the quality of teaching is low and the student/teacher ratio is extremely high. We must address these immediately or we shall continue riding on the past glory.â€
Eight of the best universities are in South Africa. The first 10 in that order include the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, the University of Pretoria, Stellenbosch University, the University of Witwatersrand, the University of the Western Cape, the University of South Africa, the University of Kwazulu Natal, the American University in Cairo and Universite de la Reunion.
The University of Dar-es-Salaam was ranked 13th, Egerton University, 21st, the National University of Rwanda, 47th, Moi University, 64th, Sokoine University of Agriculture, 75th, Kenyatta University, 82nd and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, 85th.
Other ranking from the 11th to 20th in that order are the University of the Free State, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, the University of Dar-es-Salaam, the University of Zimbabwe, universite cheikh anta diop de Dakar, the University of Namibia, the University of Mauritius, Cairo University, the University of Johannesburg, the Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport.