Makerere discontinues 1,800 students

By Francis Kagolo & Carol Natukunda

KAMPALA - About 1,800 students at Makerere University have been discontinued for exceeding the stipulated number of years on their courses.

Sources say most of the victims are from the colleges of humanities and social sciences, business and management sciences.

Others are from the colleges of education and external studies, agricultural and environmental sciences as well as the school of law.

The students have fallen victim of a policy that requires the university to discontinue students who fail to graduate within two years after the end of their official academic years.

The policy was passed in May 2008 by the university council, the supreme governing organ of a public university charged with enacting policies.

The students who have been affected most are those on Masters and PhD programmes who take longer to submit dissertations than their undergraduate counterparts.

A source at the university on Sunday said: “They sent us a list that comprised of over 1,800 students from almost every course offered at the university.”

Prof. Eli. Katunguka-Rwakishaya, the director of graduate training and research, said discontinuing students who have overstayed on courses was a global standard procedure.

“The maximum number of years one should spend at the university is five,” Katunguka said.

He advised the victims to appeal, promising that the university would evaluate their cases and pardon those with genuine reasons.