By Carol Ariba

It is hard to miss it, even if you tried. Located in Wandegeya, YMCA, has quite a presence. It, therefore, does not come as a surprise that the institution has taken strides. Beyond diploma and certificate awarding, they recently announced their newly acquired degree awarding status. And that is not all; they also have a new home that should accommodate this new addition.

YMCA started to give people a chance at hands-on skills in 1986. It has since continued to educate people for both national This August YMCA will open its doors to students for degree courses. All pictures by Tony Rujutaand regional development in a wide range of courses. This could start with vocational and technical skills, with emphasis on skills that were on demand in society. It is this passion and realistic training that saw YMCA accredited by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in Uganda, as a degree awarding institution.

This August, YMCA will open its doors to students for degree courses. YMCA’s director, Herbert Mukasa says aside from the need to fill the gap, the degree programme can be traced to the Government’s efforts in democratising education. He insists that although the number of universities have grown tremendously, admission figures show that the qualifying A’ level leavers are still high versus those admitted by the universities. Most qualifying A’ level leavers are left out from pursuing a degree programme, and eventually join tertiary institutions at diploma level though they have adequate points to qualify them for a degree.

This, the institution’s director believes requires provision of continuous and lifelong education. In the recent years, it has become increasingly important for trainers in tertiary institutions to aim at higher education. But it can all be attributed to the growth and increase in both the numbers and quality of students that has generated a demand for higher education by the society.

Thus the institute’s desire to train the required human resource to the vital vocational degree level. Therefore, YMCA found that there was need to fulfil the demand for the concurrent needs of both the clientele and society at large and bridge the gap with the new degree programme. It is on this note, therefore, that YMCA; a comprehensive institute chose to diversify its programmes. This was mostly to ensure the provision of continuing education at higher levels to meet the changing values and skills in vocational specialty. In this regard, the management of the institute formalised all the requirements as requested by NCHE. Last year, in December, the institute was cleared to start the following degree programmes.

• Bachelor of secretarial and administrative studies: l Bachelor of catering and hospitality management.
• Bachelor of business administration. lBachelor of information technology. YMCA prepared for the new programmes lThe adequacy in the existing facilities or infrastructure.
• Since 1986, the institution has continued to grow and transform itself into a major player in the provision of vocational skills that are highly demanded by the society both within and outside the country. Currently, over 45 academic staff members are either at the masters level or above. This has prepared them for the degree programmes that have been started.
• The institute has already made viable adjustments to ensure a new system and structure to cater for the needs of degree learners. The institute appointed well-experienced personnel to spearhead the institute at its new level of degree awarding status. For example, a widely qualified and experienced chancellor and members of the governing council.
• The institute is to invest and continue to invest more in the study materials, structures and systems to match with the required standards of degree learners and degree programmes. The advantage is the existing infrastructure will enable them offer affordable higher education.
• More than that, the new buildings should accommodate the degree learners with ease. It has lecture rooms and several study rooms that should make the experience at YMCA the very best for the degree students.
• Quality assurance mechanism is to be employed to help achieve satisfaction on both the existing and new students and staff at degree levels of delivery.

 

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