Kyambogo asks for more funding in research

EDUCATION

Kyambogo University vice chancellor Prof. Eli Katunguka has requested the government to consider funding the university in research fields sighting challenges of inadequate funds to execute research projects.

"Government should create a national research fund to help in funding not only Kyambogo University but also other universities in the field of research," Katunguka said.

He said universities cannot function to their fullest if they don't conduct research because a university is only a university when it does research.

"If we are to develop Uganda as a nation we have to find money and fund our own priorities other than wait for other countries to fund us who may not even be interested in our priorities," Katunguka emphasised.

Katunguka also revealed that they had developed a research and innovation policy together with a research agenda.

The university also introduced capacity building programmes in order to establish a research culture in the university.

 "In order to stimulate research, the university council has introduced in the budget estimates for 2018/19 sh2b which will be a competitive research fund," he said.

This money will continue to grow by 1 billion every year until they reach a mark of 5 billion per year devoted to building a research culture in this university. Kyambogo University is the first one to set aside part of the internally generated money to stimulate research and knowledge generation.

National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has always called on universities to prioritise research and practical learning other than theories, asking government to extend a helping hand to fund private universities.

Kyambogo on Thursday was marking a second day in a row as more students graduated in various fields of study.

The students graduating were from faculty of arts and social sciences and faculty of vocational studies.

The students were in anticipation and excitement as expressed by their faces, donning on their very best fashionable clothes.

Unlike the first day, there were more enthusiastic graduating students compared to those that had graduated the previous day.

 You could tell this from the cheers and celebrations when students heard their names being read out.

The graduation was attended by the vice president of Uganda Edward Ssekandi who represented President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

Ssekandi thanked the vice chancellor and his management team for stabilizing the university unlike in the past, were the university experienced several strikes and was regularly closed.

He noted that the education sector is a major corner stone for social-economic development and will continue to receive a large portion of the national budget.

"Education plays a leading role in helping Uganda achieve both its medium term goals and its vision 2040," he added

He also reminded students that unemployment was still a challenge that Uganda was grappling with and asked the university to play a role in capacity building to equip the young generation with skills necessary for self-sustainability.

Ssekandi advised students to remain relevant by focusing on the needs of their communities emphasising to students to use their skills to contribute to sustainable social, economic transformation of their communities.