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Varsities want 400 courses off NCHE site
Makerere University students jubilate during the 70th graduation ceremony in 2020. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- The institutions have asked the regulator to delete the programmes from its website ahead of next month’s deadline for the review exercise.
At least seven universities across the country have written to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), demanding the removal of approximately 400 programmes from its website.
The institutions of higher learning argue that these programmes have been scrapped off, while others have been merged to create a single cohesive programme.
In an interview with the Daily Monitor yesterday, the Director of the Quality Assurance Department, Dr Vincent Ssembatya, revealed that several universities, including Makerere University, Mountains of the Moon University, Kabale University, and Kisubi Universities have requested NCHE to delete 400 programmes from its website.
Others are Kyambogo University, Ndejje University, and Bugema University.
The above programmes in question are part of the 1,500 programmes that are due for review.
The NCHE had given these institutions up to November 30 to re-submit them for re-accreditation, however, before the elapse of the deadline, institutions want them deleted from the website to ensure they (institutions) do not incur the costs of reviewing them.
“We received emails from various institutions instructing us to delete approximately 400 programmes from our website. These institutions realised that the majority of their programmes were reflected as un-reviewed, which is a disadvantage to them,” Dr Ssembatya said.
He revealed that some institutions, like Kisubi, reported that several of the discontinued programmes failed to attract sufficient student enrollment, resulting in financial losses.
Other institutions eliminated these programmes due to their obsolescence, while some merged them during the review process.
However, NCHE plans to create a separate folder for these discontinued programmes to ensure they remain accessible on the NCHE website in case former students wish to pursue further studies.
“We cannot delete these programmes off the website because if a former graduate wishes to upgrade their studies and fails to locate his or her programme, it would be another disaster, ”Dr Ssembatya said.
If the above request by institutions is implemented, it will bring the total number of programmes slated for review before the November 30 deadline to 1,200, alleviating the burden on institutions in terms of programme assessment.
For example, Makerere University currently has approximately 115 programmes listed for review on the NCHE website. If 54 of the discontinued programmes are removed, the institution will be left with 61 programmes for review.
According to the lists seen by the Monitor, some of these programmes were scrapped this year, others were scrapped last year and in 2016.
The Academic Registrar of Makerere University, Prof Buyinza Mukadasi, said whereas they have stopped admitting students to those programmes, some programmes still have students yet to graduate.
“All students who were admitted to these programmes will continue until they graduate. What changes is that these programmes will not be reviewed nor admit more students on them,” Prof Mukadasi said.
According to him, most of the programmes were phased out completely while others were restructured.
The Academic Registrar of Kabale University, Mr Naris Tibenderana, confirmed that they wrote to NCHE to delete some of their programmes.
“Some programmes were put on the website of NCHE by error while others were phased out. We no longer run them at the institution. We are hopeful that these have been scrapped off,” he said.
Background
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in July directed all universities with programmes that were due for review to submit them for re-accreditation before November 30.
By then, a total of 2,004 programmes out of nearly 4,300 were due for review. 2,048 were active while 209 were under review. As of last week, the Monitor reported that at least 2,395 programmes were active,400 were under review and more than 1,700 were due for review.
Institutions have written to the NCHE to have the dormant programmes deleted from their institutions as the deadline looms.
Dr Vincent Ssembatya, the director of the Quality Assurance Department at NCHE, said the lists have been forwarded to the responsible officials to have them removed from the list of programmes that are due for review.
Affected programmes
Makerere University
Bachelor of Arts in Ethics and Human Rights (BA. HER)
Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Social Administration
Bachelor of Catering and Hotel Management
Bachelor of Community Forestry
Bachelor of Community Psychology
Bachelor of Conservation Forestry & Products Technology
Bachelor of Development Economics
Bachelor of Development Studies
Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Arts
Bachelor of Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Bachelor of Information Technology
Bachelor of Records and Archives Management
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Land Use and Management
Bachelor of Science in Bee Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Construction Management
Bachelor of Science in Dairy Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Feed Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Laboratory Science Education and Industry
Bachelor of Science in Meat Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Pig Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Poultry Industry and Business
Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Industry and Business
Bachelor of Social and Entrepreneurship Forestry
Bachelor of Social and Philosophical Studies with Education
Diploma in Library and Information Studies
Diploma in Music, Dance and Drama
Diploma in Project Planning and Development
Diploma in Records and Archives Management
Diploma in Youth in Development Work
Master of Arts in Education Policy & Planning
Master of Arts in Educational Management
Master of Arts in Geography
Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication
Master of Arts in Language Education
Master of Education ICT in Education
Master of Education in Language and Literature Education
Master of Educational Foundations
Master of Science in Agricultural Economics
Master of Science in Agroforestry
Master of Science in Animal Product Processing, Entrepreneurship and Safety
Master of Science in Mathematical Modelling
Master of Social Sciences and Arts Education
Master of Wildlife Health and Recreation Management
Ordinary Diploma in Financial Services and Business Computing
Postgraduate Diploma Community Base Rehabilitation
Postgraduate Diploma Environmental Information Management
Postgraduate Diploma in Guidance and counselling
Postgraduate Diploma in Investigative Journalism
Postgraduate Diploma in Librarianship
Postgraduate Diploma in Quality of Health Care
Postgraduate Diploma in Translation and Interpretation
Postgraduate Diploma Public Health
