40 Makerere bright girls to get tuition waiver
Directorate of Gender Mainstreaming, Euzobia Mugisha Baine.
What you need to know:
- According to the circular Monitor has seen, all programmes in the colleges at Makerere University are eligible for these scholarships and each college has four slots.
Makerere University has given 40 bright students from vulnerable families a tuition waiver effective this academic year 2022/2023.
The beneficiaries, according to the Directorate of Gender Mainstreaming, Ms Euzobia Mugisha Baine, should be first year students admitted to the university under the direct entry scheme.
"The beneficiaries should be from genuinely disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and those who are not admitted on Uganda government sponsorship to any public university or district quota,” the circular from the gender mainstreaming director reads in part.
According to the circular Monitor has seen, all programmes in the colleges at Makerere University are eligible for these scholarships and each college has four slots.
Criteria for selection
The beneficiaries are required to submit their applications to the gender directorate, alongside their O-Level and A-Level academic documents, birth certificate, and a copy of admission letters.
Applicants are also required to submit their hand-drawn physical map to their home.
In an interview with this publication, Ms Baine asked students who have been admitted to start applying for the available slots.
She said those successful would be shortlisted for interviews by the gender mainstreaming directorate scholarship committee and the most vulnerable bright female students would be given priority.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, recently told this publication that first year students are slated to start their first semester on October 15.
They were supposed to start on October 1, but due to delays that were encountered during the admission process, the university postponed the semester.
Why female students?
Ms Mugisha said female students are the most economically disadvantaged.
“The university wants to make a contribution to the education of a girl child in the country. Many organisations have come up to support our children and this challenged us as the university, ”Ms Mugisha said.
“We are prioritising female students because we want to close the historical imbalances that have been caused in the education sector,” she said.
The scholarship comes in addition to the 1.5 points given to female applicants joining public universities.
The beneficiaries are slated to cater for their own accommodation and feeding expenses.
The tuition waiver is similar to the government students’ loan scheme where the government only clears tuition and functional fees for the beneficiaries.
However, stakeholders have asked government to offer full scholarships, including accommodation and food.
They reasoned that if a student from poor background cannot afford tuition, chances are high that they cannot afford accommodation in hostels whose charges have been hiked.
Only those on government scholarship get tuition, functional fees, accommodation and feeding.
Background
Makerere university tuition and functional fees waiver is a scholarship scheme that was initiated by Makerere University Gender and Mainstreaming Directorate and was approved by Makerere University Council in December 2010.
The scholarship started in 2011 and the university was sponsoring only 20 students.The institution has, however, this academic year doubled the scholarships to 40.
The university waives off tuition and functional fees for the duration of the study programme of the beneficiaries of the scheme.
