Staffing deficits put quality of local scientists at stake

The executive director of the Uganda Vice Chancellors’ Forum (UVCF) has warned that the quality of scientists trained from various Ugandan institutions may deteriorate if recruitment of adequate numbers of qualified professionals to train students is not prioritised.

Prof Eriabu Lugujjo told this publication in an interview that Uganda currently doesn’t have enough teachers and professors to train students adequately, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem).

“Under health, for example, we have several institutions that have started training students in medical disciplines but some don’t have adequate trainers to deliver the training effectively,” he observed.

To address the challenge at hand, Prof Lugujjo suggested that institutions that are grappling with understaffing take serious recruitment of the required staff, commensurate with the population of students pursuing science courses. Prof Lugujjo reckons there will be a mismatch between the input and the expected output of the graduates if this is not done. 

Last February, Mr Mathias Nampogo, the principal of the School of Psychiatric Clinical Officers Butabika, the only school that trains trainers of psychiatrists in Uganda, said it had only three tutors teaching more than 200 students.

Elsewhere, Prof Celestino Obua, the vice chancellor of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, also acknowledged that understaffing is a general problem affecting both private and public institutions due to limited resource envelope.

“If you want them to operate at 100 percent staffing, all of them will close. All institutions are operating below the required number of staff. Makerere is operating at about 40 percent and Mbarara University is operating at between 20 to 24 percent,” Prof Obua disclosed.

“You find that in a department that requires four to six staff, you have two. Public universities have been told not to recruit because of the resource envelope yet they are supposed to develop programmes to develop the country,” he added.

Prof Obua, however, said the available trainers should be recognised and promoted as an appreciation for offering quality training amid the staff shortage.

“We recognise the fact that they are few, but we need to motivate them because they are doing a tremendous job,” he reasoned.

Early this year, officials from the Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board (UAHEB) attributed poor performance among some students whose results were released in March, to inadequate number of tutors. During the release of the exams, it was disclosed that 1,360 students failed, while more than six thousand passed the examinations.

Prof Eli Katunguka, the vice chancellor of Kyambogo University, said for the university to offer meaningful training, it requires about 40 professors and more than 100 associate professors.

Prof Katunguka conceded that the university he superintends over doesn’t have even half of what is required. He also revealed that most engineers with PhDs always opt for the private sector where they expect to be paid better.

According to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), it is a requirement for all academic staff in universities to have PhDs. Academic staff such as assistant lecturers and teaching assistant are categorised as staff on training and there must be evidence to show that they are pursuing further studies.

Findings of the Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA), done by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health indicate that Uganda, in 2022, had 210 health training institutions across 66 districts.

Responding to the issue of understaffing, Dr Safina Musene, the commissioner of Health Training Institutions at the Ministry of Health, said: “As government, we are aware of that and we are committed to improving the quality of training.”

Dr Musene further revealed that the inter-ministerial coordination committee comprising the ministries of Health, Education, and that of Finance, together with medical associations and NCHE, was tackling such challenges.

“As far as private universities are concerned, we have discussed and agreed on the number of students to be admitted and what the universities should have in place. It is a continuous process to work on,” she said.

She added: “I want to re-assure that the [ministries] of Education and [that of] Health are committed to ensure we have the quality of health workers that we deserve. We need health personnel who will be available at the workstation on time and they are capable of providing the services that they are expected to offer.”

Experts say the availability of adequate qualified and competent academic staff contributes largely to the quality of research outputs and graduates trained at higher education institutions.

Health minister Dr Ruth Aceng said the adequate number and skill mix of equitably distributed health workforce are critical to achieving national health goals, universal health coverage (UHC) and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets.

The Health Labour Market Analysis, done under the auspices of WHO and the Ministry of Health last year, indicates that Uganda has an estimated need for health workers of 342,832 compared to an overall supply of 154,016. 

Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, the WHO representative to Uganda, said the African region still has the lowest health workforce density compared to other regions worldwide.