Makerere graduands at a recent function. PHOTO/FILE/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
With just two months to the beginning of the new academic year 2024/2025, universities are stuck with more than 1,600 yet-to-be-reviewed programmes.
This impasse poses the risk of enrolling students on “expired” programmes if not approved by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) by August.
The universities were given up to November 30 last year to submit all programmes for re-assessment by NCHE, but six months later, more than 1,600 programmes remain untouched.
As of May 30, the NCHE website indicated 1,629 programmes as due for review, with 171 under review, and 2,804 active.
In an interview, Dr Vincent Ssembatya, the director of Quality Assurance at NCHE, said most universities kick-start their new academic year in August and September.
He warned that no university would be permitted to enrol students on the programmes in question.
“The National Council was clear. No institution should enrol any student in a programme that is due for review. We want to fix the problem in our country. It is painful, but this mess should be fixed,” Dr Ssembatya said.
Last year, NCHE warned that all students enrolled on programmes due for review but not submitted to NCHE would have their qualifications rendered null and void. This warning implies that students who might be admitted to various universities for the new 2024/2025 academic year under programmes for review would have the validity of their qualifications questioned.
In a letter dated November 30, 2023, the NCHE Executive Director, Prof Mary Okwakol, vowed to halt the enrolment of students in all programmes due for review.
“In the 71st Council meeting on June 5, 2023, it was resolved that mandatory submission of all the programmes due for review be done by November 30, 2023, failure of which new enrolment in the programmes will be halted,” Prof Okwakol warned in a letter addressed to all vice-chancellors.
But six months after the deadline, most universities still have hundreds of programmes due for review, with officials at the NCHE saying this risks the career of fresh students.
Data on NCHE website shows that Kyambogo University has the highest number of programmes, with 156 due for review. Only 53 of their programmes were active while 17 were under review.
Other universities with many programmes due for review are Kampala International University (115), Makerere University (109), Ndejje University (94), and Uganda Martyrs University (75), among others.
However, institutions that failed to submit their programmes by November 30 last year, were given two more months to submit the programmes if they wished to enrol their students on them.
Dr Ssembatya said NCHE would meet in August to approve more programmes that were submitted for review. He said the institutions that submit their programmes now would have them approved before then.
NCHE meets four times a year in January, April, August, and November to approve assessed programmes submitted by the universities.
During their last meeting in April, more than 300 programmes were approved. This means that even if NCHE sits in August, it will not be able to approve all the 1,629 programmes.
Dr Ssembatya said NCHE cannot monitor institutions during the admission process but would address any violations after the students have been enrolled on the programmes due for review.
Most universities are currently undertaking admissions with the deadline of May 31 for students to submit their applications. This means NCHE will only be able to take action in August after the students have enrolled on the programmes and have begun their studies.
Whereas Kyambogo University had 53 programmes that are active, Prof Eli Katunguka, the vice chancellor, said not all universities have been able to review their programmes due to financial constraints.
He said the government had frozen the money for workshops in government universities, yet reviewing of the programmes requires funds.
“Our staff are still working around the clock to have all our programmes due for review worked on and submitted to NCHE for approval,” Pro Katunguka said.
Prof Katunguka, who doubles as the chairperson of the NCHE, said they would sit in August to review the progress.
Prof Buyinza Mukadasi, the Makerere University academic registrar, said most of their programmes are active while those due for review have been submitted, and are now awaiting feedback from NCHE.
While the NCHE website indicates that Makerere has 109 programmes due for review, Prof Buyinza said only 60 of their programmes are either before NCHE for re-assessment or before their quality assurance department.
“Makerere has 300 programmes, of which 240 are active and up to date. The remaining 60 are in their final stages of being re-accredited,” Prof Buyinza said.
He added: “I confirm that the adverts we ran for admission are all active or under review. We have not advertised programmes whose statuses have expired.”
The NCHE website shows that Busitema University has 44 active programmes, with 30 due for review, and one under review.
But Prof Paul Waako, the vice chancellor of Busitema University, said all their programmes were reviewed and handed in. He, however, said they were yet to receive feedback from NCHE.
“We shall admit students on only fully accredited programmes. If we do not get feedback on our programmes for review before the admission board sits, we shall not admit students to those programmes,” Prof Waako said.
The latest letter from NCHE to all vice-chancellors and principals warns that no students should be enrolled on programmes that are due for review.
The NCHE required all higher education institutions with academic programmes due for review to submit them no later than November 30.
“The purpose of this letter is to instruct all higher education institutions not to enrol students on programmes due for review and have not submitted for re-assessment. You are required to comply without fail,” she added.
NCHE said many of the institutions had submitted their programmes before the deadline and were given feedback, but a number have to-date did not submit their programmes.
Background
In July 2023, NCHE directed all institutions across the country to submit programmes that were due for review by November 30 of the same year.
This followed several institutions abroad rejecting Uganda graduates seeking further studies because their degree programmes had been classified as “expired” on the NCHE website.
This sparked a public uproar that forced NCHE to substitute the contested word “expired’’ with ‘‘due for review’’.
NCHE then permitted the universities to admit students on programmes that were due for review until November and ordered the institutions that failed to beat the deadline to freeze admission into the programmes.
At the time, 2,253 programmes were active, with 2,173 due for review, and 118 under review. This means about 500 programmes have been reviewed and approved by the NCHE since last year.
