The Chairperson of the National Council for Higher Education-NCHE, Professor Eli Katunguka Rwakishaya is mooting for a policy that will enable the sharing of study facilities among universities to support their academic progression.
Professor Katunguka prefers that all chartered Universities in the country begin sharing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) resources, physical and digitalized libraries and laboratories, supervision of postgraduate students, and building research and innovation capacities among others.
He says this will all help towards strengthening the institutions’ academic capacities.
In his keynote speech during the ceremonial handover of a Charter to Muteesa I University, at its main campus in Kirumba-Masaka on Wednesday, Professor Katunguka revealed that he is going to present a policy proposal to relevant bodies for consideration.
According to him, it is high time Universities stop looking at each other as competitors and began on the journey of building and strengthening academic collaborations that push them forward to benefit the country.
Professor Katuguuka, also the Vice Chancellor of Kyambogo University, observes that apparently, the country has plenty of students who now deserve better facilities and services that can uniformly nurture their capabilities towards addressing contemporary challenges ahead of them.
He adds that besides academic performance, universities also need to emphasize the building of social-soft skills among their graduates, to improve their employability and ability to keep their job once they are hired.
Michael Wanyama, the Executive Director for the Higher Education Students Financing Board, noted that upon acquiring its Charter, Muteesa I Royal University has now qualified to benefit from the government students loan scheme.
He however challenged the university administration to build a strong niche in scientific academic disciplines, such that its graduates can add great value to the country in form of research and innovations.
The Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Charles Peter Mayiga challenges the management and governing council of Muteesa I University to strive and prove their worthiness after acquiring the long-awaited charter, saying that they have a lot of public expectations to meet.
Professor Vincent Kakembo, the Vice Chancellor of Muteesa I University says that they have designed agricultural-based courses they have integrated in their academic programs to expand their relevancy to the general community.
He reveals that the university has established partnerships with government agencies such as the National Research Organization (NARO) to beef them with the capacities required to fully realize their aspirations of promoting eco-friendly farming practices as a strategic response to the systemic social and environmental problems affecting agriculture.
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