Atleast 2260 courses being taught at the 47 public and private universities in Uganda expired 8 to 12 years ago - a new investigation shows.
GET FULL LIST OF EXPIRED COURSES HERE (Excel Format)
source: NCHE
These courses, at both degree and diploma level - deemed expired or invalid are not dult accredited for teaching by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), a statutory regulator in the education sector.
In the new development, such courses are by all means - legally and technically null and void something which puts the future of thousands of current students and recent graduates in Uganda in danger.
A case of one of the dangers from this is a trending saga of a British University which rejected a Ugandan Graduate who wanted to further their education by upgrading in Biomedical Labaratory technology, one of the courses deemed expired at Makerere.
The University denied the student whose identity was not disclosed on grounds that her course was expired as per the National Council for Higher Education, whose website they use to track legibility of all Ugandan graduates they intend to admit for further studies.
“We accept applicants with a Bachelor’s degree from a Ugandan university with programme accreditation, we use the NHCE website …,” an official of the University of Bristol wrote in reply to the Uganda applicant.
The letter added: “The entry for the Bachelor of Biomedical Laboratory for Makerere University indicates that this programme was accredited on March 26, 2010 to March 26, 2015 and it expired in 2015. As you graduated in 2018 after the programme accreditation expired, we are therefore unable to accept your qualification.”
Ms Shamim Nambassa, a pharmacist and Makerere University’s 87th guild president, who shared the University of Bristol email on twitter yesterday declined to disclose the identity of the rejected applicant, citing confidentiality and risk of stigmatisation.
The development has left recebt graduates and future graduates of the listed courses very confused on what the future holds for them.
chairperson of the Board of NCHE, Prof Eli Katunguka, who also doubles as the vice chancellor of Kyambogo University that is affected by the “expired” courses crisis, said some institutions failed to re-accredit programmes because the exercise is expensive.
Apart from Makerere with the highest number of expired courses at 159, also other universities follow suit in descending order as categorized below;
Bugema and Bishop Stuart universities, tied at 63, Kabale University (59), Busitema (28), and Mbarara University of Science and Technology or MUST (34).
Others include Cavendish University (34), Uganda Christian University (UCU), Makerere University Business Schools or Mubs (25), Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal (18), All Saints University Lango (14), Ankole Western University (4), and Avance International University (5).
Only international universities; Aga Khan University, Apex International University and Clark University, appeared unaffected on the list.
GET FULL LIST OF EXPIRED COURSES HERE (Excel Format)
source: NCHE
