Richard Wanambwa
Kampala
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), which regulates the institutions of higher learning, has written to Makerere University warning it against admitting students to 14 academic programmes it has not approved.
Some 2,000 students could be affected if the courses including Bachelors of International Business, Human Resources Management, and Business Administration all already being offered at Makerere University Business School (Mubs)but to be adopted by the Faculty of Management and Economics at Makerere are blacklisted.
In a letter to Makerere acting Vice Chancellor Lillian Tibatemwa yesterday, NCHE Deputy Executive Director Michael Lejeune warned that the council would have no choice but to inform the public that the programmes are blacklisted.
The council had earlier stopped Makerere from advertising the courses but the university went ahead to advertise and will on Tuesday admit students, according to a notice on the Academic Registrars notice board yesterday.
Prof Lejeune wrote yesterday: I beg you to note that the advice from NCHE to your office still stands and that your actions leave the council with no option but to warn the public about the illegal programmes you propose to offer.
Section 119 (a) of the amended Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act gives the NCHE authority to approve all the new courses to be introduced at both the public and private universities in the country to make sure they meet minimum standards.
Daily Monitor failed to speak to Prof. Tibatemwa, who chairs the Admissions Board, as she was not picking her calls. Academic Registrar Amos Olal Odur said he had not seen the NCHE letter.
Prof. Lejeune said yesterday the NCHE would not allow Makerere to admit students on unaccredited programmes. We are surprised to see these courses advertised in the press and yet they are not accredited, he told Daily Monitor at his Kyambogo office.
Mubs Principal Waswa Balunywa yesterday said the decision by Makerere to run same courses within the same institution was surprising. This is a very bad decision for the country because you cant have courses duplicated within the same institution, he said, adding that the fresh controversy raised the issue of Mubs independence. The country should be saved from having two graduates, with the same papers but with different knowledge, he told Daily Monitor by telephone.
However, from the narrow individual organisational perspective, its good because Makerere can now make more money but it will also keep us more attentive. We are confident that we have superior products and resources and our students have a better product as already seen on the MBA and B. Comm, he said.
The Makerere University Senate at the beginning of the year approved instruction of some 30 new courses citing changing needs and interests of employers. But the NCHE termed some of the courses as contentious because they were already being offered at MUBS.
Makerere University earlier this year rejected some 800 students admitted by Mubs arguing that their programmes had not been accredited by the NCHE. The students were accepted after intervention by the Cabinet.
Kampala
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), which regulates the institutions of higher learning, has written to Makerere University warning it against admitting students to 14 academic programmes it has not approved.
Some 2,000 students could be affected if the courses including Bachelors of International Business, Human Resources Management, and Business Administration all already being offered at Makerere University Business School (Mubs)but to be adopted by the Faculty of Management and Economics at Makerere are blacklisted.
In a letter to Makerere acting Vice Chancellor Lillian Tibatemwa yesterday, NCHE Deputy Executive Director Michael Lejeune warned that the council would have no choice but to inform the public that the programmes are blacklisted.
The council had earlier stopped Makerere from advertising the courses but the university went ahead to advertise and will on Tuesday admit students, according to a notice on the Academic Registrars notice board yesterday.
Prof Lejeune wrote yesterday: I beg you to note that the advice from NCHE to your office still stands and that your actions leave the council with no option but to warn the public about the illegal programmes you propose to offer.
Section 119 (a) of the amended Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act gives the NCHE authority to approve all the new courses to be introduced at both the public and private universities in the country to make sure they meet minimum standards.
Daily Monitor failed to speak to Prof. Tibatemwa, who chairs the Admissions Board, as she was not picking her calls. Academic Registrar Amos Olal Odur said he had not seen the NCHE letter.
Prof. Lejeune said yesterday the NCHE would not allow Makerere to admit students on unaccredited programmes. We are surprised to see these courses advertised in the press and yet they are not accredited, he told Daily Monitor at his Kyambogo office.
Mubs Principal Waswa Balunywa yesterday said the decision by Makerere to run same courses within the same institution was surprising. This is a very bad decision for the country because you cant have courses duplicated within the same institution, he said, adding that the fresh controversy raised the issue of Mubs independence. The country should be saved from having two graduates, with the same papers but with different knowledge, he told Daily Monitor by telephone.
However, from the narrow individual organisational perspective, its good because Makerere can now make more money but it will also keep us more attentive. We are confident that we have superior products and resources and our students have a better product as already seen on the MBA and B. Comm, he said.
The Makerere University Senate at the beginning of the year approved instruction of some 30 new courses citing changing needs and interests of employers. But the NCHE termed some of the courses as contentious because they were already being offered at MUBS.
Makerere University earlier this year rejected some 800 students admitted by Mubs arguing that their programmes had not been accredited by the NCHE. The students were accepted after intervention by the Cabinet.
