'Sciences a Must Up to University'
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The Monitor (Kampala)
January 29, 2004
Posted to the web January 29, 2004
Elias Biryabarema
Makerere
University students will soon be required to do science and arts subjects in their first year, the Education minister has announced.
Dr Khidu Makubuya said yesterday that students would have broader knowledge and make informed decisions when choosing their degree courses in second year.
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The move, the minister said, is part of several reforms to be introduced in the country's tertiary education to help "raise and sustain the quality of education and make it more relevant and broadly responsive to the needs and aspirations of society".
The current system where students choose their courses before joining university tends to narrow their scope of knowledge and frustrates the development of multi-skilled personnel, Makubuya said while opening a two-day stakeholders workshop at Makerere University.
"The system tends to be theoretical and examinations driven," he said.
The new system, the minister said, will involve changing the syllabi and revise the teaching content to make them more flexible, practical and relevant.
Rukungiri Woman MP Winnie Masiko also told her constituents recently that Parliament would soon pass a law making sciences compulsory at university.
"Parliament will soon pass a law on education strategy so that science subjects are taught from primary level up to university level," she said in Rukungiri town.
The workshop at Makerere brings together donors, parents, university administrators and government officials.
Makubuya underscored the need for integration of information and communication technologies, saying it remains a major challenge for government and the education institutions alike.
ICT, he said, should now become the major medium of teaching and learning in higher education.
"Through electronic learning, one lecturer can attend to thousands of students spread across a number of universities, using high speed electronic networks and interactive multimedia technologies," said Makubuya, a former dean of the Faculty of Law at Makerere.
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Government will introduce loan schemes to enable students from marginalised areas and those from poor families access university education.
Additional notes by Patson Baraire
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