Makerere University’s journalism and communication department has unveiled plans to change the Bachelor of Journalism and Communication, 10 years after the programme was last updated.
Among other changes, the duration of the course could be changed from four years to three. The last changes saw the duration for studying the programme increased from three to four years. Now department head Dr William Tayeebwa says he wants to make the programme more useful to those joining the world of work.
He has proposed to split the programme into seven more degrees. These include the bachelor of Business Journalism, bachelor of Communication and Public Relations, bachelor of Public Health Communication, bachelor of Science Journalism and the bachelor of Environmental Journalism.
Dr Tayeebwa explained the changes would improve the quality of graduates from the department. He added that they were concerned that some students were shunning the programme due to the long duration of study. So, they were proposing to revert the duration of training to three years, for each of the new degrees.
Dr Tayeebwa also unveiled plans to construct a building to house what he called Makerere University School of Journalism, and this would be housed near the Lincoln flats at the main campus.
The moves follow ongoing plans by the university to review and update various curricula.
The proposed changes were due to be discussed at meeting in Kampala this week, before being presented to stakeholders in a few weeks’ time. The stakeholders’ meeting will hammer out the final proposals to be sent to the university Senate for ultimate approval and adoption.
The Turkish government is in final stages of putting up a building, to support Makerere University’s Peace and Conflict Studies Centre (PCSC).
The move is being run under the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). Revealing the effort to set up the building, the vice chancellor, Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu, said the new building would feature state-of-the-art lecture theatres, office space for staff, conference facilities, visiting lecturers’ research facilities, an e-learning centre and baby care facilities.
The vice chancellor was speaking moments before the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, formally received an honorary doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree in Laws (Honoris Causa) from Makerere, recently.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) bows to receive his PhD from Makerere University chancellor Ezra Suruma, as vice chancellor John Ddumba-Ssentamu (2nd L) looks on
Prof Ddumba-Ssentamu revealed that the university’s decision to award Erdogan with a honorary PhD was in appreciation of the Turkish leader’s efforts in education among several other current affairs.
The PCSC last year received ICT equipment worth Shs 100m to enhance training, and more support is planned. The TIKA has also been at the helm of efforts to help Ugandans acquire an education. For instance, Turkey offers at least 60 scholarships to Ugandans, pursuing studies in various disciplines.
Additionally, the Turkish government has contributed towards the renovation and expansion of several secondary schools and health centres. Annually, 30 journalists receive training in media for peace and sustainable development studies in Turkey.
Further support has also been extended to the armed forces through training and provision of equipment. Additionally, he is spearheading poverty eradication in Uganda by encouraging Turkish investment in agriculture value addition and infrastructure development.
For Eric Ssembajjwe, a student at Kinaawa High School, it was an opportunity to share how he broke a habit that had turned his life upside him.
“I was a smoker and was chased from home by my parents, because they could not tolerate me,” he said. “I now stay with my paternal aunt, who brought me to this school … I have since reformed.”
Ssembajjwe was part of a holiday camp for over 65,000 students at Hana Mixed Secondary School. The five-day camp was the third annual youth health camp, themed Life in My Shoes, by Reach a Hand Uganda, bringing together in-school youth aged between 10 and 24.
Of these, the students were drawn from 16 Ugandan, three Kenyan and two Tanzanian schools and focused on engaging the youth in several activities, aimed at giving them life skills.
The activities included dance theatre competitions, based on sexual reproductive health themes, fashion nights (for talent and life-skills development, counseling sessions, sports as well as focus group discussions, at which Ssembajjwe appealed to fellow youth to abandon such habits as smoking and alcoholism.
The students later engaged in a community outreach exercise in Nsangi township by cleaning the area.
It is 11:20am and 14-year-old Alifunsi Mukwaya is mixing mortar to plaster a latrine for Kiziika-Katuugo primary school.
While some of his contemporaries are in class studying, this P6 pupil and others are busy in this role, as their school has not had a latrine since the start of the 2015 second term. The school in question is in Kitumbi sub-county, Mubende district.
“I was in class and the teacher told me to bring out construction tools and I ended up remaining here to help,” Mukwaya says.
He speaks as he plasters the walls of the two-door pit latrine with mud. The latrine will later be shared by both pupils and the staff. “I’m given time to go to class but we are also asked to come and build.”
One teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told us that the pupils’ involvement in this construction is due to the absence of funds to pay a qualified person who could do the job. The school’s deputy head teacher, Francis Mande, says his predecessor requested for latrines from the district, when the only latrine collapsed in the middle of last year.
“He sent a letter and also went there physically but was reportedly told there were no funds at the district,” Mande says. “We engaged parents and they keep contributing.”
Besides the latrines, the school has classrooms with no walls.
FORGOTTEN SCHOOL
Clearly, someone at Mubende district headquarters has forgotten about this school. The structures are only a glaring danger to the children who attend classes from there. The learners wake up everyday to study at a school with a tattered iron sheet roof, supported by logs, most of which have been destroyed by moths.
Unable to bear the situation, some parents have had to relocate their children to other schools. Those still here are from families that cannot afford to go anywhere else.
Mande tells us that the school population has dropped from 600 pupils in 2013 to 150, due to the absence of necessary facilities, including textbooks. Interestingly, the dilapidated classrooms were constructed by parents.
“The problem is that our schools are not inspected because of their location. And even when they [inspectors] come, they do nothing,” Mande explains.
TEACHER RESIDES IN OFFICE
But nothing speaks about the school’s neglect like the story of a teacher, who resides in the head teacher’s office, since 2015 when he was posted here. Innocent Mutaremwa, the class teacher for P4, says on arrival there, he was told there were no staff quarters.
“The head teacher told me that I should rent somewhere using my salary,” Mutaremwa says. “When I failed to get money for rent, I decided to stay in his office.”
For now, the head teacher shares office space with his deputy, before it reverts to Mutaremwa’s living room after office hours, since the way to his bedroom is through this office.
This office is on the three-room permanent block which was constructed by the government in 2008. Unfortunately, none of the teachers we found at the school could tell when the entire school was constructed.
In a telephone interview, the district inspector of schools, Hajj Abdul Sekabila Lukooya, said the construction of classroom blocks and latrines should not be entirely left to the government. However, he also condemned the use of pupils in constructing latrines and promised to meet the school management over this.
“That was wrong. If a block collapses, there is a school management committee to meet and discuss on how to construct a new one. It should be the parents to participate in the construction, and not the pupils,” he said, adding that an emergency latrine should have been constructed when the one the school had collapsed.
About whether the school would ever get classroom blocks, he said: “There is hope because this year the school was promised two classroom blocks.”
Lukooya also maintained that parents ought to appreciate the schools belong to the community, and are only “government-aided” since “government has limited funds”.
And as Mukwaya and his friends were plastering the latrines, other pupils were using the nearby bushes to ease themselves, while teachers were using a neighbour’s pit latrine!
The embattled research fellow from the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Dr Stella Nyanzi, has fired back at the university’s appointments board, insisting that she is not interested in working at Makerere university again.
Her furious outburst came after a report instituted by Makerere’s appointments board found that Dr Nyanzi was guilty of misconduct and should face a disciplinary committee.
A five-member committee called by the appointments board had been tasked to explain the misunderstanding between Dr Nyanzi and the MISR director, Prof Mahmood Mamdani.
That committee was comprised of Hajjati Sharifah Buzeki, (chairperson), Dr Sarah Ssali (member), Prof Sarah Kiguli (member), Jude Mbabaali (member) and Godwin Okiror (secretariat).
That committee found that, “Dr Nyanzi was erroneously issued an appointment letter on permanent employment terms as a research fellow, which is a contractual job. The subsequent confirmation in her appointment was also erroneous.”
The committee also found that Prof Mamdani’s insistence that she teach a PhD class “was proper and in line with Dr Nyanzi’s terms of employment.”
The five-member committee also concluded that Dr Nyanzi’s decision to strip naked on April 18, 2016 contravened the university’s policies and proper code of conduct, and calls for punitive action against her.
Appointments board head Bruce Kabaasa said there would be no punitive action against Prof Mamdani, adding that his contract had been extended so as to enable the university get a suitable replacement when he goes away.
However, when Dr Nyanzi learnt of the findings, she quickly brushed off the report and insisted she would rather leave Makerere.
“I refuse to return to a violently-oppressive workplace where I will continue under Mahmood Mamdani’s misogynistic reign of terror,” Nyanzi told The Observer in a Facebook message, adding that she would not apologise for her protesting against ‘oppressive rules’.
She also complained that despite her concerns, the university management had mishandled the problems between her and Prof Mamdani. For his part, Prof Mamdani declined to comment on the matter until it is concluded.
OTHERS TO BLAME TOO
Apart from Dr Nyanzi, the university’s vice chancellor (VC), Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu and the human resource director, Mary Tizikara, were faulted for being negligent of their duties. The committee called for the duo to face disciplinary action.
KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi last week threatened to close down Makerere University’s halls of residence due to poor sanitation facilities.
“My health inspectors [tell] me that they found most of the Makerere University halls of residence in a bad sanitation shape, which might expose the student population to outright medical challenges,” she said. “I’m worried this may warrant their closure unless the mess is sorted out.”
Musisi, who was visiting Makerere College School, the site of road excavation works on June 8, was concerned about the situation across the compound.
Responding to her comments, Makerere University deputy vice chancellor for Finance and Administration, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, conceded the problem but added that they were working to build external toilets to accommodate the growing population in the halls of residence.
“We have come up with a new policy to construct public toilets among all halls of residence and already works may soon start on some of these halls like Mitchell, Lumumba, University hall, among others,” Nawangwe explained.
Mitchell hall at Makerere University
Musisi’s concern comes after KCCA offered to relocate Makerere College School’s 750 students to Mary Stuart hall in the university, until the road works and subsequent repairs at the school are completed.
The KCCA is supervising road works on the Wandegeya-Makerere-Nakulabye road, which is being widened to accommodate more traffic.
A week ago, she was at the site, after the road works saw part of the school’s administration block and fence broken down. The excavations saw part of the school’s hostel’s foundation exposed, leading to fear of a catastrophe.
Education minister designate Janet Kataaha Museveni
Last week, the education ministry reverted to its old name - education and sports, while also receiving two new ministers. Another two ministers will soon step aside to make way for their replacements, while a third will change offices. MOSES TALEMWA looks ahead at what awaits the new team.
This week, Janet Museveni, Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde and Charles Bakkabulindi are scheduled to appear before parliament’s Appointments committee for approval as ministers for education.
If approved, Museveni will be taking over from Jessica Alupo as the senior minister, while Dr Muyingo returns to his old position as minister in charge of higher education. Also new to the ministry is Seninde as minister for primary education, while Bakkabulindi is the only one who is staying in his position as minister for sports.
While none of the quartet is new to the education sector, they can hope to start work, perhaps a week from now, in the full knowledge that some key challenges have been waiting for them for five years, some even longer.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
For nearly 10 years, Seninde was the chairperson of parliament’s Education committee. During that time, she was aware of the subsector’s low learning outcomes.
As a minister, she arrives on the back of another report from Uwezo, the education NGO, which shows, among so many humbling statistics, that nearly 74 per cent of all learners in P7 in state-aided primary schools are unable to read a P2-level storybook and solve a basic division problem.
Seninde is a strong advocate of quality standards in parliament; many in the sector will be hoping to see her steer primary school education away from disaster.
There are several reasons for these low outcomes, among them the inequitable distribution of teachers that sees many schools with high teacher-pupil rations that make learning impossible. Many rural schools see teachers trying and failing to teach a minimum of 100 pupils per class, yet their urban counterparts are doing much better at one teacher per 52 learners.
When she takes office next week, Seninde will be required to provide constructive answers to the puzzle of school lunch in primary schools across the country.
The current position forbids head teachers from charging for school lunch; however, it allows them to negotiate with the school management committee, on how a middle ground can be reached. In many parts of the country, this policy has failed, and many pupils eat little or nothing at school.
Seninde will also be required to find a solution to a long-standing puzzle over the impressive enrolment numbers under the universal primary education (UPE) programme. Critics are concerned that although 1.2 million children are enrolled at P1 on average, less than half of these make it to the end of the primary school cycle, in seven years.
The reasons for the high dropout rate are numerous, but some are related to poverty. Related to this, Seninde also has to find answers for school capitation grant. When she was in parliament, she was at the heart of concerns that the money going to this area was too little. But a finance ministry report now indicates that more than half (Shs 28bn) of the Shs 51bn allocated to schools as capitation grant never gets to its destination, as it is lost in corruption. The minister needs to find a solution.
Kiziika-Katuugo primary school in Mubende district
Finally, Seninde’s docket will also need to address the perennial problem of teacher absenteeism. Since it was first addressed in 2010, under the auspices of Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire, there has been some progress, but the general picture is still very bad. Many teachers are absent from work long parts of the term, which affects learning outcomes.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Generally, Janet Museveni will be overseeing various aspects of the ministry. However, the secondary education subsector has been routinely ignored. Together with the primary education sector, this sector has suffered from a lack of sufficient infrastructure, but sometimes schools are also operating in poor conditions (some in tents, others under trees). The first lady will be required to find a workable solution to this problem, urgently.
The secondary school sector had been scheduled to embrace a new curriculum in 2017. Plans for the new syllabus were shelved amid complaints from various stakeholders about the lack of sufficient consultation on how to improve teaching in this area. Connected with this are plans for a revamp of the primary education syllabus.
The minister will be required to shepherd the process of improving the learning curriculum to fruition. The secondary education subsector is critical to the development of science careers. However, this is affected by the severe shortage of science teachers. The effort to retrain existing teachers and improve on the current crop of science teachers is in crisis, to put it mildly, and an urgent solution is required.
Connected with this is the confusion in the recruitment of teachers. Depending on who you talk to, the ministry is at times in the process of recruiting teachers, while others will say that there is a moratorium on recruitment. With schools suffering teacher shortages, this confusion needs to be cleared.
Finally, outgoing minister Jessica Alupo was instrumental in jumpstarting the training and examination of Information Technology (IT) at secondary school level. Her attitude, governed by the shortage of resources, was to start regardless and improve later. It is now time to rescue the training of IT at secondary school by rapidly improving the curriculum and providing competent trainers, aside from providing modern equipment.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Admittedly, Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo will be taking over a docket he has run previously. He takes over from the departing Prof Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa. Dr Muyingo arrives at a time when calls for increased access to higher education are approaching deafening levels.
When he arrives in office next week, Dr Muyingo will find calls for more money to be dedicated to the students’ loan scheme to enable more learners join university. There have also been calls to phase out the State House scholarship and take these funds to the university loans scheme, to add to the number of needy but qualifying students seeking higher education.
Dr Muyingo will also be expected to provide answers about the ineffectual status of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). Without a home of its own, and substantial funding, the NCHE has not been able to recruit the required staff and provide the oversight expected at this level.
The minister will also be looked to for answers on inadequate funding infrastructure for higher education institutions. Poor funding to cater for hands-on training, is affecting Skilling Uganda, a major project that is hoped to enable the employability of several young people across the country. Dr Muyingo is a known advocate of Skilling Uganda and his answers will be expected.
He also needs to shepherd the process of establishing an international certification institute, something that will help the skills gap in the oil and gas sector in readiness for oil production.
SPORTS
Finally, Charles Bakkabulindi returns to his office to tackle pending challenges, left over from the last administration. These include enabling co-curricular activities in schools, through the provision of training fields (such as the Teryet high-altitude camp in Kapchorwa), trainers and sports-equipment.
He will also heed the call of poorly-funded national teams, while strengthening monitoring of various sports associations.
“Justi, come here! We have a problem!” Dingo Pingo calls out.
Justinian comes from the house. Justinian steps onto the verandah. Justinian sees the chewed pineapple. “What happened to it?” “It seems that a dog chewed it.” “I wonder if we can still travel with it. I wonder if it’s still amazing.” “Let’s try.” “Find Isa. We need her blanket.” “Isa? Isa!” Dingo Pingo calls.
“I’m here!” cries Isabella. She runs to the big boys. She loves the big boys. She loves to be near them.
Justinian takes her hand. The three children walk into the bedroom. Dingo Pingo holds the chewed pineapple. Justinian holds the atlas of Africa. Isabella holds her blanket. The three sit on the floor.
Justinian opens the atlas. He chooses a page. He chooses the ancient Ethiopian highlands. Dingo Pingo tries to scrape a bit of pineapple from the chewed fruit. Dingo places the bit on his tongue. They all hold hands. They wait. They wait. They wait.
They are still in the bedroom. They are not in the Ethiopian highlands. They are not in ancient times. The pineapple is no longer amazing. The pineapple no longer allows them to travel through Africa. The pineapple no longer allows them to travel through time. They stand and walk from the room.
“It’s okay!” Isabella is still cheerful. The two boys sit with Isabella on the verandah. Uncle Junior joins them. The boys are disappointed. But they have to admit that it’s their fault. “What did we expect?”
“You’re right. We abused our gift. We used it. We overused it.” “And then we left it out for a dog to grab it.” “We did not take care.” “What did we expect?”
The boys sit sadly on the verandah. Uncle Junior looks at their sad faces. On the road, a white minivan passes. The boys look into the rear window. Inside is Bumpy.
Of all the universities in Uganda, only Kyambogo University started with almost all its structures in place.
When it started in 2003, there were no laboratories, libraries or lecture rooms to build. Three institutions merged to form the university. One would have expected that with such a situation, Kyambogo would rise to become the icon in the region.
Yet leadership challenges have conspired to keep this university moving from one crisis to another, year after year. Almost every year, the university has a strike, usually involving staff, who are unhappy with working conditions. To make matters worse, no other institution goes through an acrimonious change of office.
The current acting vice chancellor took over after his substantive predecessor, Prof Isaiah Ndiege, was pushed out by strike. Another strike had precipitated the search that led to Ndiege’s appointment, to replace the acting vice chancellor Dr Basiima Mpandey, who had in turn also replaced Prof Lutalo Bbosa.
After a spate of court battles, the university has finally settled on a peaceful search for a substantive vice chancellor. One can only hope that the final winner between the two contenders, Prof Elly Katunguka and Geoffrey Bakunda, will give the institution an opportunity to catch up with her peers.
Both candidates are from outside, Prof Katunguka from Makerere University, while Prof Bakunda is from Makerere University Business School.
Kyambogo University has been famous for producing graduates with a bias towards practicals. The winner should be able to build the institution from a neutral situation, starting with staff, students and alumni.
Over time, the institution ought to be the centre of excellence in research and innovation, across the country. New leadership should set the standards for increased research and innovation and bring more attention to a revamped Kyambogo. One can only hope that will get the break it deserves – away from crisis.
Last week, a group of Makerere students launched a fundraising drive, under their charity organisation, Makutano to raise Shs 11,343,000 to renovate the university police station.
According to the Makutano founding director, Marvin Saasi, they plan to raise this money before September when renovations will commence.
The station’s ramshackle toilet building, located near the students’ guild office, was built in the 1940s. Makutano hope that the move will foster good relations between the public and the police.
The amount of money includes the cost of re-painting the police station, carrying out plumbing works and constructing a new toilet for the officers and their families, as the old one is appalling.
Saasi explains that they plan to appoint a number of their members to whom the public can direct funds, through mobile money platforms and bank accounts, to raise the required funds.
Anti-corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) last week rewarded 20 youths with presents for use of art and poetry to fight corruption in the country.
The annual awards ceremony was held at National theatre June 10 in partnership with Uganda Youth Network and Youth Equality Centre. ACCU Communications Manager Maron Agaba said the youth were engaged in a competition designed to encourage the youth to understand the effects of corruption in the country.
The executive director, UYONET, Lillian Bagala, explained that the competition was well received.
“We received overwhelming numbers of entries but 20 were shortlisted after their pieces received more reactions from the public,” she said.
The wining poem was by Wabwire Wa’Waheirire, titled My Nation is Married to Corruption, which talked about how politicians use the people as a ladder (political hypocrisy, deceptive yet very corrupt in the poet’s words).
Below is his poem
‘I wonder if she will ever see redemption, He had come to her with sweet scent and song. His aura full of attraction. She couldn’t refuse the temptation.
For she was so naïve and young. And didn’t see the hidden danger. Behind his charming façade. If she had warily observed the stranger.
She would’ve seen that all he had was damage. And what was in his eyes was not love but evil. She would’ve seen he was a devil. Didn’t she hear of his story?
That he put his lovers in misery And before his evil deed is noticed, He must have gone far. And if ever the pain is erased.
There must be an undoable scar. But she accepted him whole And embrace him with an open soul He responded by grinding her heart
Instead of a caress, he gave her a thorny scrub Took her from the light to the dark Sapped her beauty and made her an ugly muck I wonder if she will ever be free
Because when I look at her, lost hope is what I see I wonder if she will ever have a divorce Or is the marriage for better for worse?
Four centres at three Ugandan universities last week became the latest recipients of a World Bank grant, after two centres at Makerere University and one at Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi.
The World Bank board approved what is known as the Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence project to set up 24 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs).
The selected ACEs in Uganda are Makerere University’s Centre for Crop Improvement, as well as its Centre of Materials, Product Development & Nanotechnology, Uganda Martyrs University’s African Center for Agro-ecology and Livelihood Systems, as well as Mbarara University of Science and Technology’s Pharm-Biotechnology & Traditional Medicine Centre.
Each of the ACEs in Africa will receive $6 million (about Shs 21bn) over the five-year project period. The objective of the ACE II project is to strengthen selected Eastern and Southern Africa higher education institutions to deliver quality postgraduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas.
According to Mbarara University of Science and Technology spokesperson, Dennis Lukaaya, the selected ACEs are expected to address specific development challenges facing the region through graduate training in Master’s, PhD, and short-term courses and applied research in the form of partnerships and collaborations with other institutions and the private sector.
Some 24 institutions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia received the support.
To mark its 30th year of operation, World Vision Uganda last week decided to donate education materials to 600,000 children in 600 schools across over 20 districts.
The districts, which include Kibaale, Gulu, Buliisa, Tororo, and Busia Bundibugyo, received reading materials worth Shs 1.2bn. While handing over the materials at a ceremony at the World Vision head offices in Nakasero last week, the group national director, Gilbert Kamanga, said the organisation’s main objective was to improve the quality of education and learning outcomes in the country.
“World Vision endeavors to see every child in Uganda access quality education and relevant localized reading materials,” Kamanga said.
Receiving the books on behalf of the districts, the ministry’s assistant commissioner for Primary Education, Tony Mukasa-Lusambu, thanked World Vision for targeting poorly-performing districts.
“The districts that World Vision has chosen, especially those in the East, are the ones that the ministry has always thought something was lacking,” Mukasa-Lusambu said.
World Vision's Gilbert Kamanga hands over education materials to the assistant commissioner Basic education, Tony Mukasa-Lusambu
The materials include 1,800 thematic curriculum charts for P1 classes, 50,000 P1 Mathematics and English practice books, 50,000 P2 Mathematics and English practice books, 60,000 books for P4 (15,000 books for each of the four subjects of Mathematics, Science, English and Social Studies) and 1,200 blackboard geometry sets.
In the next phase, according to Kamanga, materials for P3 and P5 as well as local language reading materials for P1, P2 and P3 will be procured including 200,000 local storybooks.
“I call upon all the teachers who will receive these books to ensure that the children use these books,” said Mukasa–Lusambu. He later added that any school that will not use their books will have them taken away and given to other schools that are ready to use them.
The move comes in the midst of some interventions. Currently, 76 classrooms and 200 stances of pit latrines are under construction while 3,400 teachers are to be trained on positive discipline and preventing school-based violence; over 500,000 children in more than 800 schools will be reached.
International Health Sciences University (IHSU), on Wednesday awarded it best students and innovators at the inaugural IHSU-ICT Awards Gala Night held at Protea hotel Kampala.
The event recognized exceptional students in the ICT-Health Leadership programme and marked the launch of the Lift256 Incubation Programme. This particular part of the programme was designed in 2014 to respond to unemployment challenges of graduates with the support from Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and CM 2000.
The programme saw students organise themselves into groups where they could develop software applications (apps), which they pitched to would-be funders. Four teams pitched their projects namely; The Health Data Harvester, The Data Aggregator, The Tele-consult Platform and The ICU-Communicator.
After a tight competition, the judges ruled ICU-Communicator, the winner due to their applicability. The winners took up $10,000 (about Shs 350,000,000) to support the three-member team to scale their project to the next level.
The ICU-Communicator app is designed to solve the issue of the lack of intensivists (people keen to work in the Intensive Care Unit) in Uganda. The platform will initially focus on lab results that the intensivists can review and relay to provide appropriate guidance to health workers in the ICU.
Speaking after the win, Lorna Twinomugisha of ICU-Communicator said the money would help the team get more specialists like programmers and business analysts on board.
Michael Niyitegeka, the programme consultant, said the programme is built to move student’s minds away from studying for exams.
“We enhance the technical skills and competence by exposing students to different tools to make them better technology people,” he said.
The IHSU University Council Chairman Dr Moses Galukande said education ought to be geared towards providing solutions.
MTN Uganda last week officially launched its 10th edition of Changing Lives Through Staff Volunteerism project for 21 days of Y’ello care by donating to communities in need in five regions of the country.
The project dubbed, Investing in Education for All saw the telecom firm secure $30,000 (about Shs 102m) for the needy. One of the beneficiaries of this year’s initiative was St Helen’s primary school in Mbarara, which received a fully-connected ICT hub.
During the commissioning of the hub on June 10, MTN’s general manager for corporate services, Anthony Katamba, explained that the exercise was intended to continue driving access to education, particularly through the digitalisation of teaching.
“Education is one of the most important investments a country can make to its people and its future; it is critical to reducing poverty and inequality,” Katamba said.
MTN’s Winnie Banage (R) and other MTN staff demonstrate how a braille machine works to learners (in blue) at St Helen’s PS in Mbarara
Some 60 pupils gathered for the unveiling of the hub and were excited about the good gesture. Speaking on behalf of the school, the deputy head teacher at St Helen’s, Seremali Bainomugisha, commended MTN for addressing the community needs.
“The ICT hub and the equipment for the visually-impaired pupils will address the needs of each of the 330 pupils in the school,” he said.
The hub features talking computers, Perkins braille machines with braille papers, software, headsets, internet connectivity, WiMAX setup, painting of the ICT lab and ten smart phones for the school management.
The initiative is supported by MTN employees across the group. St Helen’s is a Catholic Church-Founded school, started in 1932.
For Energy and Mineral Development Minister (designate) Eng Irene Muloni, last week was a return to her home ground, now renamed the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (Cedat).
Between 1982 and 1986, she was a student on bachelor of Electrical Engineering programme at Makerere University. Returning last week, she was in Makerere as a minister to launch the East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREE).
Cedat is the home of the EACREE, and also the place where a group of faculty and students came together to develop the Kayoola EV bus, as well as several research projects dealing with renewable energy.
The minister (middle) listens to a technician explaining an irrigation system, as Makerere deputy vice chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe (R), looks on
Muloni said she was pleased that this place was chosen to become a regional centre of excellence to increase access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services.
“The initiative will improve energy security and the mitigation of negative emissions by creating an enabling environment though informing policy, capacity building and creating awareness to the public,” she said.
Muloni added that the facility would support the efforts to realize adequate renewable energy, which is important in promoting industrialization.
“The majority of Ugandans is in the rural areas and relies on bio mass including charcoal and agricultural waste for energy,” she said.
“Fortunately, 85% of the energy Uganda relies on is renewable and thus the need to fully tap into its potential.”
Earlier, the Cedat principal, Dr Henry Alinaitwe, explained that the establishment of the EACREE came about after by the East African Community (EAC) member states, and is to be supported by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Austrian Development Agency (ADA).
“The centre will promote all appropriate and sustainable renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, promote small-scale and medium-scale hydro power projects, and bio-fuel projects which prove the sustainable and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) cooking projects,” Alinaitwe said.
Explaining this further, Prisca Bonabantu, speaking on behaf of the permanent secretary for the energy ministry, said the decision came at the 33rd meeting of the council of ministers in Arusha, Tanzania on February 29, 2016.
The East Africa Community deputy secretary general, Jessica Eriyo commended ADA, UNIDO and the government for their continued support to the centre to advance science and technology in Uganda.
“The centre is a milestone in the integration process and needs to be taken seriously; we hope that this will facilitate a dialogue and exchange of ideas between stakeholders in the private sector within the EAC member states,” she said.
Jessica Eriyo (L) and Irene Muloni and others enjoy a bus ride aboard Kayoola EV
The launch concluded with an exhibition, in which Cedat staff and students showcased their innovations, before taking a ride aboard the first-ever solar-powered bus, Kayoola EV.
The joy and laughter of the women and girls could be heard metres away, bellowing through the mud-and-wattle classroom block of Kakopo primary school in Rwamutonga internally-displaced persons’ (IDP) camp in Hoima.
To a person far away from this class, one would think the pupils were holding a party with lots of food and drink. Instead, some 300 women and girls had filled three classrooms at the school to receive the much-needed reusable, hygienically and environmentally-friendly sanitary pads.
The pads were donated to the 314 women and girls of Rwamutonga IDP camp by AFRIpads, following a request from Global Rights Alert, part of a fundraising drive for school children of some 1,051 families displaced from their land, in the oil-rich Hoima district.
AFRIpads are a reusable option of sanitary wear made from soft textile, leak-proof material with buttons to secure the pad onto a pair of knickers. The pads can be reused up to 12 months, making them cost-effective and environmentally-friendly.
Global Rights Alert executive director, Winfred Ngabiirwe, shares with pupils at Rwamutonga
This was no ordinary donation to this camp to the women and girls that have been in the camp for two years, with no clean water or money to help them buy basics such as pads. It was the first time that a donation targeting only women and girls was coming to the camp. So, the men stood around outside, craning their necks to see what was getting their women excited.
Inside, Betty Akol and Everse Munguryek were training the women and girls how to use the sanitary pads, how to wash, dry and keep them stored away. And the women’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“They have said that this blue one, you use it at night and sleep and sleep and sleeeeeep, no leaking,” one of the women explained, before the rest burst into laughter.
This was the first group training about their reproductive health that had brought mothers and daughters together under one roof. And the younger girls (those aged 10 to 15) giggled and looked on in amusement, listening attentively.
Each pad can be reused up to 12 months, making them cost-effective and environmentally-friendly. The pads, manufactured in Uganda, are made by rural women of Kitengesa village in Masaka district.
The life of an internally-displaced person is often of survival, where to get the next meal, drink of water, shelter and medical care. That much-needed care for a girl’s monthly menstruation period is often considered a luxury. Many girls in the camp admitted missing school during their menstruation period, as it is culturally-unacceptable for another person to know that a girl is having her period.
“When I get my period, I wear two knickers because this is what I have. I cannot afford pads from the shops,” says 13-year-old Sharon Anirwoth.
Just like many other women in the camp, Lucy Onyera says she has been using a cloth to manage her menstrual cycle. On such days, she has to be careful about her movements, for fear of dropping the cloth and getting embarrassed amongst her peers.
“I’m really grateful for these pads, as I can use it for a year. They have said that when I tie the buttons on the knickers, the pad doesn’t fall. This is very good for me. It is in this camp that I have learnt about these pads. Before this, I only knew about cloth,” Onyera adds.
Everse Munguryek, the gender secretary for Hoima district, thanked Global Rights Alert and AFRIpads for supporting the women and girls in the area. She said that while it might seem as a small issue to people in urban centres, a natural occurrence like a menstrual cycle is keeping many girls in rural areas out of school because this is a sacred time in many cultures.
Many a parent has confessed to a situation when they are stressed about the cost and size of their children's footwear. However, as JAMES SSEKANDI has found, there is relief for such children, in the so-called sensible shoes rather than the adorable pair.
Estellah Karungi, a mother of three, is shopping for shoes for her children at City Centre complex in Kampala. She says she is no longer bothered by the pricey brands of shoes.
“It was frightening to see my child develop corns and calluses on their feet. I no longer stress about the price,” says Karungi.
Karungi, who is checking out a variety of shoes, says she is more demanding in her choices than she used to be. “I’m very careful with shoes now. We spent a lot of money treating foot infections and corns on a four-year-old.”
Children check out orthopedic footwear
Dr Sarah Nayiga, a podiatrist and skin doctor at Mulago hospital, explains that the comfort in a shoe is very important and may result into long-term health-threatening problems with different conditions such as diabetes and edema.
“Foot-bones are complex structures. At 10 years old, the feet are still under construction; so it is important for kids to wear shoes that fit, wrong shoes can cause foot deformities at an infant age,” Nayiga says.
She explains that a wrong pair of shoes can generate discomfort for anyone, “now imagine what it would do to a nursery or primary child”.
“Flexibility is important for kids’ foot-wear. Children’s high impact activity levels are greater compared with adults’; so, they need shoes that are stress-free,” Nayiga adds.
And that is what orthopedic shoes are specially designed to offer comfort to the wearer, while also resolving health or size-related problems, even in situations where walking in regular shoes would cause fatigue and pain in the muscles.
According to www.healthyfeetstore.com, orthopedic shoes include extensive cushion padding in addition to increased volume. The extra space gives a patient room to add multiple insoles as well as heel, toe, ball, or arch padding. Although the heels aren’t as high, they tend to be very firm with a wide base. The seamless interior design creates less room for wear, while helping to eliminate pinching in the toes.
According to Brian Yesigye, an entrepreneur and dealer in children’s orthopedic shoes under his Bravo Shoes brand, a pair of shoes can be made more comfortable with a few tricks.
“Allow the client with special needs to make desired fitting choices. Something loose or warm around the ankles would be better,” Yesigye notes.
Yesigye owns and sells children leather school shoes under his brand in Kampala, importing shoe products from Turkey, UK, and UAE. He is now focusing on opening up a big outlet of best leather quality shoes for children in Uganda.
“Bata started small and now it’s big; who knows what Bravo will be tomorrow?” he says.
Yesigye says he is now in partnership with Budo Junior School in Wakiso, Sunset schools in Kawempe-Matugga and Kawanda primary school, as well as Kabatereine Memorial School in Mbarara, to supply shoes to pupils, through Bravo Shoes. Other clients include Dwelling Place foundation, an organization that looks after children taken off the streets of Kampala.
Grace Asiimwe, a mother of two daughters, says a child’s shoe should be lightweight, flexible and in a quadrangular shape (four angles) just like the foot.
“Bare foot is the ideal position; I don’t think kids below the age of 15 should wear shoes with stiff sides,” Asiimwe says
Dr Nayiga emphasized that the ligaments and joints of the feet of children aged six to 10 are still vulnerable; so, she recommends shoes of an orthopedic nature.
“Until the age of 15, muscles and limbs are still developing. Ligaments may take any number of unusual variations, and that’s why you see funny foots in elders,” she explains.
Yesigye also adds that shoe materials also matter; these include the fabrics like leather and canvas, which are great for children’s feet, since they have a long sturdiness and are flexible.
“These fabrics stretch and soften with wear, which is good for an active little foot and Ugandan weather,” Yesigye adds.
While cautioning, “As parents, there is need to be careful when picking a shoe that uses ‘synthetic’ [fake] material and avoid plastics for kids. Some shoes and clothes fabrics are made for different weather”.
Just as material is important, shoe soles (hard or soft) are also important to help the development of a child’s muscles in ankle and foot.
“There is need for the child’s muscles to find their own balance and grip,” says Nayiga explains.
So, she urges parents like Karungi to pay attention to the shape of their children’s feet and ensure appropriate footwear, to avoid orthopedic problems like club feet and bow legs in later life.
Outgoing state minister for Primary Education, Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, has tasked teachers across the country to respect themselves and their learners and avoid immorality.
The minister, who was speaking during celebrations to mark the Day of the African Child in Masaka last Thursday, was irked by reports that a teacher had recently impregnated a learner but was still at large.
Students of Hope N. primary school, Senyange, Masaka performing during the celebrations
The Bamunanika MP found himself in a bitter exchange with district police officers over their reluctance to arrest the teacher from Masaka School for the Deaf in Ndegeya.
“Where do you [teacher] get the thought of sleeping with your student, and a deaf one at that?” Muyingo asked, as he addressed a gathering at Masaka-liberations grounds.
Dr Muyingo tasked the Masaka district police commander, John Mwaule, to explain why the teacher, Tommy Mulumba, had not been arrested despite an arrest warrant. In response, Mwaule explained that the arrest warrant was being implemented but that the suspect was now on the run. Dr Muyingo charged teachers across the country to act responsibly.
“Stories are emerging from even higher institutions of such immoralities; it is a shame for teachers to bear,” a remorseful Muyingo added.
The pupil, whose identity is being withheld, is now four months pregnant. The UN children’s fund (Unicef) used the occasion to launch two booklets on ending violence against children.
The booklets are being launched in conjunction with the education ministry to help children protect themselves from all kinds of injustices. The two booklets are to equip children with knowledge and skills against conflicts, violence and disasters in their schools and communities.
Minyinya Christian Primary school, Katwadde pupils entertain with a traditional dance
Muyingo said these booklets entitled ‘Say No To Violence’ and ‘Know your risk, Prepare to Act’ will be a must-have in both primary and secondary schools starting with the 2017 academic year.
The celebrations held in Masaka were under a theme of ‘Protecting Children’s rights; A call to Action.
Weeks after part of the buildings was demolished, Kasubi Family primary school pupils returned to learning last week.
According to the head teacher, Edward Mukasa, the school has an enrolment of 630 pupils but just 476 reported last week. However, learners were worried that studying in dust under trees may infect them with jiggers.
“Some of us don’t have shoes and the dust is too much outside here,” one pupil said.
Part of the classroom that was damaged by the bulldozers
The teachers are not having it easy either. Prossy Nuwagaba, a teacher, says that teaching outside class room is very challenging but she is devoted to teaching Uganda’s future generation. “Pupils are destracted by many things in an outside class which makes it difficult to have the attention of the whole class.” Nuwagaba said.
The developments come a month after court bailiffs raided the school, breaking down part of its property, on the grounds that it had been bought by Kasubi Market Vendors’ Association.
Mukasa is very relieved that the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has agreed to keep the school open, by providing makeshift tents. The tents were set up under trees, in the school compound to allow lessons for Top class, P1 and P2. Learners in P3 and P4 are sharing the school main hall for lessons. “I’m happy that the school was saved and we shall continue doing our work,” Mukasa said.
The area MP, Moses Kasibante, is also a relieved man, saying on phone that KCCA had assured him that the school would not close and called upon residents to remain calm. The school started in 1944, as a private institution and was taken over by the government in 1971.
