Kyambogo University acting vice chancellor Prof Eli Katunguka-Rwakishaya is seeking government support to increase its staffing levels.
Katunguka says that in 2006, the university academic staff totaled 621 to cater for about 8,000 students but not all positions were filled by government.
Today, Kyambogo has more than 20,000 students but operates with only 349 teaching staff.
“We don’t have enough staff. Apart from me, the whole university has only one male professor in the faculty of Science,” he said. “We still want many more people, especially at senior level to do the mentorship and guidance at the university.”
According to the university academic staff profile, there are only 16 associate professors, 37 senior lecturers, 203 lecturers and 92 assistance lecturers.
Of the 349 filled positions, there are more males than females at 230 and 119 respectively. For instance, the institution has one associate professor in the faculty of Education, one assistant lecturer in the faculty of Engineering but no female fulltime professor.
Katunguka said the university can perform its purpose better with enhanced staff instead of relying on mostly-part-time staff.
“I know the country does not have enough professors and associate professors but it cannot stop government from outsourcing these people in order to improve the quality of our graduates,” he said.
Dr Alex Kagume, the deputy executive director of the National Council for Higher Education, told The Observer that universities have continued to work against its set minimum standards.
“In our quality assurance framework, the ratio of a lecturer to students offering science programmes must be one to nine or 15 and humanities is one lecturer to 15 or 22 students,” Dr Kagume said. “Many universities are not doing this and they should check themselves.”
Katunguka cited Makerere University, which continues to enhance its staff despite funding challenges.
According to the 2015 Makerere University self-assessment report, the university has about 37,064 students with 78 professors, 135 associate professors, 181 senior lecturers, 417 lecturers and 563 assistant lectures.
nangonzi@observer.ug