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.
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