The vice chancellor of Kampala International University (KIU), Dr Mouhamad Mpezamihigomihigo has appealed to the state to more support for private institutions of higher learning.
In an interview last week, Dr Mpezamihigo argued that private universities were offering the same service as their public counterparts, but at a higher cost.
“We have a shortage of expertise and often have to look abroad for experts,” he said. “We would appreciate it if the state would help us by offsetting the cost of a visa for instance, to help produce more local capacity, over time.”
He acknowledged that on face value, this looked like a dip in government revenues, but that would be replenished many times over with increased local capacity. He added that the matter had been raised by the Vice Chancellors’ forum and would be addressed to the education ministry and the president for consideration.
He added that private universities were hoping for other assistance in producing their own experts.
“In the past, the government made a deliberate effort to support senior lecturers at public universities like Mbarara and Makerere with scholarships, which is why they have a high PhD capacity now,” he added. “Private universities also need the same support through organisations based in Sweden, Norway or more.”
In addition to its regular programmes, Dr Mpezamihigo said KIU would start vocational studies at certificate and diploma level in animal husbandry and other branches of agriculture.
“Through what we are calling the KIU institute of technology, we are looking to skill the public in a bid to help them create jobs,” he said. He explained that KIU had secured partnerships with Vodafone to establish a placement scheme.
“Our challenge will be how to retool the students and empower them to find ways of improving the curricula through field experience.”