WILL CAPITALISM SAVE MAKERERE UNIVERSITY?

News circulating around is that Makerere University is to starting a double in-takes policy. This means the university will admit students both in August and January in-takes. A move that will see number of private students double aimed at raising funds to meet cost of administration according to vice chancellor Prof Ddumba Ssentamu.

Bearing in mind, twenty years ago, the University opened door to private students for the same motive. Prof Mondo Kagonyera, in the Magazine-Makerere@90 argue that this has enabled many people to attain university education than previously possible, led to increased revenues for some academic units and  brought  “business thinking” into Makerere.  

I am more engrossed in the meaning of “business thinking” which brought has Makerere to its knees. Initially, it has led to explosion of private students without physical infrastructures such as lecture rooms. A first year student for example pursing a degree in Journalism and Communication must learn Introduction to Political Science or Introduction to Sociology as a course unit bond with Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration can only Main Building- Main Hall because there is no any lecture room in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences which can be occupied by even a tenth of those students. This is evident in other colleges such as College of Education and External Studies (CEES), College of Business and Management Science (CoBMAS) while interestingly; Bachelor of Commerce External students sometimes force to learn from Dining halls.

On a day when all students attend a lecture believe me, there is no any university building with the facility to swallow introduction to political science students.

Secondly business thinking has been the chief cause of strikes at Makerere. From teaching to non teaching staff and finally as usual students strikes wit in the campus emanate from misunderstanding on how much should teaching and non teaching staff earn or when they receive salaries and remunerations to when  should students pay tuition.  A traditional saying goes, “a semester without a strike at Makerere is an incomplete one.” 

It is these strikes that oscillate the university global rankings year after year. Right now it is ranked 10^th in Africa and 1,218th worldwide yet last year it was ranked 4^th by Webometrics .  In East Africa, it is one slot behind University of Nairobi which is ranked 9^th in Africa and first in the region. Is there any reason why University of Nairobi which was opened in 1956 and was split from our university (then called University of East Africa) in 1970 should be better than Makerere University which started 34yrs before?. Convince me.

Or tell me that tuition which students pay can only finance day to day running of the university. Without government of Norway which has lug the burden of erect modern structures around the campus, how would Makerere be staring like?.  Norway funded construction of Engineering College (extension building) officially opened in 2009, Food Science and Technology officially opened in 2005, Women and Gender Studies Building officially opened in 2002, College of Computing and Information Science Block  A. The university partly financed construction of Main Library Extension which was also furnished by government of Norway.

As a private undergraduate, I am not trying to demean the our university’s forth coming policy if implemented to increase number of scholars aiming at generating more funds but won’t it be a cause of more harm than good?. Will it heal the university from shortage of lecture room, half baked graduates, bankruptcy, etc. These are the questions which capitalistic proponents of two intakes must first fully answer before initiating this policy.

The author is an undergraduate Journalism and Communication student at Makerere University