By Kitts D.Mabonga
CENTRAL UGANDA-WAKISO
The government has commended the good work being done by the national council for higher education board [NCHE] specifically tightening the check list of accreditation of universities in the country.
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The remarks were contained in the speech of the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni during celebrations for the grant of charter to the Africa Renewal University [AfRU] by the President of Uganda Gen (Rtd) Kaguta Museveni.
The colorful event was hosted at the headquarters of the University at Buloba off the Kampala/Mityana highway in Wakiso district on April 26, 2024.
The First Lady represented by the Minister of State for Trade David Bahati commended the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) headed by the executive secretary Prof. Mary Okwakol and her entire board for tightening the accreditation standards checklist to ensure that only those Universities that have fulfilled the regulatory requirements are cleared for accreditation.
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She pointed out how she was grateful for the good job done by NCHE and going forward to clear Universities such as AfRU which embarked on its long journey of offering university education to the public way back in 2013.
“We join AfRU in celebrating the grant of their charter as signed by the President of Uganda March 11, 2024 and we look forward to seeing them continue with their work of providing both quality professional education and spiritual nourishment services to the citizen students,” she noted.
She observed that many Universities numbering to over 58 are still struggling to meet and cover the stringent sets of regulations that can lead them to be granted a charter.
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She challenged them to continue working hard by ensuring that they effectively put in place the requirements that technically befit a modern day era university.
The First Lady further warned that the government will not tolerate any university that falls short of such professional standards requirements.
The director quality assurance and certification at NCHE Dr. Vincent Sembatya said only 14 of the total 58 universities and tertiary institutions have secured their charter with the majority of applicants having been cleared to become ‘other degree awarding institutions’ but not yet chartered.
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NCHE has a duty of monitoring the performance and compliance systems of all those universities and other degree awarding institutions in ensuring that they effectively respect the rules of the game or risk having their provisional license revoked.
He congratulated AfRU for the new milestone saying they must ensure that they upgrade to higher levels given that their degrees are going to be at the recognition level of public universities like Makerere among others globally.
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The AfRU Chancellor Rev. Peter Kasirivu and his vice chancellor Dr. Byamukama Vincent both thanked the president for granting them a charter saying they will continue making positive strides in the area of new research, innovation and program modification to suit the international standards.
The minister and guests later unveiled the dummy charter and thanked God for granting wisdom to the entire AfRU leadership and its stakeholders which effectively guided them to arrive at this milestone.
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