Former Pyramid, now Tower Shadow
Nasser Road. The increasing numbers at Makerere University is of great concern to both the university and the quality of graduates it produces.
The university has realised oscillating ranking amongst African and global universities. This has left parents to ponder other alternatives before they let their children join the 85 year old premier institution.
An investigation into the numbers revealed that the university population has more than doubled in recent times.
According to the University’s Public Relations Office, there are currently over 32,000 students at Makerere, compared to the optimum number of an approximated 16,000 to 17,000 students.
The university has 32 academic and administrative units housed in 80 buildings, covering an area of 300 acres. There also 22 faculties/institutes/schools offering day, evening and external study programmes. The university has ten halls of residence, six for boys, three for girls and one unisex for post graduate students.
This means that the facilities that were initially planned to be used by one student are shared by two.
A random survey in the Faculties of Social Science, Arts and School of Education has something to concretise these observations. Students in these faculties hardly have enough sitting space and lecturers have to use a public address system.
The whooping numbers has warranted that some of the students attend lectures from outside the designated rooms. The common scramble for seats among students has introduced first come-first seat syndrome.
Information from the university links show practically sugar coated figures, allocating a lecturer to student ratio of 1:21 (One lecturer to 21 students).This is but a marketing line since there is clear show of scrambling for seats in the overwhelmed faculties.
Because of limited facilities, it is common for students to do revision under trees especially during exam periods.
Given the crowded lecture halls, lecturers over strain and students miss out on basic education prerequisites like tutorials. In a random survey we conducted in seven faculties, tutorials were non-existent.
It is appreciated that the university has a library which is accessible through the online catalogue ( OPAC).
The library collection consists of 384,800 monographs with an annual addition of about 2,250 books, excluding donations and exchange, and 82,000 bound serials with an annual subscription of 330 serial tittles.
The university also has a book bank system which keeps basic departmental text books based at various departments.
“The book bank system is also used, and has a collection of basic textbooks kept in departmental libraries, currently approximated at 182,000 books,”
The book to student ratio either at the library or book bank is still wanting.
The university has computers with internet for research by students. There eight internet kiosks in the university faculties, with plans to create more. However, the number of computers in these kiosks is too small, and students find themselves scrambling for a computer.
Because of the scarcity of books for instance at the faculty of law, most students are compelled to use the outside library at Law Development Centre (LDC).
In 2005-2006 academic year, due to increasing pressure from the public, the University council suggested a possible solution of reducing intake by 10% to ease off the figures.
This has since taken effect but it all seems far from reality with the seemingly growing figures.
The numbers have logically undermined the education standards at the oldest university.
Makerere University, was at one time was the solely funded government institution. In 1997, the university introduced the private sponsorship scheme.
The private scheme is reported to have made the government reduce its sponsorship package for the university. The university was at crossroads and in a search for sustainable financial muscle, had to succumb to the pressure to admit more private students who could bring in more money.
The premier institution has 10 halls of residence, besides a stream of hostels built around the university. At least four students live per room in the hall.
But in a survey carried out in Mary Stuart, one of the three girls’ halls, 6 students were found residing in one room.
Could the crowding in halls of residence be contributing to the notion of the graduates from Makerere called being half-baked?
It looks like the Quality Assurance Policy which is in the Ten Year Development Programme under the theme, ‘Repositioning Makerere to Meet Emerging Challenges’, adopted by the university has not been implemented.
. The numbers are but a component of the challenges Makerere University has to deal with.
On the other hand, problems like the payment of lecturers and subordinate staff has become almost chronic issue.
One wonders where all the money raked on the private students’ scheme ends up. Majority of the students at the institution are on private programme. Little wonder, MUK, is almost at pains trying to put clear what might be happening with the coffers of the institute.
There is a general belief that graduates from Makerere University are half-baked. This is in the wake of the deteriorating standards.
A number of factors could be used to blame for this and the growing number compared to the structures and resource banks at the institution partly explain this.
In spite of the blame on numbers, the challenges facing Makerere cannot be discussed in isolation from challenges facing other public universities and indeed the natural dimension.
I deeply acknowledge the work of my coursemates in the generation and development of this piece.
