Musisi, Nakanyike and Nansozi K. Muwanga. (2003) “Makerere University in Transition 1993-2000” Oxford: James Currey Press.
Chapter One: Introduction
1992 – Government of Uganda Education Policy White Paper
Prior to 1991, university education in Uganda (at Makerere) was entirely government funded. Since 1991, enrollment has expanded four-fold, and most students pay fees of some amount. This revenue has begun to be used to upgrade deteriorated facilities.
The authors initiated this study with review of pertinent national government documents concerned with the transformation of Makerere, including links between:
· macroeconomic reform and transformational innovations
· democratization and decentralization initiatives at the center and institutional reform in the university
· national policy toward higher education and institutional reform at Makerere
The authors followed with review of university administration documents on economic, political, and administrative aspects of the university’s historical development. Mission statements, strategic plans, annual reports, and other relevant documents were used. Key informant interviews were held.
The authors than went to the next level: department documents, and conducted more key informant interviews at this level.
Finally, the authors interviewed students on their perspectives about Makerere and the transformation of the university, especially around issues of: quality of teaching; availability of reading and other materials; the semester system schedule; evening classes; access to Makerere for poor students; additional entry points for female students; and quality of life in student dormitories.
Chapter Two: Historical Background
Makerere was established as Makerere Technical School in 1922, to educate a cadre of colonial middle administrators. Beyond the clerks, messengers, et al who staffed the lower administrative levels. The curriculum began with carpentry, mechanics, and building, then moved on to science, pre-clinical medicine, engineering, and agricultural.
1937 – MTS became Makerere Higher College for East Africa.
1949 – MHC becomes a university college, affiliated with the University of London.
1963 – one year after independence, Makerere becomes the University of East Africa’s home campus, with Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as constituent colleges.
1970 – Makerere declared an independent university of the Republic of Uganda. At this point, Makerere also ended its formal affiliation with the University of London.
1971 – Idi Amin’s ascension to power began the free fall that would affect Makerere for the next 30+ years.
Chapter Three: The Problems of Makerere: in the Context of Uganda’s Political Climate, 1970-1990
Between 1972 and 1985 – GNP decreased, and real per capita income went down 35 percent. Social sector spending was cut – including for Makerere. In addition to these budgeted cuts, actually appropriations were severely diminished. The political and administrative crises affecting the country paralyzed much of the public sector.
Beyond the crises being faced, there was a change in focus by the governments of Amin, Obote, and others, from tertiary level schooling to primary and secondary levels. Donor support for Makerere decreased as well. In the 1970s and 1980s Makerere became a placer of empty laboratories, dilapidated dormitories, barren libraries, etc. Few services were actually increased during this time. As such, and with enrollments being increased slightly, faculty had little incentive to do much beyond bare bones teaching, and often found other work, using their university space as operating bases.
Acclaimed efforts, such as MISR (Makerere Institute of Social Research), the Kabanyoro-based University Farm, the Medical school branch at Mulago Hospital all held esteemed places in the years after independence, but withered during the 1970s and 1980s. Research at the university level dissolved almost entirely. Shortly after Museveni’s arrival, donors began to once again (minimally) fund aspects of the university mission, though often on a piecemeal basis – meaning no general support for the university.
Another factor that contributed to dis-enabling research was the impact of government action to control what went on at the university. The University Act of 1970 created an Appointments Board that effectively took control over hiring practices from the nominally tantamount University Council. This set two power centers against each other, rather than having a unified approach that would move the university forward. Faculty were stuck in the middle. The Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA - 1975) and Makerere University Students’ Guild (1978) were each banned.
By the early 1990s, reform and revitalization were desperately needed.
Chapter Four: Back from the Brink: Change and Recovery through Institutional Reform
National level economic reform in the early 1990s brought the atmosphere of reform to Makerere, and the university would eventually move toward transformation. With the central government laboring to meet economic reform needs, which included opening up the public sector to greater market economy forces, the university found itself one of the public sector realms impacted most directly. University administrators had to find ways to generate income – market-based ideas about education came to the fore. By 1992, students attending evening classes at Makerere were paying fees to attend their courses.
The major transformations at Makerere were focused on:
· adoption of strategic planning – a Planning and Development Department (PDD) was created, and direct control taken away from the Ministry of Education University Grants Committee. The PDD did not produce its first adopted strategic plan until 1997 – and it was criticized for lacking stakeholder participation. Still, it was a bellwether effort – Makerere’s first attempt at strategic planning. The second planning phase was much more inclusive of stakeholder communities – using workshops and other brainstorming methods to generate ideas. One of the ideas put forth was the formation of an Institutional Transformation Programme (IFP) Steering Committee. In addition to these, a mission statement and a vision statement for the university were developed, acknowledging pursuit of academic excellence, and high quality provision of services, including teaching and research.
· enlisting the university in support of national goals – with the 1993 government-implemented effort to decentralize services and programming, Makerere administrators joined Ministry officials to develop ways in which the university could assist the government in these efforts. This “Committee of 14” (seven university officials and even ministry officials), known as C-14 worked (1) to establish conditions under which Makerere could undertake research in the districts that supported government policies of human resource training; (2) to plan university programs to meet needs for graduates at the district level – this helped employ graduates, even as it assisted local districts in their development efforts; (3) to develop proposals to fund these efforts – including from Rockefeller Foundation and the WB. This work revealed a need for the university to significantly overhaul its curriculum in order to help me national and local development needs.
· implementing alternative financial strategies – (1) admit fee-paying students – from fully government funded (1992) to having 80% of students pay some fees, Makerere now receives more than half its funding from student fees – including hundreds of foreign students; (2) create commercial units and small business enterprises – including the guest house, the maize mill, the bakery, the university press, etc.; (3) create consultancy services utilizing university academic and management resources; (4) donor funding – about $5 million annually between 1993 and 1999, and (5) new professional courses offered – numerous examples given in the text (agribusiness; library science; community forestry; etc.)
· curriculum and academic restructuring – semester system introduced in 1998. The semester system allows more flexibility in participation inasmuch as the academic year now has two components rather than one, as with the former term system. Easier scheduling for students (though more complex scheduling for the administrators) is seen, which includes staggered payment times, as well, making it easier for many students to manage the financial burden. Academic restructuring also impacts the amount and kind of offerings made available. Makerere has done much to expand its course offerings to more closely match public demand. Makerere has also done much to meet demand from civil society for courses and programs that supports that sector of society.
· information and communications technology investment – email use began as early as 1991, with MUKLA (Makerere University Kampala email network), but this disintegrated by the mid 1990s, leaving faculty, staff, and students reliant upon what Kampala could offer. By the late 1990s, individual faculties were arranging ISP and email connections for the benefit of their communities (Law, Forestry, etc.). By 1999, ICT was a fundamental aspect of all university development plans. In 2000, Makerere adopted an ICT Policy and Master Plan to augment the master strategic plan for development
· new management and governance style among university administrators – the Office of the University Secretary (US) has assisted greatly in this effort. Information sharing regularly occurs between communities and constituencies (administrators, faculty, staff, and students, plus government personnel and officials). MUASA has been un-banned and has aided in legitimizing these efforts. Student inclusion has muted protests over the years since this effort was begun. Major changes are now agreed to in advance by as many constituencies as necessary before being announced.
· increased student access and equity – with fee-paying now an across-the-board phenomenon, equity has become an issue to be addressed – and Makerere is doing so through its remaining sponsorship monies. The enrollment of women students has risen from 12% of all students in 1989 to nearly 40% of all students in 2000. As with women students, the university has sought to better balance the geographic spread of its enrolled student body. Finally, Makerere has increased its enrollment of foreign students from 41 (in 1993) to 188 (in 1999) – many of these foreign students come from Tanzania, where UDSM is more costly than Makerere.
· improved quality of student life – library holdings, dormitory living, class size have all been worked on and at least somewhat mitigated as problems of student life. Student leaders are also included in strategy sessions. Student evaluation is done on a more continuous path (attendance, course work, tests, and exams), rather than reliance on the singular final exam scores.
· improved staff development and welfare – with the requirement that faculty have doctorate degrees (Mujaju Report), and given that only 25% of faculty currently do, one area where Makerere has improved is in supporting the efforts of faculty to attain doctorates.
Chapter Five: Challenges and Unfinished Business
Emerging concerns – sustainability of the transformation effort, and the university’s capacity to assist in national development efforts. Criticisms include over-commercialization, leading to declining standards, quality, and equity.
Categories of unfinished business
· building an adequate financial base – despite advances, the university financial situation is still not where it needs to be to sustain the growth that has been seen. BY the calculations given (but not detailed) the university falls between $50 and $170 per student short of the needed per student expenditure given current revenue streams. Investment in infrastructure is lacking
· strengthening management capacity – one sentence to this section – page 42: “Planning capacity is still weak, and effective monitoring and evaluation systems are lacking.” That’s it!
· completing reform in governance – administrative decentralization and transparency, along with the good will generated from this over the past decade must be continued and maintained.
· ensuring quality of academic programs – massive increases in enrollment have not been met with increases and improvements in facilities. As such, for many lectures there are insufficient seats to handle the enrollment, and poor sound quality hinders the learning experience in these large classes. Fewer tutorials are offered, staff and faculty are overworked, etc. Investment in infrastructure and systems is needed. The School of Education leads the way in over-crowded classrooms with 56 students per lecturer (Table 5, page 44) – meaning the average class size is approximately 525 students per class. ALSO, based on how faculties are given funding (tied closely to increased enrollments), some high intensity faculties (ex. medicine) are unable to meet income generation requirements without wholesale quality reduction. Charging higher tuition would reduce enrollments, as poorer students opted for less costly fields of study.
· strengthening research – another seriously under-funded area of the university. While the university budgets a sizable amount (in dollar terms) for research, the government has habitually appropriated perhaps 10% of that amount – not nearly enough to maintain currency on the academic front, never mind blaze any research trails. Research efforts are also not centralized in any distribution sense – there is only ad hoc, piecemeal knowledge of who is doing what.
· extending information technology/communications infrastructure – computerized management and administrative systems are still needed. Email is spotty on campus (though less so in Kampala). Data processing of student information remains manual, rather than computerized. Similarly there is an insufficiently complex financial information analysis and reporting system in place. The library needs a library information system. More computers are needed on campus – for students, staff, and faculty. The African Development Bank may finally be on-line for contributing to the development of these systems. Similarly, the U.S. based Leland Initiative (USAID) may assist in creating a wireless backbone throughout the main campus. NORAD is also in line to assist here, as is SIDA/SAREC.
· ensuring equity in admissions and staffing – student living conditions remain abysmal. Resources are often unavailable campus-wide – texts, papers, research materials, etc. For women, the cramped on-campus quarters may still be safer than off-campus housing, especially for those women students taking night courses – or studying late at the library. Assaults and rapes have increased in the late 1990s and early 2000s (along with the enrollment surge). The enrollment surge has come largely from those families able to afford university costs. Equity has not been adequately addressed – an issue that is publicly held by most Ugandans. Gender equity has stalled at 40% women students, and 20% women faculty – though few of these women faculty are in decision making roles (most are assistant lecturers and lecturers). Access is also severely limited for students with disabilities – perhaps as many as 210 students with disabilities were enrolled at Makerere in 2000.
· improving staff welfare – little has been done for staff and staff families in the past decade.
Private universities are erupting all over Uganda. Makerere’s place as the flagship of East Africa is threatened in this matrix of opportunity. Islamic University (Mbale) and Martyr’s University (Nkozi) have already received better evaluations on service provision than has Makerere. Tuition levels are comparable, but – for example – ICT services at Martyr’s is superior to Makerere’s after only a few years of operation. Gender disparity is not as severe at these two private universities either. They are still bastion’s of “those who can pay can attend” but they are doing fine on providing service for a price.
Chapter Six: Recommendations
This tracks on to the previous chapter on unfinished business.
· building an adequate financial base – identify other sources of funding for critical areas (medicine); organize an annual donors’ conference; build/maintain a donor database; and improve coordination among donors.
· strengthening management capacity – overhaul, streamline, and strengthen systems. Computer financial systems, human resources systems, student records, etc. Strengthen Planning and Development Department.
· completing reform in governance – continue to decentralize, without losing reputation for transparency.
· ensuring quality of academic programs – promote interdisciplinary teaching; re-institute tutorials; balance funding for departments that can’t meet fundraising goals (i.e. sciences, where costs and need for smaller classes prevail); rationalize course offerings and teaching assignments to better spread faculty around.
· strengthening research – better integrate the university in national level development debates – and get funding as requested from government, rather than 10% of what is requested. Implement the policy adopted five years ago to add a research surcharge to student costs, to ensure research can be conducted on a slightly less limited basis. The university should actively raise research funds. The university should establish a central research office so the above ideas could be organized, and a culture of research created. Recruit more people AS RESEARCHERS rather than as teachers. Utilize the skills and knowledge of retired faculty to get these ideas off the ground. Carry out a university-wide assessment of research needs. Improve post-graduate opportunities to learn about research (on a how-to basis). Expand the capacity and mission of the university press.
· extending information technology/communications infrastructure – set up local area networks within all (or at least most) departments to facilitate usage. Assess, in each department, computer and web access needs. Work with UDSM and other universities that have engaged in upgrading of computer and on-line systems. Librarians need to create programs to assist students in learning how to conduct online research. Faculties need to incorporate information technology into their syllabi and lessons, to encourage students to utilize the capacity such technology offers. Instructors also should utilize technology for classroom presentations.
· ensuring equity in admissions and staffing – establish a student welfare office, backstopped with an appropriate student records system. Establish an ombudsman’s office on campus. Offer “equalization grants” to needy students. Give preferential access to university accommodation to members of disadvantaged groups (women; handicapped students; students from rural areas, et al). Increase disability access. Institute affirmative action for women students.
· improving staff welfare – review with perspective toward change, staff terms of employment to be more supportive of staff living full, possibly family oriented lives. Think about providing health insurance, social security of some kind, pensions perhaps, housing allowances, etc.
Chapter Seven: Conclusions
This chapter is presented as a straight up SWOT analysis.
Strengths
· Government support
· Makerere’s decades-old good reputation (it hasn’t been completely lost – yet!)
· Committed and high quality staff
· Wide variety of programs
· Located in the heart of the capital city.
Weaknesses
· Outdated centralized administrative systems (financial, student records, etc.) and bureaucratic processes
· Persistent, entrenched conservatism
· Student enrollment surge not matched by administrative re-structuring and coordinated growth in planning
· Uncompetitive terms of service – not good for retaining staff
· Inadequate, poorly maintained infrastructure
· Inadequate access to ICT
· Uneven, unbalanced generation of income – hurts some important departments (e.g. medicine)
· Generally inadequate financing
· Compartmentalization of resources – even when unnecessary
· Lack of institutional mechanism to monitor graduates’ performance in the job market
Opportunities
· Rising demand for university education due to population growth and government policies encouraging greater participation in primary and secondary education opportunities
· Progressive policy environment and liberalization of the economy open up opportunities for innovation throughout the campus’s departments
· Growing economy offers expanded markets for university services
· Goodwill from development partners (donors) toward Uganda and Makerere
· Global technological advances and new information technology
· Government vision of Uganda as a regional hub of training, with Makerere as a central site
Threats
· Lack of autonomy under 1970 University Act
· New universities in Uganda and the region increase competition
· Low income of average Ugandans, especially from rural areas, constrain allocating more cost to students
· HIV/AIDS pandemic has hit Uganda extremely hard – staff and faculty impacted severely
· Globalization impacts Makerere – well-trained staff have international opportunities (think Lumonya here!)
Change is here, and it is staying. Makerere policy makers have to realize and accept this, and move the university as well as they can manage.
Appendix One: Excerpts from the Makerere University Strategic Plan, 2000/1 – 2004/5
As per text, this section lists the foci of Makerere strategies for the five year period: ICT; physical plant; teaching capacity; controlling enrollment numbers; and gender mainstreaming – no need to note more here, as it is already dispersed throughout the notes above.
Appendix Two: Strategic Benefits of ICT Priority Areas
Again, as with the first appendix, there is no need to note this in detail, as the information is already dispersed throughout the body of the text. The areas of foci are: ICT priorities; transformation of the university delivery system (communication, decision-making, management information systems, etc.); computerizing academic records; ICT-based education and research techniques; Library information system; financial information system.
Appendix Three: Makerere University Organizational Structure: Management, Administration & Service Support
University Council – supreme policy making and management body of the university – governance, control, and administration. Ten committees are as follows:
1. Board of Commercial Units
2. Planning and Development Committee
3. Establishment and Administration Committee
4. Finance Committee
5. Students’ Affairs Committee
6. Students’ Disciplinary Committee
7. University Tender Board
8. Board of Management of the University Hospital
9. University Security Committee
10. Estate and Works Committee
University Senate – principal academic organ of the university. Many standing committees. Submits findings to University Council for approval and action.
Central Executive – advisory to the Vice Chancellor, includes Heads of all departments in the central administration. Focuses on the general state of the university. Acts as a filter for the University Council.
Institutes, Faculties, and Schools – faculty boards, departmental committees, etc. act as localized decision-making bodies, which refer to the higher level bodies as necessary.
Appointments Board – recruitment, appraisal, promotion, and disciplining of staff.
Day-to-Day Administration – Vice Chancellor’s responsibility – chief academic and administrative officer of the university. Deputy Vice Chancellor(s) and Secretary, Registrar, and others assist the VC in the duties for which the position is responsible.
Appendix Four: Makerere University Organizational Structure: Education & Research
Makerere University Business School
FACULTIES
· Agriculture
· Arts
· Forestry and Nature Conservation
· Law
· Medicine
· Science
· Social Sciences
· Technology
· Veterinary Medicine
INSTITUTES
· Adult and Continuing Education
· Computer Science
· Economics
· Languages
· Psychology
· Public Health
· Statistics and Applied Economics
SCHOOLS
· East African School of Library and Information Science
· Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts (MTSIFA)
· School of Education
· Makerere School of Postgraduate Studies (no awards or degrees, just management, coordination of research)
RESEARCH INSTITUTES
Buyana Stock Farm
Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute at Kabanyolo (MUARIK)
Makerere University Biological Field Station at Kibaale (MUBFS)
Makerere University Institute of Social Research (MISR)
INSTITUTIONS with academic connections to MAKERERE
Institute of Teacher Education, at Kyambogo (Kampala District)
National Seminary, at Alokolum (Gulu District)
National Seminary, at Ggaba (Kampala District)
National Seminary, at Katigondo (Masaka District)
