Members of Parliament have slammed the management of Kampala International University (Ishaka Campus) in Bushenyi District over a memo issued to female students pursuing Nursing and Midwifery courses to undertake a mandatory pregnancy test.
The memo dated November 8th, 2022 authored by the Dean of Students of the School of Nursing and Midwifery ordered all female midwives and nurses to undertake a compulsory pregnancy test at a cost of 5000 Shillings, and threatened to bar students found pregnant ‘from sitting’ for examinations.
The notice dismayed Sarah Opendi, the Tororo District Woman Representative who raised the matter during plenary sitting chaired by Speaker Anita Among on Thursday.
Opendi described the directive as ‘discriminatory’ and asked the Ministry of Education and Sports to reign over it.
Speaker Among, however, questioned the authenticity of the memo arguing that it could have been ‘faked’ in order to soil the image of the University and tasked the Education Ministry to establish the authenticity of the document before a decision is taken by the House.
However, after being presented with the memo and letter rescinding the memo, Speaker lashed out at the University officials for the discriminatory memo and asked the Ministry of Education to rein over the higher institutions of learning to end the discrimination of female students.
Peter Ogwang, the State Minister for Sports confirmed the authenticity of the memo and said that as soon as the Ministry of Education got wind of the memo, it communicated with the University management to rescind its decision.
