The expiry of university courses and programmes has been blamed on the high cost of reviewing them.
According to information published on the National Council for Higher Education’s (NCHE) website, over 2,200 courses being taught in both public and private institutions expired with some dating as far back as 13 years, and have not been submitted for review.
This has affected some graduates who wish to further their education.
The matter has come to the fore after the University of Bristol reportedly declined to admit an alumnus of Makerere University over concerns that he was taught a bachelor’s degree (Biomedical Laboratory Technology) which was listed as expired by the Council, a body that is mandated to regulate these institutions.
The Chairperson of the NCHE, Prof Eli Katunguka who also doubles as the Vice Chancellor of Kyambogo University, says some institutions have failed to review their courses because it is expensive explaining that each course unit within a programme costs Shs700, 000.
Makerere University which is the largest and top institution in the country has the highest number of courses listed by the Council as expired whereby out of 303 courses taught at the institution, a total of 159 are expired while 41 are under review and 103 are active.
Other affected universities included Kabale University (59), Busitema (28), Mbarara University of science and technology (34), Makerere University Business Schools (25), Mountains of the Moon (18), All Saints University, Lango (14), Ankole Western University (4), Avance International University (5), Bishop Stuart University (63), Bugema University (40), and Cavendish University (34) among others.
Mbarara University Vice Chancellor, Prof Celestino Obua says they have no expired courses, and that some of those listed as expired were submitted to them two years ago.
Similarly, Prof George Ladaah Openjuru, the Vice Chancellor Gulu University says the list that the Council has on its website is an old one that needs to be updated.
The Vice Chancellor Makerere University, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe said that while there are indeed a few programmes whose re-accreditation expired and the review process has delayed, many of those on the list are programmes that have either been discontinued or have already been submitted to the Council for re-accreditation.
Prof Nawangwe has meanwhile directed Heads of Departments (HODs), schools, and colleges to immediately submit updated lists of expired courses and programmes.
Now in a memo issued to the university staff yesterday, Prof Nawangwe says the institution is currently in the press, along with other universities, for the wrong reasons.
He notes that a number of their academic programmes are not accredited by the Council and this has led to the denial of admission to some of their graduates for higher degrees by some European universities, raising concerns among members of the public.
Nawangwe blames the problem on laxity partly on their side due to unacceptable delays in the review of some programmes by departments, schools, and colleges, and occasionally at the Senate level for re-accreditation as required by law.
He adds that their programmes that appeared on the NCHE website as expired include; programmes that have either been discontinued or merged with other programmes and those that have already been submitted to the NCHE for accreditation.
