Although Uganda’s higher education sector has made significant progress over the past few years, University education is still out of reach for most Ugandans, particularly those in northern Uganda in West Nile region. Nile University is a new University recently licensed by National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to operate as an independent Private University in Northern Uganda, in the West Nile Region (shown on the map on the left). The West Nile Region consists of Nine (9) Districts: Adjumani, Arua, Moyo, Nebbi, Yumbe, Koboko, Maracha, Pakwach and Zombo. The temporary University Campus is at Ombaci and the permanent sites are at Uriama and Lukuma - Ocodri. Ombaci, Uriama and Lukuma - Ocodri are typical rural trading centers in the West Nile.
As the only an Independent Private University in the West Nile Region, Nile University delivers quality teaching thereby generating the knowledge and skills critical to the development of the West Nile region. By harnessing human, physical and technological resources, Nile University hopes to educate professionals who will go on to help build society. The Courses offered promote economic, social, political and philosophical development in a sustainable way while protecting traditions and the environment. This means exposing students to a critical analysis of issues which are relevant to Uganda, and Africa, in the twenty-first century.
Nile University is located in North Western part of Uganda, a Country with 34 million inhabitants of whom 80% are earning an agricultural income. Uganda is a land-locked Country bordered in the east by Kenya, in the North by South Sudan, in the West by the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in the South by Rwanda and Tanzania. Uganda has many natural resources and a favorable climate, which earned it the nickname, “the Pearl of Africa.”
The need for modernization and linkage to the global economy is most apparent within the Districts in the North. Districts are the local government units which have both governmental administrative and service delivery functions, such as education and health care services. Districts in the Northern Uganda are in need of an educated pool of people, particularly those with information technology skills who are capable of advising, managing and maintaining computer and network systems. Secondly, according to the Ministry of Education data, ICT resources within educational organizations in most of the districts are limited.
Higher education is a growing sub-sector in Uganda in terms of the number of Institutions and enrolment. There are now 35 Public and Private Universities, of which 7 are public, 28 are private and 3 Degree – awarding Non – University Institutions. Enrolment in the Higher Education sub-sector has increased tremendously in the last few years.
Uganda’s Higher Education sector is inequitable in terms of the distribution of Institutions, gender, and in the common subjects. In addition, the enrollment level and the student/teacher ratio are still low while resources for Instruction, administration, and operation are of poor quality.
Equity issues are a major challenge. First, the concentration of most of these Universities and Institutions are in the Central and Western regions of the Country. Secondly, males dominate this level of education. The explanation appears to be poverty-related and culture on the other hand. Universities and Institutions of higher learning tend to be concentrated where income levels are relatively higher. The current unit cost per student is three times more than average Ugandans’ income per capita of between US$250-300. This makes higher education out of reach for most citizens. A typical University student pays an average of $470 or 818,109 Uganda shillings.
The training programs run by Higher Education and Universities and Institutions are predominantly Arts/Humanities based; and yet for a Country like Uganda, Science and Technology are the most critical for development. Re-orienting the sub-sector towards this direction remains a challenge due to mainly poor funding of the sub-sector.
The internationally acceptable level for the Gross Enrolment Ratio is 15% and above in order to make the required impact on Socio-economic development of the country. The current coverage of Higher Education with the current gross enrollment ratio of 4.01% is extremely low. Therefore, re-structuring the sub-sector so that it can fully address the Country’s development needs will require a rapid injection of substantial resources. This is likely to be a very big challenge given the fact that government’s current priority is on primary education. This sub-sector, however, can develop with more private sector involvement and the establishment of Universities and Institutions, such as Nile University.
The lecturer/student ratio is still high at 1:23. There is a dire need for highly qualified academics to lower the ratio to acceptable levels of 1:15. There is an acute lack of qualified staff particularly in private Universities. Resolving the shortage of qualified staff will require making the terms and conditions of service of personnel much more attractive.
Infrastructure, materials and equipment are poor and grossly inadequate. These include classrooms, laboratories, libraries, theatres, books and computers. 51% of the Institutions are not connected to any website or email addresses. The Computer student ratio is alarmingly high at 1:50 compared to the recommended norm of 1:5. These are some the challenges facing higher education in Uganda, and the environmental context for establishing Nile University.
