By Leonard Mukooli
President Yoweri Museveni has directed Ugandan universities to begin developing academic curricula that meet job demands and societal needs.
He says the university is not an island that exists on its own, rather, it owes its integral existence to society, which provides the material for financial and human resources for its operation.
“The university must be aware of the legitimate goals and interests of society and design a curriculum that is best suited to serve those interests,” President Museveni adds.
He also underscores the need for universities to consider the interests of the private sector, which is the biggest employer in the country since there is a high demand for doctors, accountants, entrepreneurs, science teachers and nurses, among other professionals.
President Museveni says this demand gives a higher chance to students securing a job upon graduation. However, due to a lack of career guidance in schools, according to the President, few students are choosing science and ICT-based courses.
“This creates a mismatch between the university curriculum and the job market in the private sector and the outcome is the unemployment problem among the young graduates who roam streets in search of non-existent jobs because they qualify in un-marketed courses,” he adds.
“Therefore, I urge Islamic universities in Uganda and other higher institutions of learning to prioritise the teaching of courses that are relevant to the demands of the job market in the private sector,” Museveni says.
His message to institutions of higher learning was contained in a speech delivered during the Islamic University in Uganda’s (IUIU) 31st graduation ceremony by foreign affairs state minister (regional co-operation) John Mulimba on Saturday.
The ceremony, which took place in Mbale city, saw 1,989 students graduate in different disciplines of studies.
Four Sector Development
President Museveni also said the Ugandan economy is modernising and accelerating towards industrialisation and modernity thus there will be an elimination of subsistence means of production, which satisfy only the need for food and replacing them with the four sectors of commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT where families and companies can select profitable enterprises to create jobs and wealth.
He added that the focus of the National Resistance Movement party government is to create jobs and wealth for the households by resolving the bottleneck of poor infrastructure, which had rendered Uganda unattractive to business and investments.
“This country now boasts of peace and stability, electricity and good roads that are important in lowering the cost of doing business in an economy, thus the prevailing favourable conditions must be translated into jobs and wealth,” Museveni said.
He, therefore, encouraged the graduands to be at the forefront of mobilising their families and communities to participate in the four sectors of commercial agriculture, industries, services and ICT and to select enterprises that will yield high returns on investment.
NRM lauded
IUIU rector of Pro. Ismail Gyeganda Ssimbwa lauded the NRM government for the support they have given to the university since its inception.
He said the university is on a steady course of progress toward the development of the human resource that the country needs and added that it has had a great commitment to the girl child with this year’s graduation seeing the female graduates outshine the males with a ratio of 54% to 46%.
Vision Group news anchor graduates
Vision Group’s Lumasaba news anchor, Derrick Wenani, who also graduated with a degree in mass communication, said: “We have finally completed the journey despite the challenges of COVID-19″.
He urged the Government to continue supporting people in the arts sector because they are still relevant to the development of the country.
Aisha Nabuya, who was awarded as the best-graduating accountant, said she will continue to uphold the values that she learnt from the institution.
