Makerere University Administration and IODEL Team Meets Speaker Rebecca Kadaga over Student Petition.

“On Wednes­day 9th Oc­to­ber 2020,  stu­dent lead­ers from Mak­erere Uni­ver­sity, Uganda Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­sity and Kyam­bogo Uni­ver­sity  pe­ti­tioned Par­lia­ment seek­ing a halt on on­line stud­ies for con­tin­u­ing, the stu­dents ccited high costs of in­ter­net sub­scrip­tion, band­width lim­i­ta­tion, un­re­li­able in­ter­net and in­fra­struc­ture lim­ited to only ur­ban ar­eas, as some of the key chal­lenges that would hin­der many stu­dents from us­ing the on­line learn­ing sys­tems.”.

In Response to the students concerns the Speaker of Parliment  invited the Minister of Education and Sports, the Minister of Finance and University  administrators from the named institutions to respond to the Students concerns.

On 21st October, 2020 A Delegation from Makerere University led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barbanas Nawangwe ,flanked by Dr Umar Kakumba the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Vincent Ssembatya the Director Quality Assuarance, Mr.Samuel Mugabi, the Director ICT Support,
Assoc.Prof Paul Birevu Muyinda, Deputy Principal CEES, Assoc.Prof. Jessica Norah Aguti Director Institute of Open Distance and e-Learning(IODEL) had a meeting with the Honorable Speaker regarding the student queries.

In a interview with the Prof. Aguti (IODEL)she said the students concerns were addressed as follows;
       On the cost of Internet Makerere University negotiated zero internet cost with telecommunications companies. I.e while accessing the intranet mak.ac.ug domain there will be zero data charges. It was also noted that most students have smart phones so they can access e-learning services using their mobile phones.
The university management also made it clear that negotiations are underway with DELL the computer manufacturing company to provide affordable laptops to students.
    About student practicals Makerere University(MAK) Adminstration informed members that the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) had permitted it to conduct practicals on  face to face basis while observing SOPs provided by the Ministry of Health.
    Prof.Aguti also said that IODEL is running a university wide senstization campaign which involves training staff and student on how to use e-learning effectively.