Makerere University successfully hosted the first-ever BBC Science Festival for a five day period, at the University’s Freedom Square, starting 24th – 28th March 2013. The highly attended event was part of celebrations to mark 90 years of Makerere University, and attracted the academia, policy makers, Government and the general public to participate in discussions on ‘Celebrating the role of Africa in Global Science.’ The event sought to hear various views on how best Africa can prioritize science. The event was broadcast on BBC to an estimated 140m listeners across the world.
In his explanation on how the Government of Uganda has prioritized science, the Prime Minister Hon. Amama Mbabazi (who attended the last day of the festival) said, “Government has allocated substantial funding to Science. We are building labs in four schools per sub –county, and have made science compulsory at O-level. The demand is overwhelming but Government is aware and has taken steps.”
“We need to create incentives in favour of Science and technology, not only for academia but also for the private sector. We also need to dedicate more resources towards the same,” added the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury – Keith Muhakanizi.
The DVC AA, Prof. Lillian Tibatemwa –Ekirikubinza, represented the
Vice Chancellor in a panel discussion on how to teach Science in the African century. “Schools are not teaching science adequately because we have failed to demystify Science. We have defined science to be found only in class. Science cannot be separated from the social and behavioral sciences,” she said.
Throughout the festival, Science Contact Session were held in the early mornings at different Science Colleges within the university. These presented an opportunity for visiting Scientists to interact with their counterparts from
Makerere University and also give lectures to Graduate students.
In his comments about the Science Festival, the Chairperson of
Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA), Dr. Kiggundu Musoke said, “I am impressed by the level of participation. This greatly inspires the academia. I request academic staff to continue supporting such events.’’
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