According to the Makerere University Strategic Plan 2008/09 – 2018/19, Quality Assurance is one of three crosscutting issues; the other two being internationalisation and gender mainstreaming, that impact on the activities of the University. In addition to contributing to the global phenomenon that higher education has become, these three issues also form the basis for investment in higher education at all levels.

The Quality Assurance Directorate (QAD) was therefore created as the guarantor of Makerere University’s Quality Assurance Mission To promote confidence in the academic provision (teaching, research and outreach services) that the quality and the standards of awards of Makerere University are safeguarded, enhanced and effectively managed. In line with this mandate, QAD organized a half-day workshop on Tuesday 24th March 2015, where Quality Assurance Committees from Colleges, The Library and Administrative Units were officially inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor Professor John Ddumba-Ssentamu.

In his welcome remarks at the workshop held at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), the Director-Quality Assurance, Dr. Vincent Ssembatya thanked all participants for keeping time and turning up in large numbers for the historic first meeting of Units’ Quality Assurance Committees. He however pointed out the Quality Assurance Committees had always existed under the faculty-based system where they were tasked with overseeing the standards of teaching, timetabling, examinations-setting, invigilation and marking as well as a host of other functions.

He highlighted that the face of Quality Assurance was constantly evolving hence necessitating engrafting of IT-enabled systems in the daily processes that delivered services to both staff and students. In this regard, he highlighted the newly-developed Courses Website http://courses.mak.ac.ug and the Graduate Tracking website as two systems that are being deployed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the teaching and learning environment at Makerere University.

The Vice Chancellor Prof. John Ddumba-Ssentamu in his address to participants commended QAD for organizing the workshop and the Royal Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency-Sida for supporting University activities especially through the Quality Assurance sub-programme.
“Sida has supported the development of the following systems that will improve the Quality of processes within the University namely the: Graduate Tracking System; Courses Website; Equipment Database-under construction; and Research Management System-under construction. We have come a long way to this point and the fruits of our hard work can be seen already through increased visibility in terms of our services, notably research output and publications” said the Vice Chancellor.

Following a brief demonstration of Graduate Tracking and Courses Management Systems by Ms. Catherine Kuteesa and Ms. Rachael Nakirya respectively, the Vice Chancellor officially inaugurated the Makerere Quality Assurance, Gender and ICT Committees as well as launched the aforementioned IT Systems.  

The Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) as the regulator for higher education in Uganda is the chief custodian of Quality Assurance for all institutions of higher learning in the Nation. Providing an overview of Quality Assurance in Institutions of Higher Education at the workshop, Mr. Innocent Nkwasibwe-Senior Quality Assurance Official & Head Tertiary Institutions at UNCHE who represented Mr. Pius Achang said the Quality Assurance Framework of UNCHE is the basic guideline for discharging the Council’s roles.

He shared that whereas Public Institutions have well laid-out structures of governance, most Private Higher Education Institutions on the other hand had Governance as the biggest challenge despite faring well on the financial and infrastructural fronts. He commended Makerere University for being the only university to have conducted a Self-Assessment Study and produced a report as well as for guaranteeing that QAD is full established and adequately staffed.

“Any Higher Education Institution that does not have a Quality Assurance Directorate as well as a separate set of staff for this function will continue muddling through in as far as quality is concerned. Quality Assurance Officers are the watchdogs. They need to be agile, resilient and exemplary,” Mr. Nkwasibwe advised.

Mr. Nkwasibwe shared that indicators from UNCHE showed that staff development especially at Masters Level was on the decline in Higher Education Institutions and urged Makerere University continue implementing quality assurance procedures so as to be able to retain both students and staff.

Article by Public Relations Office