General
Lifelong Learning in Universities: Re-thinking inclusive and equitable quality education
The Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs of Makerere University, Dr. Ernest Okello-Ogwang has urged PhD Graduates to disseminate research findings to decision makers, communities, media and the wider public.
“Through research we have been able to discover solutions to community problems. We need to disseminate these findings so that they can benefit society,” emphasized the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs in a speech read by Professor Bernard Bashaasha-Principal of College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Addressing the congregation comprising invited guests, staff, alumni, students and the media during Dr. Peace Buhwamatsiko Tumuheki’s PhD research dissemination seminar on ‘Life-long learning in practice: Understanding and enabling meaningful participation of non-traditional students in University, the Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs commended the Presenter of the day (Friday 26th May 2017)- Dr. Tumuheki for undertaking research on lifelong learning; carrying out research aimed at improving the education system in Uganda; and creating a new generation of pure knowledge when higher education has been transformed from the monopoly of the elite to the right of the masses.
“You have distinguished yourself as a champion in lifelong learning when you pointed out a topic of great importance in the future of the nation. Life-long learning in practice is a vital topic to this country and yet so little is known about it. Our institutions and nation at large are eager to listen to the latest findings. We should be and we are hungry for knowledge,” he vehemently said.
The Chair of the Session, Dr. Ronald Bisaso from the College of Education and External Studies (CEES) underscored the importance of sharing knowledge and research findings for the betterment of society. Dr. Bisaso welcomed Dr. Peace B. Tumuheki who holds a PhD in Lifelong Learning from the University of Groningen, a Master of Arts degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in Hague, Netherlands and a Bachelor of Arts with Education degree from Makerere University to make a presentation.
Dr. Tumuheki informed the audience that the main argument of her study is that opening/increasing access alone is not good enough an effort in achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Rather, it is important that in this day and age when higher education has been transformed from the monopoly of the elite to the right of the masses, higher education institutions such as universities must rethink both the way they serve the changed/diverse student populations and their position and purpose in development, as well as in relation to other forms of education.
She highlighted that since the liberalisation of higher education in Uganda in the early 1990s, a lot of changes have taken place in the organisation and provision of university education. The changes are not only seen in the diversification of providers and programmes of study but also in the nature of the students’ body for example in numbers, composition and needs of students.
Dr. Tumuheki’s research findings dwelled on understanding the experiences and participation needs of Non-Traditional Students and to contribute towards enabling their meaningful participation in university education. It was focused on the participation question and needs of students who, prior to liberalization of education, had been excluded (diploma holders) and underrepresented (mature age) in University education.
“For Non-Traditional Students to experience meaningful participation in university education, Universities must take into consideration the changing needs of their students’ population. Universities have to recognize and appreciate the fact that when they opened their doors to 'a new public' like their student populations, they acquired a new identity,” Dr. Tumuheki said.
Speaking on status of the higher education system in Uganda, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Gulu University Prof. George Openjuru, called for the restructuring and development of university policies to benefit all categories of students. According to Prof. Openjuru, the higher education system in Uganda is becoming more diversified hence a need to reform its structure.
He appreciated the work of Dr. Peace Tumuheki that is addressing the challenges that have for a number of years affected the education system of Uganda. Prof. Openjuru believes that understanding and enabling meaningful participation of non-traditional students in higher institutions would help in bridging the knowledge-distance learning gap.
Reiterating the importance of the research, Dr. Tumuheki’s 1st Supervisor on the PhD Programme, Prof. Jacques Zeelen from the University of Groningen, Netherlands said that the research addressed the major challenges facing the education system in Uganda.
“When we look at globalization today, there is acceleration of technology and digital development and we need to work towards transformation to a sustainable society. There are more demands that we should be equipped with skills to use the latest technologies, many of which are outside the education training. Uganda’s education is a preparatory and keeps learners in schools, and then sets them out to the labour market for the rest of their lives.” Prof. Zeelen said.
The Deputy Principal-College of Education and External Studies (CEES) Dr. Anthony Mugagga Muwagga, said that the higher education system needs to be redefined to suit the basic requirements of the economy and to produce graduates who are employable.
“Having centered on lifelong learning, there are so many other issues to be addressed. We need to expand the horizon for our PhD students. Higher education is a complex system and there is need to redefine the role of Universities in education.” Dr. Mugagga Muwagga mentioned.
Contributing to the discussion, Dr. Alex Okot from the School of Distance and Lifelong Learning mentioned that the current education system in Uganda only prepares learners for passing exams, which may leave them with no practical skills. He added that the products of our education need to be equipped with marketable skills to become employable. He appealed to higher institutions of learning to review policies to improve the life of non-traditional students.
“The structure of our education system is discriminative. We have to restructure our policy to be able to sustain our needs. We need to change our postulates about the non-traditional students and we can achieve a millennium development goal. Lifelong learning is not about education institutions, but learning,” Dr. Okot mentioned.
Prior to undertaking her PhD study, she had accumulated 13 years of work experience in the students’ Registry at Makerere University. Since 2005 she served for six years as Faculty Registrar at the School of Computing and Informatics Technology-Makerere University and then for two years as College Registrar at the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology-Makerere University. She also taught part-time on the Bachelor of Development Studies programme in the Faculty of Arts. It is from the amalgamation of these experiences that she derived the interest to research into the lifelong learning opportunities of non-traditional students participating in university education.
Story by: Charles Iga, Volunteer,MAK Public Relations Office
The Senior Program Director, Higher Education and Research in Africa, International Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Prof. Omotade Akin Aina on 23rd May 2025 visited Makerere University during his short trip to Kampala. Prof. Aina was received on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe by Prof. Tony Oyana, Principal of the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS).
During his visit, Prof. Aina met with the Project Implementation Committee, representatives from the Consolidating Early Career Academics Programme (CECAP) phase I Fellowship Cohort, and current Fellows of phase II. The meeting discussed the progress of CECAP II, which focuses on fostering academic development and research among early-career academics.
CECAP II is being implemented by Makerere University in collaboration with four other Ugandan public universities, including; Busitema University, Gulu University, Kyambogo University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza, the Project Principal Investigator was represented at the meeting by the Director of Graduate Training, Prof. Julius Kikooma.
By Moses Lutaaya
The Directorate of Graduate Training at Makerere University has equipped several Senior ranking lecturers with expert knowledge in a Training of Trainers’ workshop on “Philosophy of Methods”.
In his remarks at the opening of a 3-day training workshop at Level4 Conference Hall – Senate Building, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “The teaching of Philosophy of Methods gives all participants the fundamentals to extend knowledge to other learners, hence its importance in upholding the Makerere University values.”
Kikooma urged and challenged the participants to also attend and actively participate in the follow up of learners’ training of students, stating that the PhD students need support as the directorate continues to coordinate the curriculum of PhD by-research that was approved by the senate recently.
“To holistically implement the senate approved PhD curriculum, we are coordinating capacity building trainings of all stake holders in a structured approach with the different units of the University. Many more trainings including Training of Trainers in advanced research methods course are on the way.”
He further urged the participants to be intentional in their teaching profession and in whatever they were doing, adding “Apart from focusing on practices as teachers and researchers, we can engage in wider philosophical debates in our research areas so that we are relevant in the society and in the empowerment of PhD research students.”
The participants for the Philosophy of Methods training were from College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University Business School among others.
During the same training, Dr. Dickson Kanakulya stressed the need to train senior lecturers in the Philosophy of Methods, saying, “The biggest connection is that societal problems require concrete research to find solutions. Our challenge in Africa is that we employ a short barrow approach to find solutions to problems. This cannot work. We need consistent researchers to solve problems. Lasting solutions to societal issues can only be got through training such as Philosophy of Methods, where researchers come up with new models for societal solutions.”
Dr. Kanakulya said that Makerere University remains the biggest research University in Africa and philosophy of Methods helps to come up with good research tools that produce good research outputs. “Research has shown that the higher the number of PhD researchers in any given country, the higher the levels of development of that country e.g. the USA, China etc., adding that research is not limited to only medicinal or agricultural related issues.”
He said philosophy of methods, encourages philosophical creativity in research, “It is meant to bring out philosophical generation of concepts, theories and ideas. It is meant to encourage students to question the existing philosophical assumptions and status quo in a given field of knowledge such that new philosophical concepts are created.”
For successful rollout of government programs like the National Development Plan 4, Dr. Kanakulya said that Philosophy of Methods training needs to be integrated into such systems. “Philosophy of Methods focuses on ethical thinking aspects. For example, for a better rollout of the Parish Development Model, we need implementers to be ethical.” He added.
Prof. Sulait Tumwiine, the associate Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at MUBS said, “This is a discussion where new ideas are shared to guide and gauge applicability in the current knowledge diversity coupled with lots of technological development including Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT.”
He added, “As professors of Universities, we need to understand how we leverage on what comes up so that it does not take our space, but also appreciate how we can support growth of knowledge. The Philosophy of Methods training is the answer.”
Dr. Jim Spire Ssentongo highlighted that Philosophy uses more of the critical mind than Science. He added that philosophy is more of speculation of the mind.
“Sustainability of philosophy Education encourages us to continue training. Philosophy being the oldest discipline retained special status in the academia as a pinnacle of pursuit of knowledge. All disciplines have major elements of philosophy citing examples in the philosophy of Mathematics and Physics.
Dr. Spire added, “If you do not understand philosophy, you cannot deeply investigate anything because philosophy is the reality of understanding everything. Philosophy is the basis of understanding what knowledge is and how it is arrived at.”
Also participating in the workshop was Prof. Joseph Ntaayi from MUBS, in his remarks he said PhD students need the philosophy of methods training to understand how to best to create knowledge. He added that ontological and epistemological questions that lead to good research design methods can only be answered by this training.
Dr. Robert Kakuru, a Lecturer in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences said that the Philosophy of Methods training is needed by every graduate student as well as supervisors to critically determine the choice of methods to use in academic research. For example, “If one wants to use a questionnaire as an interview approach, one should understand, why that approach and yet without this training, the why cannot be answered.” He added.
The Philosophy of Methods training was organized by Directorate of Graduate Training with funding support from the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA).
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