General
Mak Signs MoU with UNESCO-ICHEI and SUSTech
On Friday 17th November, 2017, a delegation from China led by Professor Li Ming – Director, International Centre for Higher Education, Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Makerere University and UNESCO-ICHEI. In the presence of several members of Makerere University Management, the Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe signed on behalf of Makerere University. The MoU signing ceremony took place in the Council Room.
Professor Ming gave a brief background of UNESCO-ICHEI and informed the members of management present that early 2017, UNESCO-ICHEI held the “Africa Higher Education Innovation Development and Project Cooperation Seminar” at the Southern University of Science and Technology, located in Shenzhen, China. The seminar was attended by several top-level experts, including Mr. DU Yue, Secretary-General of the National Commission for UNESCO, Professor WANG Libing, Director of the Department of Education Innovation and Skills Development at the UNESCO Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, and other experts from the University of Hong Kong, Zhejiang University, China Development Institute, and Shenzhen Metro Group.
Participants at the seminar had come together to discuss their practices and experiences with innovation and development in higher education and Africa. The Secretary-General DU Yue was optimistic that the Centre would continue to improve the capacity of information generation and also fulfill the role among UNESCO Category II Centres of “becoming a laboratory of ideas, leading the international agenda, promoting international cooperation, and influencing national policies.” ICHEI will continue to raise the bar for information management, communication, and leadership capacity, all of which play an important role in global education governance.
Two short presentations were made for UNESCO-INCHEI and Southern University of Science and Technology respectively. UNESCO and SUSTech had travelled extensively in Africa with the aim of developing and implementing information technologies for higher educational institutions. UNESCO-ICHEI had visited Makerere University with the goal of establishing a cooperation between the three entities. Identified areas of cooperation were; joint research programme(s) on higher education and ICT; information sharing and mutual support on international conferences and academic fora; exchange of international students; exchange of academic staff between SUSTech and Makerere University; exploration of university-enterprise cooperation (potential cooperation between UNESCO-ICHEI, Makerere University and industries, including but not limited to Huawei, Weidong Cloud Education and on-line education, etc). Professors will be invited from Makerere University to attend seminars at UNESCO-ICHEI and vice versa.
Professor Li Ming was accompanied by Professor Andrew Zhao, Deputy Director, Higher Education Research Centre at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), who is also a Senior Expert at UNESCO-ICHEI. Other delegates were Mr Wang Min, a Senior Consultant of Industry-University Cooperation at UNESCO-ICHEI, Ms BI Xiaohan, Programme Officer and Ms LI Xue a Programme Officer. Others hailed from Technology Companies in China.
The Vice Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe welcomed the visitors and informed them that Makerere University will be celebrating 100 years in the next five years. As a leading research university on the continent, Makerere welcomes researchers from China and will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with China University of Petroleum (CUP) to tap in training of experts in the lucrative oil industry.
We are eagerly looking forward to working with UNESCO-ICHEI and having a strong collaboration in the field of ICT and innovation in education.
Written By
Martha Muwanguzi
International Office
General
Makerere University and Xiangtan University Advance Strategic Partnership in Chemical Engineering
Makerere University and Xiangtan University are set to update their close to 20-year academic partnership, with a new focus on launching a joint Master’s degree program in Chemical Engineering and expanding student and staff exchange initiatives.
The commitment was reaffirmed during a recent visit by a delegation from Xiangtan University to Makerere University headed by Professor Dingyu Ou, in the company of Mr. Tang Fei and Professor Gilbert Gumshabe, the Chinese and Ugandan Directors of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University respectively.
While addressing the delegation, Professor Nawangwe highlighted that this initiative is part of a broader strategy to diversify academic offerings and contribute to national development through training in Chemical Engineering. Through this new initiative, the University will better prepare graduates for the petrochemical industry and support the country’s industrial growth.
The Vice Chancellor appreciated that the proposed collaboration aims to address Uganda’s growing need for industrial expertise, particularly as the country develops its petroleum sector. The two universities here are working toward a 1+2 training model, which will enable Makerere students to gain practical experience and access advanced laboratory facilities at Xiangtan University.
Professor Nawangwe further reiterated that “our relationship with the people of China, not just for Makerere but also for a big part of Uganda, has been opened wider by the establishment of the Confucius Institute, considering that many other collaborations like one being discussed now have come through this collaboration.”
The head of the Xiangtan delegation, Professor Dingyu Ou, expressed appreciation for the meeting, and acknowledged the history between the institutions. “As mentioned, we have a very long relationship and a very stable friendship between our two universities.”
Professor Ou extended appreciation for the support provided to the Confucius Institute at Makerere, the care shown to his colleagues, and looked forward to the successful start of the Chemical Engineering collaboration.
Assuring the delegation of Makerere’s readiness for the collaboration, Ms. Hawa Ndagire Kajumba the Lead, Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Makerere University Advancement Office, aligned with the Vice Chancellor’s emphasis of University goal to have both theory and practice imparted to the students.
She said “the curriculum of the university and Uganda as a whole is moving towards competence-based education training to ensure students are equipped to demonstrate those skills in the actual field, particularly regarding petroleum exploration.”
Ms. Ndagire Kajumba also emphasised a shift in strategy for the partnership office, saying, “we are moving away from just signing MOUs that collect dust, and moving towards those that are more collaborative to benefit our faculty and students, just like this one.”
Professor Gilbert Kumushabe aligned his remarks with those of the Vice Chancellor and Ms. Ndagire Kajumba, and described the method used at Xiangtan University as “actually competence-based teaching.”
Based on his recent visit, Prof. Gumoshabe shared that students in China are divided into groups with dedicated teachers to perform practical, hands-on work beyond the theoretical lecturers. He expressed gladness that the same was being adopted for the Ugandan context.
Both institutions are now working to finalise the specific agreements for the joint degree and exchange programs. Beyond academic training, the collaboration will advance cultural and professional exchange.
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