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Mak Mourns Iconic Literary Alumnus Prof Rubadiri

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We have learnt with the deepest sorrow imaginable of the death of Prof. David James Rubadiri.; Africa’s celebrated poet, scholar and diplomat and even more immediately Makerere University’s very own son. We would like to express our solidarity as the Makerere University with you all at this time of grief.

Makerere University deeply mourns the passing of an iconic literary figure, whom all Ugandan school children know by his poems “Stanley Meets Mutesa.”, “Yet Another Song” and Death at Mulago.  The entire University fraternity and in particular the Department of Literature feels a deep sense of loss and a special attachment to this poet and teacher for the distinguished service he gave to Makerere University and the Ugandan nation as whole to the extent that most Ugandans know him as a Ugandan scholar and poet. We know that Ugandans have agreed to think of him as Ugandan by experience and Malawian by birth.

We also know that Prof. Rubadiri loved Makerere and Uganda deeply and made no secret of his great pride in Makerere as his alma mater. Apart from his long illustrious career here at the University in the Department of Literature, he was our ambassador wherever he went. He always spoke of Makerere with great love and loyalty.

Rubadiri’s love of letters was nurtured here at Makerere and some of his most known work such as the Anthology: Poems From East Africa was edited with his teacher and colleague David Cook while he was here at this University. He was among the young African writers of the 1960s who made an indelible mark on the African literary landscape and its political conscience. Makerere also honours Prof. Rubadiri as one of Africa’s earliest talented writers; a poet who keenly identified with the humanity of Africans in his written work.

Prof. Rubadiri distinguished himself as an indomitable son of letters in East Africa. A writer who stood tall in his literary achievement. We will remember and honour him as writer who many of us studied during our formative years at secondary school here in Uganda  and most profoundly as a scholar who made us feel proud to be Ugandan.

The Literature Department here has the most pleasant memories of their interaction with him when he taught here. He was extremely gracious, warmly generous, hardworking and meticulous with detail. He loved the subject of Literature and it was most natural that this shone through all he did. There are numerous stories about classes filling to capacity with students who just came from different departments to sit at Rubadiri’s feet and watch and listen to him teach poetry.  We are grateful that he was part of us. We will miss him deeply. We hope too that we will continue to pass on what we learnt from him to our students.

The literary fraternity here and all over the globe mourns Prof. Rubadiri deeply but we mourn with hope encouraged by the legacy this great mind left behind.

May his soul rest in peace.

Yours Sincerely

Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe
VICE CHANCELLOR

 

Mark Wamai

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

Mak Editor

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

Mak Editor

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Directorate of Graduate Training Completes Training of First Cohort Training of Supervisors

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By Moses Lutaaya

The Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) has in collaboration with Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors.

Participants were academic staff from two colleges namely, College of Engineering, Art and Design (CEDAT) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).

The three-day training that took place at the Telepresence Centre, Senate Building ended on Friday 20thJune 2025.

In his closing remarks to the participants, the Director of Graduate Training Prof. Julius Kikooma said, “This is the first cohort we are working together with the Center for Teaching and Learning to put together continuous professional development Program so that we are able to enforce the new teaching and learning policy.”

He said that before lecturers are allocated students for supervision, they must first go through this form of formal teaching and learning training to equip them thoroughly with certification required of supervision of graduate students.

“We are coming up with process to ensure that the certificates earned by participants allow you to supervise graduate students. This is the direction of the university and we must ensure that such trainings are concluded and completed successfully by all participants”, Prof. Kikooma.

Prof. Julius Kikooma – Director of Graduate Training

“We can only have you certified upon completing all the exercises in the training process. This is when you will be eligible to receive the work load for supervision”, He added.

“This training of Supervisors is going to be continuous so that all academic staff in colleges and schools are equipped. This first cohort is going to be our building block to the future trainings in the colleges.”

With such capacity building trainings, Prof. Kikooma said that the university is on the right path to achieving its targets in the new strategic plan of increasing the number of graduate students while progressively reducing the under graduate students.

He further hinted that, “We are in the process of writing a curriculum on this, which will be presented for approval before it is rolled out.”

He echoed all participants to share the knowledge they have acquired adding, “Share all you have learnt, do not keep it. Be open minded, have proper communication channels and the sky will be the limit for you.” 

Dr. Robinah N. Kulabako, The Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CEDAT welcomed the training adding, “This training is very pertinent. I have had the opportunity to supervise Masters and PhD students for over 15 years and I must say that the need to be subjected to this training cannot be over emphasized because there is need to learn, unlearn and relearn many aspects involved in the supervision process.”

She added, “We are moving towards knowledge-based supervision rather than experience-based supervision. This means we must be informed and equipped to be able to advise, guide and mentor to be able to lead a successful supervision journey for both supervisor and supervisee.”

Dr. Andrew Gilbert Were – a lecturer at CEDAT and a participant said, “It is important that all supervisors of graduate students receive this certification from Makerere University through a systematic training process that enables them to attain diverse skills to facilitate learning of graduate students from diverse cultures and with unique set of circumstances.”

“This training is long overdue. In fact, it was an oversight that we could be allowed to supervise students without undergoing supervisors’ training.”

Dr. Dorothy Ssebowa, The Director Centre for Teaching and Learning support- CEES said, “The training this time round has had a mix of early career professionals including Lecturers, Supervisors and Professors share experiences. We have learnt a lot more from experienced supervisors who have shared practices on how they have done supervision over the years.”

“The knowledge and experience-based approaches have made this collaboration very active, interactive and learner centered which has resulted into a collaborative learning from the interdisciplinarity of staff from CEDAT and CAES. The issue now is to continue with professional development across all levels.” She added.

The Makerere University Directorate of Graduate Training (DGT) in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning completed the training of the first cohort of Graduate Supervisors. This activity was supported by the iCARTA – Institutionalization of Advanced Research Training in Africa, a NORHED II Project at Makerere University.

Mak Editor

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