_{By Moses Lutaaya}

The Director of Graduate Training at Makerere University, Prof. Julius Kikooma, has challenged PhD students to ensure that their research directly contributes to solving Uganda’s pressing societal challenges, saying postgraduate research must move beyond academic theory to real-world transformation.

Prof. Kikooma made the remarks on Monday, May 25, 2026, during the closure of a 10-day PhD cross-cutting training in Advanced Research Methods held at the Main Library Room 24/7 at Makerere University. The blended training, which started on May 11, attracted more than 250 PhD students physically and online from different colleges and schools across the university.

The training was organized by the Directorate of Graduate Training and supported by iCARTA as part of Makerere’s efforts to strengthen doctoral education and research capacity.

In his closing remarks, Prof. Kikooma praised the team of facilitators led by Prof. Stella Neema and Prof. Christopher Mugimu, among others for not only teaching technical research content but also mentoring students into becoming the next generation of impactful researchers.

“I think they are also mentors. They have been mentoring you into the role of the next generation of researchers,” Prof. Kikooma said, noting that the facilitators had given students a framework for thinking critically about research and understanding what the university expects from doctoral scholars.

He emphasized that Makerere University is intentional about producing graduates whose research contributes solutions rather than adding to society’s challenges.

“What we do here should reassure the nation that the products from Makerere University are contributing to solutions. They are not adding to problems but adding to solutions,” he said.

According to Prof. Kikooma, the knowledge and tools acquired during the intensive training should not merely help students earn degrees, but should prepare them to generate insights, innovations and evidence-based solutions for communities and policymakers.

“At this point there are many things happening which still don’t have proper answers and do not have people spending sufficient time to study them. We expect your studies to become part of what the country will use to solve some of the problems,” he added.

Prof. Kikooma revealed that the Directorate of Graduate Training has adopted the theme “Postgraduate Research for Transformation,” aimed at ensuring that all doctoral research connects to broader societal needs.

“Gone are the days where you engage in research and knowledge creation for the sake of knowledge. Your work must translate into innovative solutions and insights that help policy makers make better decisions,” he said.

He further explained that the Directorate’s role goes beyond coordinating academic programmes to intentionally exposing students to cross-cutting competencies such as critical thinking, interdisciplinary, communication skills and problem-solving.

The Advanced Research Methods course is one of the mandatory PhD cross-cutting courses at Makerere University alongside Philosophy of Methods and Scholarly Writing. The courses are undertaken during the first year of the PhD journey, either in semester one or semester two.

Prof. Kikooma said the cross-cutting nature of the course is designed to help students appreciate that modern societal challenges cannot be solved through isolated disciplines.

“The issues that will lead to solutions do not come in compartments. That is why these courses are called cross-cutting,” he said.

He commended the interdisciplinary approach used by facilitators drawn from different academic backgrounds, saying it equips researchers with broader perspectives needed to address complex societal issues.

He also urged students to ensure their research becomes meaningful beyond the thesis by producing outputs capable of engaging policymakers, communities and other stakeholders.

“We have redefined the outputs that need to come out of your research beyond the thesis,” he explained. “Your research should count in different ways.”

In a message that resonated strongly with the participants, Prof. Kikooma encouraged the PhD students to become creators of opportunities instead of job seekers.

“You create problems when you leave the university with the mentality of looking for a job. All these things should translate into defining opportunities for yourselves and for others,” he said.

He acknowledged that the blended and learner-centered approach may have been challenging for some students, but said it was intentionally designed to build resilience required during the demanding PhD journey.

“As you go forward, make sure your research counts and that you become part of the solution,” he concluded.

Speaking after the training, Prof. Stella Neema, an Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Makerere University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, described the course as highly transformative for participants from different academic traditions.

“This course was blended. We had people online and others physically present in this big classroom. Initially, participants from different paradigms were not talking much to each other,” Prof. Neema said.

She explained that by the end of the training, students who were quantitatively oriented had developed appreciation for qualitative approaches and vice versa.

“The positivists and interpretive scholars have learned from each other. They learned designing research tools, citations, and also how to protect human research participants through ethics training,” she said.

Prof. Neema added that the course exposed students to practical ethical challenges in research and strengthened their commitment to complete their doctoral studies successfully.

“They admitted to us that they are going to use what they have learned to further their research processes. Many told us they are determined to complete their PhDs on time,” she noted.

She further said the training aligns well with Makerere University’s strategic agenda as a research-led institution and supports Uganda’s national development agenda through innovation, industrialization and scientific problem-solving.

“This research training is like a springboard for Uganda’s areas of investigation and national development,” Prof. Neema said.

The Advanced Research Methods training is part of Makerere University’s broader strategy to strengthen doctoral research excellence, interdisciplinary scholarship and transformative innovation aimed at addressing national and global challenges.

_{By: Roy William Mayega, Julius Ssentongo, Anthony Ssebagereka, Harriet Adong}

In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, schools do not operate in stable environments; they operate in uncertainty. A school year might begin with optimism and structure, only to be interrupted by floods, conflict, or a public health emergency. Yet across Global Partnership for Education (GPE) partner countries in Africa, something more complex is unfolding than repeated disruption. Education systems are not just reacting, they are adapting, improvising, and, in some cases, transforming.

In this blog, we share key insights from a desk review report that examined how GPE partner countries in Africa understand and operationalize education system resilience, the types of disruptions they face, and the strategies they use to sustain learning. Drawing on education policy documents and a wide range of academic and grey literature, the report offers a unique cross-country perspective on what it takes to keep education systems functioning amid constant change.

This is where education system resilience (ESR) becomes more than a technical concept. It becomes a lens for understanding how learning continues against the odds and why it sometimes does not.

Resilience looks different depending on where you stand

One of the most striking insights from the study is that there is no single, shared definition of resilience. Instead, countries interpret it through their lived realities.

In countries frequently hit by climate disasters, resilience often looks like preparedness—building safer schools, integrating disaster risk reduction into curricula, and training teachers to respond to emergencies. In places recovering from epidemics, it shows up as the ability to switch quickly to radio, print, or digital learning when classrooms close.

In conflict-affected settings, resilience takes on a different meaning altogether. It becomes deeply local. Communities step in where formal systems falter, organizing learning spaces, mobilizing volunteer teachers, and keeping education going even when the state cannot. In these contexts, resilience is less about systems “bouncing back” and more about communities holding things together.

This diversity of perspectives challenges any one-size-fits-all approach. It also raises an important question: if resilience looks different everywhere, how do we design policies that truly respond to context?

Disruption is rarely singular – it’s layered

Another key insight is that education systems are not dealing with isolated shocks, but overlapping crises.

A drought does not just damage school infrastructure; it affects livelihoods, pushes children into labour, and increases dropout rates. Conflict not only closes schools; it displaces families, strains host communities, and disrupts entire education systems across borders. Public health crises like COVID-19 expose digital divides and deepen existing inequalities.

For example, countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti face droughts and erratic rainfall, causing school closures, food insecurity, displacement, and psychosocial stress, particularly among rural and pastoral communities.

What emerges is a picture of a “polycrisis” in which climate, conflict, poverty, and health emergencies interact and reinforce one another. The result is not just a temporary interruption, but a cumulative erosion of learning outcomes, system capacity, and equity. Moreover, it is the most vulnerable learners, such as girls, children with disabilities, and those in rural or conflict-affected areas who bear the greatest burden.

If disruption is inevitable, then the real question becomes: can learning continue?

Across GPE partner countries, some of the most promising practices focus on this very challenge. During COVID-19, countries rapidly expanded distance learning through radio, television, and online platforms. While access was uneven, these efforts marked a shift toward more flexible education systems. Countries like Madagascar and the Gambia also use distance learning tools to support learning continuity in the face of adverse climatic events. But resilience is not just about technology. It is also about teachers: how prepared they are to adapt, support learners through uncertainty, and shift between teaching modalities. It is about curricula that reflect real-world risks, from climate change to conflict, and it is about planning, having contingency systems in place before a crisis hits.

In this sense, resilience is less about responding to emergencies and more about embedding flexibility into the system itself.

Communities and equity are at the heart of resilience

One of the quieter but still powerful themes emerging from the study is the role of communities.

In fragile and conflict-affected contexts, community actors, including parents, local leaders, and civil society, are often the backbone of education continuity. They manage schools, mobilize resources, and create informal systems of support when formal structures break down. In Liberia, community participation and local leadership both played a key role in restoring educational services following conflict, the Ebola outbreak, and repeated infrastructural shocks. 

Even in more stable settings, community engagement strengthens accountability, supports vulnerable learners, and anchors education systems in local realities. Yet, this role is not always formally recognized or supported in policy. Bridging this gap could be key to building more grounded and sustainable resilience strategies. At the same time, it is precisely where policy recognition matters most. When communities are formally supported, as seen in Sierra Leone’s re-entry programs for pregnant girls, targeted policies can transform informal resilience into lasting systems change.

Resilience is often framed in terms of systems, policies, infrastructure, and planning. However, the study makes it clear that resilience is also about considering who gets left behind.

Gender inequality, poverty, and marginalization consistently shape who can continue learning during disruptions. Girls face increased risks of early marriage and dropout. Children from poorer households struggle with access to remote learning, while learners with disabilities are often excluded.

Sierra Leone’s approach illustrates this broader challenge, beyond re-entry programs for pregnant girls, the country has pursued targeted policies for social protection measures and inclusive education initiatives. 

So why does it matter?

Without resilience, progress in education remains fragile. Years of investment in access and quality can be undone by a single crisis. In regions where disruptions are frequent, the cost of not building resilience is simply too high.

The study also offers a more hopeful perspective. Across GPE partner countries in Africa, there is clear momentum and meaningful efforts to integrate resilience into planning, invest in adaptive systems, and learn from past crises.

What is emerging is not a perfect model, but a growing body of practice. One that shows resilience is possible when it is context-driven, inclusive, and embedded across the system.

Looking ahead: from coping to transformation

If there is one takeaway from this study, it is that resilience cannot remain a reactive agenda. Too often, systems are designed to cope with the last crisis rather than prepare for the next.

Looking ahead, the challenge—and opportunity—is to shift from short-term responses to long-term transformation. This means embedding resilience into the core of education planning, not as an add-on, but as a guiding principle. It means investing not only in infrastructure and technology, but also in people, teachers, communities, and learners, who ultimately carry systems through disruption. It means prioritizing equity so that resilience efforts do not reinforce existing gaps but instead close them.

There is no single pathway to building resilient education systems. However, the experiences across GPE partner countries in Africa show that progress is possible when solutions are grounded in context, informed by evidence, and driven by collaboration.

This blog was originally published on the GPE KIX website on April 16, 2026.

Access the full report here

_{By Moses Lutaaya}

Makerere University has stepped up efforts to strengthen its scholarly publishing ecosystem following a Journal Editors’ Workshop held on April 23, 2026, in the Smart Room, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), aimed at improving journal quality, increasing research visibility, and enhancing the university’s global rankings.

The workshop, organized by Makerere University Press (Mak Press), brought together journal editors from colleges, schools, and institutes across the university to discuss publication standards, consistency in journal production, international indexing requirements, governance, and sustainability of academic journals.

Speaking at the event on behalf of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Prof. Julius Kikooma, Director of Graduate Training (DGT) and Chairperson of the Technical and Quality Assurance Committee of Mak Press, said the workshop forms part of the university’s deliberate strategy to restore Makerere’s historic place as a continental hub of intellectual production.

He said Makerere had long been recognized as Africa’s leading center for scholarship, especially in the post-independence period when renowned academics and political intellectuals across the continent sought to publish their work through the university.

“Makerere was once the place where Africa’s leading scholars wanted to publish. We are now working to revive that tradition by ensuring our home-based journals meet international standards and become the first choice for our researchers,” Prof. Kikooma said.

He noted that although the university continues to produce world-class researchers, much of their best work is published outside Makerere, benefiting external institutions in rankings and global visibility.

“Management has realized that there has been a missed opportunity. The research is done here, the scholars are nurtured here, but the visibility and ranking benefits have often gone elsewhere because we lacked strong publishing outlets of our own,” he said.

Prof. Kikooma emphasized that global university rankings heavily depend on publications in indexed journals, making the strengthening of Makerere’s home-based journals critical to its ambition of becoming a truly research-led institution.

He also pointed to mindset as one of the biggest barriers. “Many academics have been inducted into believing that their best ideas are not for home consumption. We must change that mindset and build confidence in our own journals because strong societies use their own research outputs to solve real problems,” he added.

He further encouraged journal editors to make publications more responsive to society by introducing special issues that address pressing national and regional challenges.

Prof. William Tayeebwa, the Chief Managing Editor of Makerere University Press, said the workshop was intended to assess the progress of journals across colleges while equipping editors with the tools needed to meet international publishing standards.

“Our main goal was to engage editors on whether they are producing journals consistently. If they say they are biannual, are they really publishing twice a year? If not, they need to make realistic decisions and strengthen their workflow,” he said.

He explained that the workshop brought together editors from established journals, newly formed journals, and colleges that are yet to establish journals.

Prof. Tayeebwa revealed that one of the major gaps identified was that some colleges still do not have academic journals.

“Why would an entire college not have a journal? That was one of the major concerns. We are engaging prolific scholars in those colleges to understand what is holding them back,” he said.

He also noted that many journal editors were depending on Mak Press for support that should ordinarily come from their colleges, prompting the need for stronger institutional buy-in and sustainability mechanisms.

Mak Press, he said, is helping journals secure International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN), assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), and prepare for international indexing.

He described ISSN as a critical identifier for journals. “If a journal does not have an ISSN, it cannot be discovered online and may not even be recognized by quality assurance systems. It is like a vehicle without a registration number plate,” he explained.

Prof. Tayeebwa said while research quality at Makerere is already strong, the university must significantly improve publication output.

“For a university of this size, publishing only a few dozen articles annually is not enough. With over 600 PhD students, master’s students, and staff, Makerere should be producing more than 1,000 journal articles every year,” he said.

He also called for stronger support for graduate students to co-publish with supervisors, noting that publication is already a graduation requirement for PhD students.

The Director, Institute of Gender and Development Studies Prof. Ruth Nsibirano, said the workshop demonstrates the university’s commitment to ensuring that knowledge generated at Makerere reaches the global academic community.

Her institute is currently developing the Makerere Gender and Development Journal, with its inaugural issue expected in early 2027.

“We do not believe the Global South should remain only consumers of knowledge. We have a lot of knowledge to generate and share with the world,” Prof. Nsibirano said.

She explained that the journal will focus on gender, social transformation, and development while providing a platform for research that reflects African realities and perspectives.

According to Prof. Nsibirano, the workshop also promotes collaboration among scholars across disciplines.

“It improves the way we interact as scholars. We can co-publish, co-author, and also know what is being published in other journals under Makerere Press. That strengthens research and institutional visibility,” she said.

She added that the main challenge affecting many journals had not necessarily been structural gaps, but reduced motivation, which caused some long-established journals to become dormant.

With renewed management support, stronger editorial coordination, and a push for international standards, Makerere University leaders believe the institution’s journals can once again become leading platforms for African scholarship and significantly contribute to the university’s competitiveness on the global stage.