An extraordinary sitting of the Uganda Vice Chancellors Forum (UVCF) meeting at Makerere University on 23^rd June 2025 has made a special appeal for the scientific evaluation of the impact of the Higher Education Access Certificate (HEAC) programme as its future hangs in a balance. The sitting was hosted by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza and addressed by the Executive Director UVCF, Prof. Eriabu Lugujjo, Chairperson UVCF and Vice Chancellor Busitema University, Prof. Paul Waako and representative from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Dr. Maria Nakachwa and a representative from the HEAC programme, Prof. David Orema.

Welcoming members of the Forum to Makerere University, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi expressed warm regards from the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe who was away on official duty. Turning to the agenda of the day, he said “I find the proposed items on the order paper quite pertinent given the time, as we offer guidance and input towards our next journey in higher education.

“We believe that by the close of the day, we should be able to come up with a position paper that will inform the next course of action in this regard” remarked Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi in reference to the scheduled updates from NCHE on the HEAC Programme.

The ED UVCF, Prof. Eriabu Lugujjo in his remarks thanked Makerere University for accepting to host the extraordinary session at short notice. Commenting on the successful reconstruction of the Main Building he said, “90% of the Vice Chancellors gathered today had not been here since the conflagration so we wish to commend you on the quality of work, especially the preservation of history.” He reiterated the host Vice Chancellor’s hope that the sitting would come up with unified resolution on important issues pertaining to the Higher Education sector.

The Chairperson, Prof. Paul Waako thanked the Africa Renewal University for the warm hospitality accorded during the 75^th meeting of the UVCF and congratulated Universities upon participating in the National Science Week and Summit 2025.

“This is a very good forum for institutions to interact, share progress on innovations and catch up with how far the country is progressing in science, technology and innovation. The new addition this year was the Science Summit, which is supposed to bring together all scientists in this country and out of that we would like to generate a position paper on science, technology and innovation, which we are insisting should be discussed by Cabinet every year” Prof. Waako remarked.

The Chairperson UVCF noted that the extraordinary meeting had been called on short notice to feed into ongoing discussions at high levels regarding the HEAC programme and the recently passed Uganda Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Act, 2025. He noted that the TVET Act has big implications on Higher Education training at Diploma and Certificate level, warranting a discussion by Vice Chancellors.

Stakeholders from NCHE and the Commissioner for Higher Education and Training in the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) were invited to enrich the discussion. Equally invited were; Prof. David Orema who worked with NCHE to develop the HEAC programme and the first training programme at Busitema University, Incoming and 24^th Guild President of Gulu University and HEAC beneficiary Mr. Alex Opio Ongom, a student representative from Kabale University, and the first female graduate engineer from Buyende District – also a HEAC beneficiary.

Giving an overview of the HEAC programme, Dr. Nakachwa observed that Uganda remains a hub of Higher Education in the region and the programme acts as a good bridge for international students who need to meet entry requirements of Ugandan institutions. She also pointed to the fact that the HEAC programme acts as a remedial programme for students who sat and completed the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) but did not attain sufficient grades to enroll for Diplomas or Degree programmes.

“Looking at the recently released UNEB exams, people with one principal pass were 29,000. Where are they going? Are they going to repeat? Very few do. In 2023, 18,000 students got one principal pass. Should we deny them access to the Ugandan Higher Education?” she pondered.

Dr. Nakachwa added that NCHE, which is mandated by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act to set minimum entry requirements to any certificate, diploma or degree programme developed minimum standards for the HEAC programme in 2016, with institutions having the leeway to add two or three courses to help students cope with the rigour.

“This is well prescribed in Instrument 34 of 2008. It is a Level 4 of the Uganda Education qualifications framework because it is Post-A-Level, and the Higher Education Certificate Programme was approved by the National Council for Higher Education in 2016” elaborated Dr. Nakachwa.

She added that the HEAC is intended for four categories of students; 1) foreign students whose education system differs from Uganda’s, 2) a remedy programme for students with A-Level qualifications but not admissible for Diplomas and Bachelors, 3) holders of vocational qualifications i.e. holders of national certificates from the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) intending to pursue higher education, and 4) a bridge for the science/arts divide for students who may have passed sciences at O-Level but pursued arts at A-Level and thereafter, seek to pursue clinical or nursing programmes.

Furthermore, she noted that the change in nomenclature from the Higher Education Certificate (HEC) to the Higher Education Access Certificate (HEAC) programme was as recommended by a 2022 review, that also recommended an increase in subject content for the Biological and Physical sciences tracks of the programme. The HEAC also offers a third General track for arts. Nevertheless, students on all three tracks are required to interact with content in the three areas of; Life Skills Education, Study Skills and Academic Writing, and Foundations of Mathematics and Statistics.

Sharing results as at December 2024, Dr. Nakachwa noted that 21 out of the 56 registered Higher Education Institutions in Uganda are accredited to run the HAEC programme, with a total of 3,908 students enrolled. “We have learnt some lessons which include; having the regulatory frameworks reviewed is critical, and continuous engagement with stakeholders is paramount.”

The presentation by the National Council for Higher Education guided the discussions for the rest of the UVCF sitting, which concluded with the resolution to develop a position paper. Thereafter, the UVCF was led on guided tour of the reconstructed Main Building by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi.