Graduands of Bachelor of Laws during the 73rd graduation ceremony at Makerere University, Kampala on February 13, 2023. PHOTO/FRANK BAGUMA
Thousands of students planning to pursue studies at universities in Uganda and abroad have been left stranded after the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) scrapped over 1,000 programmes from its list.
This means the universities cannot admit students for the courses nor can students seeking studies abroad have their courses verified for admission.
Our investigation revealed that the affected programmes, many of which students had pursued at the bachelor level, were removed after universities and other tertiary institutions failed to review and update them as required by NCHE.
Previously referred to as “expired” programmes, NCHE has since rebranded them as programmes“due for review.”
This underscores the need for regular updates to align the courses with current academic and industry standards.
The term expired courses became controversial after Monitor reported in 2023 that several foreign universities had rejected degrees from Ugandan students because courses they had pursued had “expired” or were “outdated”.
This sparked a storm among students, graduates,and educational institutions. But a year-and-a-half later, the same rebuff still haunts Ugandan degrees.
The ping pong
One of such cases is of a student who was offered a Bachelor of Science in Medical Radiography.
The student, who preferred not to be named, told Monitor that she has been struggling to get her application accepted by the University of Bristol, UK.
She said the university has rejected most Ugandan applications over expired courses. “One of their requirements for Uganda was that one’s course should be accredited to be considered and they
added a link [from NCHE] that they referred to,” she said.
Upon clicking on the link it led her to the section on course under NCHE.
“The programmes offered are usually the name of the course, the university and whether it is active. Like it is accredited. So, most of them are now active, but some show courses as expired or are un-
der review. But my course, Bachelor of Science in Medical Radiography, wasn't listed there at all,” she lamented.
A search by Monitor on the NCHE portal did not return a match for the course.
She, however, said NCHE responded to her, saying when a university doesn't write to them to seek a review or update of the course, they remove it as per their new policy.
She said when she visited the Makerere University academic registrar’s office, she was referred to the Deputy Academic Registrar’s office where she was given a letter of proof of accreditation.
But she said: “Bristol University wrote back that what they needed was proof of accreditation of my course at the time I did it from 2018 to around 2021 or there abouts. So, the truth is it was not accredited at the time...they expired and the university hadn’t updated a lot of them.”
The letter from Makerere University said the Bachelor of Medical Radiography was accredited in 2011. What the letter did not show is that the same programme expired in 2016, a year before the applicant enrolled for it.
Desperate for a solution, the applicant went back to the Deputy Academic Registrar’s office.
“I showed them what the university had asked me and they also knew they couldn’t provide any proof that it wasn’t expired and the lady, a secretary in the office, simply said ‘I don’t know what to
do for you.’I think she forwarded my letter to the Deputy Academic Registrar,” she said.
“So, they wrote a letter asking NCHE to provide a letter for me that shows that my course is valid. So,I’m still waiting for a reply to that letter I took to NCHE.”
Previously, the applicant had written to NCHE requesting for the same proof, but her request was not considered and was advised to seek a letter from the university authorities.
Meanwhile, when this paper crosschecked the NCHE website yesterday, most of the programmes that were listed as due for review, including Makerere University’s famous Bachelor of Laws
LLB), had been deleted.
A source at NCHE told Monitor that the LLB programme was not on their website because it was before the Law Council and not the NCHE.
The universities are not permitted to admit students on all programmes that have been deleted from the website until they are fully reviewed and cleared by NCHE.
Makerere responds
But Prof Mukadasi Buyinza, the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic, and also the Registrar of Makerere University, said such programmes are removed by the university Senate and not NCHE.
“NCHE does not remove a programme. It’s Makerere University Senate that approves a programme to run. So, if the University Senate is still reviewing, then we have to wait until the review process is completed,” he explained.
He said the Bachelor of Medical Radiography is under review and once completed, it will be approved to run.
“If a programme is not listed on NCHE website, it means that programme is under review. And once the review is completed and approved by the University Senate, it will be resubmitted to NCHE and it will run again,” he said.
Prof Mukadasi said the programmes, especially the science courses, take a long time to review because they have to undergo laboratory verification, quality assurance review process, both internally and externally.
“Even professional bodies get involved, so it takes some time. You can't say within a week or a month,” he said.
Prof Mukadasi also said it depends on how fast NCHE sends a team to verify the review.
“But our interest is to review all our programmes. We only want to run programmes that have been reassessed. We also run input from many stakeholders, including the government, employers, and international partners,” he added.
Prof Mukadasi asked the public to be patient and said they are open to writing to the different universities their former students are applying to “Many of those universities write to us and we clarify. We advise them that they should write to us. We clarify why that is the current situation.”
NCHE responds
NCHE gave the institutions up to November 30, 2023, to have all the programmes due for review submitted for accreditation, but a number of institutions failed to beat the deadline.
By 2023, around 700 programmes were affected, with some institutions failing to seek re-accreditation.
NCHE has since reviewed and re-accredited many of the programmes, with some 3,050 currently
valid and another 660-awaiting approval.
Mr Vincent Ssembatya, the NCHE di-rector, Quality Assurance and Accreditation, said: “The programmes that you see on the website are about 3,050. They are either the half-valid accreditation or those undergoing review. But NCHE is to receive some 660 programmes that have now completed NCHE processes and probably will be approved.”
As of 2023, NCHE website listed 4,400 programmes, but currently lists only 3,050 programmes on their website. This means that 1,300 have been removed from the council’s website, with more
than 600 accounted for and 700 unaccounted for.
“So, you can see there are some programmes there that are probably not coming back. But there are some new programmes being presented as well. Some programmes did not attract stu-
dents for various reasons, sometimes institutions may also change programme names. Or was maybe merged with something else,” Mr Ssembatya said.
He also revealed that NCHE plans to create an archive area for programmes that have been removed permanently. This is to reverse the damage.
“An archive area where you can look for past accreditations. Because a programme may not show on the current, but it could have been offered under valid accreditation some years back,” he said.
Mr Ssembatya advised institutions to seek the council’s approval before they can start teaching any kind of course and warned the institutions against advertising for non-accredited programmes.
“Even if you give them the knowledge, they will still be stranded with that qualification you've given them,” he warned.
Mr Ssembatya said: “We re-clear our desks as fast as possible. Every three months, we give the Council a number of programmes for accreditation. So, that means within that three-month period, we rehandle the work.”
He advised universities to start reviewing programmes a year before expiry. The accreditation process typically takes three months,but can be delayed if the institutions require additional time to address areas of improvement or invest in new equipment and human resources.
NCHE urges students to verify the accreditation status of programmes before enrolment and encourages institutions to prioritise accreditation to avoid disadvantaging their students.
About expired courses
Expired courses in Uganda refer to academic programmes that have exceeded their accreditation period, typically ranging from five to 10 years as set by NCHE.
This doesn't necessarily mean the courses are invalid or useless, but rather that they require reassessment to ensure they still meet the NCHE's minimum standards and regulations.
Data from NCHE indicates that at least 1,470 programmes have expired over the last five years, affecting both graduate and undergraduate courses. Some of the affected institutions include Makerere University, Bugema University, and Bishop Stuart University.
At the time, Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Attorney General, assured the public that all courses are valid, and said the term“expiry”was a bad choice of diction.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, also directed the NCHE to declassify “expired” courses as “under review”to alleviate the concerns.
NCHE has taken several actions to address the issue of expired courses,including declassifying expired courses. NCHE has changed the term “expired” to “under review” for courses that are being reviewed.
Some of the affected courses
Mbarara University of Science and Technology
1. Master of Science in physiology
2. Bachelors of Medical Laboratory Sciences (Diploma Entry )
3. Master of Medicine in Emergency Medicine
4. Diploma in Emergency Medicine for Emergency Care Practitioners
5. Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
6. Master of Education in Curriculum Instruction and Media
7. Bachelor of Computer Science
8. Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
9. Bachelor of science in Agricultural Livelihoods and Farm Production
10. Master of Medicine in Psychiatry
11. Master of Medical Laboratory Science
12. Bachelor of Gender and Women Health (B.GWH)
Makerere University
13. Bachelor of Laws
14. Master of Instructional Design and Technology
15. Bachelor of Youth Development Work
16. Bachelor of Geographical Sciences
17. Master of Science in Disaster Risk Management
18. Master of science in Wildlife Health and Management
19. Master of Education
20. Bachelor of Industrial Livestock Business
21. Bachelor of Information Systems and Technology
22. Master of Science in Records and Archives Management
23. Master in Bioethics
Kyambogo University
24. Master of Public Health
25. Bachelor of Economics and Statistics
26. Bachelor of Science in Sport and Exercise Instruction
27. Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences
28. Master of Arts in Economics
29. Diploma in Deaf Studies
30. Diploma in Food Processing Technology
31. Bachelor of Adult and Community Education
32. Postgraduate Diploma in Community Based Rehabilitation
33. Bachelor of Demography and Reproductive Health
34. Diploma in accounting and Finance
35. bachelor of education – Secondary (Science
36. bachelor of education, Special needs education
37. bachelor of education in education
38. bachelor of education – Secondary (Vocational Studies)
39. bachelor of education – Secondary (arts
40. bachelor of education -Secondary (business Studies
Uganda Christian University
41. Bachelor of Economics and Management
42. Bachelor of Dental Surgery
43. Bachelor of Computer Science
44. Diploma in Procurement and Logistics
45. Bachelor of Projects Planning and Management
46. Bachelor of Development Economics
47. Diploma in Primary Education in service
48. Bachelor of Business Computing
49. Master of Nursing Sciences
50. Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness
51. Bachelor of Electronics and Communication Science
52. Bachelor of Development and Social Entrepreneurship
53. Diploma in Microfinance
54. Bachelor of Interior and Landscape Design
Gulu University
55. Bachelor of Development Studies
56. Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship Skills Development
57. Bachelor of Science Education- Economics
58. Diploma in Secretarial and Information Management
59. Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
60. Master of Science in Information and Communication Technologies for Development
61. Bachelor of Information Technology- Business Computing
62. Master Diploma in Computer Science
63. Bachelor of Science Education (Agriculture)
64. Bachelor of Public Health
65. Bachelor of Science in Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering
Islamic University of Uganda
66. Bachelor of Library and Information Science
67. Bachelor of Social Sciences
68. Diploma in Records Management
69. Master of Science in Environmental Science
70. Diploma in Library and Information Science
71. Master of Arts in History
72. Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration
73. Bachelor of Public Administration
74. Diploma in Business Studies
75. Bachelor of Arts (Sharia)
76. Master of Arts ( Sharia)
77. Foundation Programme / Remedial Programme- Science
78. Bachelor of Science ( Chemistry )
79. Diploma in Primary Education - Professional Programme
Busitema University
80. Diploma of Catering and Hospitality Management
81. Bachelor of Catering and Hospitality Management
82. Master of Medicine in Paediatrics and Child Health
83. Diploma in Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering
84. Diploma in Crop Production and Management
85. Bachelor of Science in Animal Production and Management
Victoria University
86. Master of Arts in Public Administration and Management
87. Diploma in Business Administration
88. Bachelor of Environmental Health Sciences
89. Diploma in Business Information Systems
90. Bachelor Degree in Banking and Finance
91. Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Bugema University
92. Foundation Programme (Science)
93. Foundation Programme (Arts)
94. Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies with Development Ministry
Kumi University
95. 1. Bachelor of Commerce
96. Diploma in Languages
97. Diploma in Community Development
98. Bachelor of Community Development
99. Diploma in Guidance and Counselling
International University of East Africa
100. Bachelor of Arts in Economics
101. Bachelor of Business Administration
102. Bachelor of Tourism and Hotel Management
103. Masters in Business Administration
104. Bachelor of Science in Tourism Operations & Management
