UCU to offer engineering, medicine courses in Mbale

Uganda Christian University will start offering medicine and engineering courses at its Mbale-based campus, a top official has said.

The campus is expected to start after the university received an assortment of engineering, medical and health science books from Nigeria.

It is expected to start with a degree course in engineering and a diploma in comprehensive nursing.
Dr Stephen Mungoma, the University director, said more programmes, including post-graduate diplomas in public health and bachelors of medicine would be rolled out in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years respectively.

“We had planned to start those courses in 2010/11 but due to logistical problems and lack of reference books, we halted the programme. But now we are more than ready to start off the science and engineering courses anytime from now,” Dr Mungoma said.

However, he said the new courses will only start after they have been cleared by the main campus in Mukono and other relevant agencies including Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council and the National Council for Higher Education.

“We want to finish this process (getting accreditation) and thereafter, we shall launch the courses,” Dr Mungoma.
He said the university would in the initial stage use Mbale Regional Main Hospital and the School of Clinical officers in Mbale as its teaching bases.

However, he added the university was looking into expanding to other health centres within Mbale Municipality into fully-fledged teaching health units.
The books worth Shs1.6 billion were donated by the Books for Africa project based in the US, a project started by Africans living in America to improve literacy on the African continent.

The Nigerian High Commissioner to Uganda, Mr Cornelius Oluwateru, who handed over the books, said Nigeria would continue to collaborate with Uganda especially in supporting higher education.