Invest in incubation centres, minister tells universities

KAMPALA. Minister of Science Technology and Innovation has urged institutions of higher learning to invest in incubation centres to absorb their innovative students for commercial production and ease the unemployment burden in the country.

‘’The country has enough innovations but lacks investments for production. There’s wave of innovative youths in the country’s academic institutions. We have seen youths invent their firms own firms, make electric cars like Kiira EV, wireless phone chargers, malaria detection technology, soil moisture applications, among others. Therefore, institutions need to invest into incubation centers in order to develop innovation,’’ said Dr Elioda Tumwesigye during the 20th graduation ceremony at Kampala International University (KIU) on Saturday.

The university board chairman, Mr Hassan BasajjaBalaba, said the institution has now overrun the staff challenge and acquired the state of the art equipment to handle programmes at the national standards.
‘’KIU has finally attained accreditation for key medical programmes in bachelors of clinical medicine and dentistry, placing the institution in a better position to compete for academic excellence across the east African region,” he said.

According to him, the institution is the first to legally pursue Bachelors of clinic medicine after six years of graduation without accreditation.
“Despite being allowed by the Ministry of health to pursue the programme, National Council for Higher Education could not certify it because Uganda’s education system never had it,’’ Mr BasajjaBalaba added.
A total of 2,400 students graduated to join thousands of others in the job market.