Act tough on varsities working minus charter

It is unacceptable that 31 of our universities are operating without solid clearance from the National Council of Higher Education [See: ‘31 universities fail to acquire charter – NCHE’ in the Daily Monitor of November 19.
This means only 19 of our 50 universities are licensed to operate. Broadly speaking, this means our 31 universities do not meet the standards required by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). This also means there is no official clearance of the key measures of quality assurance set by NCHE.
Simply put, NCHE has not vetted and approved the quality of students admitted for courses at these universities. It also means NCHE has not ratified the courses offered, the quality of learning facilities in place, the calibre of staff and lecturers employed, quality of research conducted, and service provided to the community. In sum, the job market, at least for now, are unsure whether students churned out of the 31 universities actually acquire highest standards of education that are nationally benchmarked.
These questions imply the universities have no stamp of quality assurance from NCHE, the regulator of higher education. These doubts erode public trust in our universities. Moreover, these lapses risk rendering the academic certificates awarded to these graduates as bogus and not fit for seeking employment or pursuing further studies here and abroad. Worse, it casts in doubt the quality of our graduates and future work force rolled out into both the common and competitive job market in East Africa, the region, and globally.
As law, The University and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001, says, the charter, which is granted by the President, is a stamp of approval or “evidence that the university meets the requirements and standards of academic excellence set by NCHE.”
This is why it should be now that NCHE sees through the warning by its quality assurance overseer, Dr Pamela Tibihikirra, that universities not complying be merged, closed or relegated to tertiary institutions. What is more, these universities have been operating for years, yet the law gives them three years as grace period within which their provisional licenses should be upgraded to a full charter. Going forward, perhaps this should be reviewed as it unnecessarily accords sit-back comfort zone for new universities.
All that NCHE needs, as the standards bearer, is to stamp its authority as it did, without batting an eyelid, and closed Busoga, Lugazi, Fairland, and Strafford universities. This measure would be timely because we all desire that no one questions the reputation of our universities, the quality of our education and the competitiveness of our graduates.

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