Drastic measures needed to save our education 

Team University was last week thrust into the centre of a debate that is raging on in neighbouring Kenya over the authenticity of a degree that is held by Nairobi senator Jackson Sakaja, who is vying for the office of Governor of Nairobi City in the elections scheduled for August.

Those who query the document say there is no evidence that Mr Sakaja, who claims to have graduated in October 2016, has ever been to Uganda since October 17, 2014, or that he skipped parliamentary sessions when he was a Member of Parliament in the period between 2013 and 2017. 
That means that he would never have been able to physically attend class for the minimum threshold of lessons required for one to graduate. 
Now this is the second time in as many elections that a Ugandan university is at the centre of an election dispute in Kenya.

The first case was in 2014. That involved Kampala International University (KIU) and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree that it issued to the outgoing Governor of Mombasa, Mr Hassan Joho. 
That degree was the subject of an inquest by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).
NCHE is investigating Mr Sakaja’s degree, but the stakes here are much higher than meets the eye.
What is at stake is not just the authenticity of that degree, but the credibility of Team University, the credibility of all universities and institutions of higher learning in Uganda and the credibility of the entire education system. The ramifications are bound to be dire. 

Potential employers are sure to look at degrees from Uganda with suspicion. Those who hold them could have a lower ranking in terms of suitability for jobs. You do not want that a time when there is a feeling among many an employer that most of our graduates do not have the required skills and competences for the current job market.

You also do not want that happening at a time when unemployment is so high among our graduates. In March 2017, the National Planning Authority (NPA) put unemployment levels among graduates at 87 per cent.
This calls for some drastic action on the part of NCHE. We need to strengthen controls around admissions, learning and graduations with a view of ensuring controls. 

That should help us avoid the kind of questions such as are being asked of Sakaja or Joho before him. That is what will save the credibility of our universities and the education system.