Acting Executive Director of National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Dr. Alex Mugisha Kagume has called on private universities to seek for license that is dubbed as charter, for provision quality education services in the country.
A chatter is granted to universities that have demonstrated high quality in staffing, teaching and learning, research output, extension services, infrastructural developments in terms of lecture rooms, libraries and laboratories and good governance among others.
Remarking at NCHE offices in Kyambogo, Dr. Mugisha, said Section 97(3) requires that a provisional license issued to private University shall be valid for at least three years from the date of publication of the gazette by the national council.
NCHE is under section five of the Universities and other tertiary institutions act 2001 mandated to ensure the provision of relevant and sustainable quality higher education through the enforcement of various established standards be observed by licensed higher education institutions.
“Currently Uganda has 54 universities of which nine of them attained charter status, nine public universities and 35 are on provisional licenses. A number of universities holding provisional licenses have not taken the requisite steps to seek for highest license, charter,” he said.
Rev Canon. Dr Mugisha said, they are sometimes forced to close some universities for failure to meet all required standards, teaching unaccredited course and bleaching of rules guiding their licenses.
Earlier in the day, the national council engaged leaders from various universities holding provisional license to agree on the road map to ensure that they attain charter status.
“NCHE has and will continue to engage higher education institutions to provide support, guidance and mentor ship. It is incumbent upon them to demonstrate high standards as provided within the law and best practice in addition to remaining relevant to Uganda’s national development plans,” he said.
Some of the closed institutions include Busoga University, Fairland University and stopping Kampala international University (KIU) from teaching unaccredited courses.