Minister of State for Education and Sports John Chrysostom Muyingo has revealed that the Government of Uganda will increase University Research Funds to boost their research capacities.
Speaking during the induction workshop of the 5th Kyambogo university council at Imperial Golf Hotel in Entebbe on thursday, Minister Muyingo said that it is Makerere University that has mostly benefited from the research funds yet all Universities should benefit from it.
He said that as a developing country, more research is needed and to achieve this, the government is set to increase research funds of universities which will help in building the capacity of research in our education sector.
According to Muyingo, the budget for the research funds of Universities stands at shillings 20 billion. This will be increased to the amount of money that the minister did not reveal but said, it will be communicated by the ministry soon.
It is only Makerere University that has so far received special funding from the Government of Uganda to support high impact Research and Innovations totaling Shillings 30 Billion (equivalent to US$ 8,100,000) under the Government Research and Innovation Fund (RIF).
Minister Muyingo reveals that if Uganda is to develop, it needs to invest heavily in research, adding that some increment is already in the budget which is going to be discussed by the Parliament.
“Like you have heard people say, the need for research is big, we have asked the ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to increase research funds for Universities” Muyingo reveals.
When asked about the figures, Muyingo said he could not tell how much the government will add in research at the moment, but the government will communicate the figures very soon.
In the same workshop, the minister cautioned schools and parents that have illegally opened for learners who have not yet been accepted to go back to schools.
“Schools have reopened for candidates and those in final years. So if anyone goes against this and reopen for other learners, the hand of law will go for them. We shall take the decision to put them right.” Muyingo cautions.
He further asked the Ugandans to be patient and cooperate with the government during the reopening of Learning Institutions.
Adding that the lives of Ugandans are more important than any other thing. “You know how children can behave when they are at schools; it is hard to ensure the implementation of standard operating procedures-SOPs.”
The minister argued the 5th Council of Kyambogo University chaired by Dr. Mary Gorretti Nakabugo to work hard to help the University fulfill its vision and also be relevant to the Kyambogo community. Kyambogo’s Vision is to be the center of academic and professional excellence.
According to Jackson Betihama and Robert Ojambo, the representatives of non-teaching staff teaching staff to the 5th council respectively, Kyambogo University is currently facing challenges like low staffing and poor salaries in teaching and non- teaching staff.
Minister Muyingo said poor salaries and low staffing is a general challenge in most Universities and promised that he will work with stakeholders to ensure these challenges are solved.
Speaking at the sidelines of the workshop, the Vice Chancellor, said while the university reopened for finalists last year and continuing students this year, they still have a challenge with students studying online and finalists who are still failing to do their internships especially teachers because of COVID-19 impact.
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