Trajectory of doctoral education and training in Uganda [Scholarly Article - Higher Education, February 2023]

Title:

Trajectory of doctoral education and training in Uganda 

 

Authors:

Irene Etomaru, K. Fred Edward Bakkabulindi & Tom Darlington Balojja 

 

Published:

Higher Education, 14 February 2023

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-023-01006-y

 

Abstract:

To participate fully in the global knowledge economy, all countries require strong research and innovation eco-systems. This crucially depends on the efficiency of doctoral education and training. We examined the trajectory of doctoral education in Uganda over the past four decades focusing on number of doctoral awards and equity in regard to sex, STEM versus Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and private versus public providers. We collected data from all institutions providing doctoral education in Uganda through comprehensive review of documents. Our analysis of data revealed low capacity for doctoral education in Uganda. There was under production of doctorates depicted by the low number of doctoral awards; and inequalities in regard to sex, STEM versus Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and the public versus private providers. We argue that the trends in equity and number of doctoral awards translate into low number of researchers per million inhabitants, low number of researchers engaged in research and development (R&D), and gender disparity in researchers’ participation in R&D. We conclude that the low number and inequalities in doctoral awards have deterring implications to the attainment of national development goals. We proffer desired trajectories for the future of doctoral education and training in Uganda.

 

UGANDA - Teachers given 8 years to upgrade or quit work [Monitor, October 2022]

Title:

Teachers given 8 years to upgrade or quit work 

 

Author:

Clement Aluma

 

Published:

Monitor, 4 October 2022

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/teachers-given-8-years-to-upgrade-or-quit-work-3972396

 

From the article:

Teachers with diploma qualifications have eight years to upgrade to degree level or they will be forced out of the profession, a senior education official has said. 

 

The role of institutional practice, non-educational actors and social networks in shaping refugee student lifeworlds in Ugandan higher education [Scholarly Article - Transformation in Higher Education, 2022]

Title:

The role of institutional practice, non-educational actors and social networks in shaping refugee student lifeworlds in Ugandan higher education

 

Authors:

Rovincer Najjuma, Department of Foundations and Curriculum Studies, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 

Michael Gallagher, Centre for Research in Digital Education, Moray House School of Education and Sport, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 

&

Rebecca Nambi, Department of Foundations and Curriculum Studies, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

 

Published:

Transformation in Higher Education, 26 July 2022

https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/184

 

Abstract:

Background: Participation in higher education can be empowering for refugees, yet this participation is contingent on a range of structures, practices and policies, many of which are not readily accessible.  

 

Aim: Informed by Habermas’ lifeworlds, this study examined higher education meso-level institutional practices and how non-higher education actors support access and participation of refugee students.  

 

Setting: This research was conducted with (1) refugee students in three private universities and one public university representing several regions in Uganda, (2) administrative staff from these same universities and (3) staff from non-higher education support organisations that help navigate universities for refugee students.  

 

Methods: Data were generated through desk research identifying policy language, a survey and 25 semi-structured interviews with students and staff at universities and staff at support organisations.  

 

Results: Institutional policy homogeneously frames refugee students as international students, which in turn has a cascading impact on the lifeworlds of these students. The first theme includes university policies and administrative practices which structure the lifeworlds of these students. The second is the role of non-higher education supporting organisations that focus on refugee support and education. The third theme describes how non-academic structures, such as clubs and social networks designed to meet the students’ social welfare, are contingent in structuring the lifeworlds of these students.  

 

Conclusion: These themes interoperate and have a structuring effect on the lifeworlds of these students. The cascading impact of classifying refugee students as international students deserves further scrutiny, particularly in its impact on institutional and individual student patterns of participation.

 

Religious Leaders Reduce Intimate Partner Violence in Uganda [Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, July 2022]

Title:

Religious Leaders Reduce Intimate Partner Violence in Uganda

 

Published:

Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, 25 July 2022

Click here to read

From the article:

"In Uganda, a primarily Christian country in East Africa, 56% of women who’ve been married report being sexually violated by a current partner, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Strong patriarchal beliefs often influence this behavior, but those in positions of power, like religious leaders, can shift traditional gender roles.  

 

A team of psychologists, public health and political scientists, human-centered design experts, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) researchers, including Betsy Levy Paluck of Princeton University, wanted to determine whether religious leaders could reduce intimate partner violence by incorporating more progressive interpretations of Bible teachings on romantic partnerships into their couples counseling."

 

Religion as a Security Threat: Case Studies of Extremist Christian Movements in Africa [Scholarly Article - Journal of Religion in Africa, 2022]

Title:

Religion as a Security Threat: Case Studies of Extremist Christian Movements in Africa

 

Author:

Hamdy A Hassan

Department of International Studies, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

Published:

Journal of Religion in Africa, 24 March 2022

https://brill.com/view/journals/jra/51/3-4/article-p426_9.xml

 

Abstract:

Religious extremism presents an ideological perspective found in most major religions and is currently associated with various forms of religiously motivated acts of violence. A conceptual framework is adopted to study the warning features of religious extremism and apply it to case studies of Nigeria, Uganda, and the Central African Republic (CAR). The application of a religious jihadism model to Christianity provides a comparative basis for assessing Islamic radical jihadism, helping to understand religion as a security threat, with particular reference to Christian contexts and examples. Using extremist rhetoric and the mobilization of Christian rituals, members of religious groups attempt to renegotiate their position in the public space within a society from which they are excluded due to political, social, and economic dynamics based on their exclusion. This study finds no significant difference between Islamic jihad and Christian jihad, as each seeks to politically exploit religion for political ends.

 

Neoliberalism and the state in the African city: informality, accumulation and the rebirth of a Ugandan market [Scholarly Article - Critical African Studies, December 2021]

Title:

Neoliberalism and the state in the African city: informality, accumulation and the rebirth of a Ugandan market

 

Author:

Graeme Young

University of Glascow, United Kingdom

 

Published:

Critical African Studies, 1 December 2021

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681392.2021.1999834

 

Abstract:

Rapid urbanization and the transformations that it brings are raising urgent questions about understanding the African city. This article stresses the value of viewing urban development through a critical lens that focuses on questions surrounding neoliberalism and the state, highlighting how such an approach can provide important insights into the dynamics of informal economic activity. Examining the recent history of Kisekka Market in Kampala, Uganda, it argues that development processes in the informal economy, even when apparently neutral or ostensibly empowering for the urban poor, facilitate forms of accumulation and dispossession that result in the consolidation of political and economic power. The destruction and rebirth of Kisekka Market, despite its changing politics, has consistently benefitted wealthier vendors and external investors, threatened to displace poorer traders and served the interests of President Museveni, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and their allies. Exploring these dynamics demands addressing traditional political economy questions that must serve as the foundation for analysing the institutions, structures and processes shaping contemporary African cities.

Makerere University, Uganda - Mak to Lead New Project to Support Smallholder Women Farmers in Uganda

Title:

Makerere University, Uganda - Mak to Lead New Project to Support Smallholder Women Farmers in Uganda 

 

Author: 

Mark Wamai 

 

Published: 

Makerere University, 7 September 2021 

https://news.mak.ac.ug/2021/09/mak-to-lead-new-project-to-support-smallholder-women-farmers-in-uganda/ 

 

From the article:

The United States, through the Feed the Future Advancing Local Leadership, Innovation and Networks (ALL-IN) program, has launched a new research project that will build evidence on what works to strengthen the empowerment and resilience of smallholder women farmers in Uganda.  

 

The three-year, $450,000 project, led by Makerere University, will test ways to transform and improve smallholder women farmer’s resilience to agricultural shocks and enhance their economic empowerment. The project will focus on stress-tolerant seeds and fertilizer, training on climate-smart agriculture, business skills, and low-cost crop insurance.

 

UGANDA - What Uganda has got wrong – and right – in its struggle to contain COVID-19 (by Gloria Seruwagi) [The Conversation, July 2021]

Title:

What Uganda has got wrong – and right – in its struggle to contain COVID-19  

 

Author:

Gloria Seruwagi 

Lecturer & Researcher, Makerere University 

Published:

The Conversation, 6 July 2021

https://theconversation.com/what-uganda-has-got-wrong-and-right-in-its-struggle-to-contain-covid-19-163826

From the article:

Last month, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni tightened restrictions in the country following a worrying rise in COVID-19 infections and deaths. The new stringent measures included a 42-day lockdown and restrictions on the movement of people. Public health specialist Gloria Seruwagi reveals some of the critical success factors and issues that the government is missing in its response strategy.

eNCA video (21 September 2020) - Makarere University historic building destroyed

Title of video:

Makarere University historic building destroyed

Discussion by:

eNCA correspondent Isabel Nakirya and Historian Pitika Ntula join us to discuss the legacy of this institution

Published:

eNCA, 21 September 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4misP90MLek

Duration of video:

15:38

Description:

One of the most iconic structures in Uganda has been destroyed by a blaze.  Makerere University, one of Africa's oldest and most prestigious  learning  instititions - will never be the same. 

Scholarly Article (March 2020) - Opposing Observations and the Political-Economy of Malaria Vulnerability: A Community-Based Study in Bududa, Uganda

Title:
Opposing Observations and the Political-Economy of Malaria Vulnerability: A Community-Based Study in Bududa, Uganda

Author:
Kelly F. Austin

Published:
Journal of World-Systems Research, 2 March 2020
DOI: https://d0i.org/10.5195/jwsr.2020.967

Abstract:
Malaria is a parasitic infection that remains a leading threat to health and development in many communities, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Bududa, Uganda, malaria represents a key threat to health and well-being. However, whether or not malaria rates are improving in the district over time represents a conundrum. By using principles of structural fieldwork and drawing on multiple data sources that include the more- and less- powerful, opposing observations emerge, where community members perceive marked increases in malaria rates over time, while official district-level data depict the opposite. World-systems analysis illuminates the reasons behind this discrepancy, along with the factors that community members use to explain the rise in malaria suffering, including environmental changes and decreased healthcare access. Overall, this research demonstrates how global economic policies and structures create unequal health impacts, placing those in Bududa at disproportionate and elevated vulnerability to malaria.

UGANDA - Online learning in universities – A missed opportunity?

Title:
Online learning in universities – A missed opportunity?

Author:
Florence Mayega Nakayiwa

Published:
University World News, 16 April 2020

From the article:
"When Uganda announced a partial lockdown and the closing of schools and learning institutions due to COVID-19, avid promoters of information and communications technology (ICT), virtual and online-based learning saw it as a golden opportunity that would change the practice of online learning in higher education."

To read this article:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200413083638806

Short Article - Greenhouse technology to help you farm stress-free

Title:
Greenhouse technology to help you farm stress-free

Author:
Ashita Chopra

Published:
Daily Monitor, 11 April 2020

From the article:
"Derrick Mugerwa (24) and Muhammad Adam (35) developed an electronically monitored greenhouse that will perform automatic irrigation for the crops by checking the moisture levels of the soil using technology."

These two men are Information Technology (IT) graduates from the Islamic University.

To read this article:
https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Farming/Greenhouse-technology-to-help-you-farm-stress-free/689860-5521110-7vh0y7/index.html