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Makerere VC Barnabas Nawangwe says the strategy is to grow the number of graduate students from 3,800 to 7400 in the next five years.
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Professor Barnabas Nawangwe Vice Chancellor Makerere University has urged the government to introduce dedicated scholarships and loan schemes for postgraduate students, particularly at the PhD and Master’s levels, to tackle persistently low completion rates and accelerate the institution’s ambition to become a leading research powerhouse in the region.
Speaking at the the university’s presentation of its strategic plan for the 2025/2026–2029/2030 period, Nawangwe highlighted the critical role of timely PhD graduations in boosting research excellence, innovation capacity, and Makerere’s contributions to national, regional, and global development agendas.
This shift aims to address chronic funding shortfalls that leave many doctoral and masters students, largely self-sponsored, struggling to cover tuition, living expenses, and essential research costs.
The university also seeks to nearly double annual publications in peer-reviewed journals, ramping from approximately 1,365 to 3,000 over the same timeframe, reflecting a broader push toward evidence-based knowledge generation amid East Africa’s evolving higher education landscape.
Recent studies, including those from the Capability Enhancement Project for Innovative Doctoral Education (CEPIDE), have underscored systemic challenges in Uganda’s doctoral ecosystem, where overall completion rates hover below 70 percent in some analyses, with Makerere-specific figures historically lagging due to financial barriers, supervision gaps, and resource constraints.
To support this research-led transformation, the strategic plan envisions sustaining undergraduate enrolment while significantly expanding postgraduate numbers from the current roughly 3,874 to 7,744 students.
This reversal of an earlier proposal to gradually reduce undergraduate intake underscores the university council’s pragmatic approach, balancing access with quality amid growing demand for advanced training in a country where postgraduate education remains limited compared to regional peers.
Prof. Nawangwe emphasized that enhanced number of qualifying postgraduates would not only elevate Makerere’s global standing but also align with national priorities for STEM and innovation-driven growth.
Without such measures, experts warn, ambitious targets risk remaining aspirational in a resource-constrained higher education environment where self-financing dominates advanced studies.
Professor Buyinza Mukadasi, the academic registrar of the university said that the university is prepared to take on students who have undertaken the new competence based curriculum in high school.
For certification and verification, Buyinza said that an organization abroad can be able to verify the authenticity of the academic documents once they have the alumni access credentials which has led to efficiency and fast delivery of services at the university
Working with the University online management system, Buyinza said that soon the alumni will be able to print and share academic documents without coming physically to the university.
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www.independent.co.ug, https://www.independent.co.ug/makerere-vc-advocates-for-govt-scholarships-loans-for-graduate-students/
