The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has challenged the University of Kisubi (UniK) to focus on what he termed ‘anchor courses’ as its niche to stand out among the budding universities.

According to Tayebwa, science courses are the anchors necessary for societal transformation, when compared to arts courses and the emerging trends which propel it to be well aligned with government’s agenda to boost science and technology.

“I urge you to look for courses aimed at national development, while others are running for numbers, run for quality. This is something you can determine; that the moment we go for this course, we will be contributing much, not to employable graduates but to people who are going to transform society,” Tayebwa said.

He added, “if you produce a doctor or an engineer, chances are high you will get better results than from the student of development studies. You need to seek the quality of graduates you are sending to the field; not how much money you have made out of them”.

Tayebwa made these remarks while officiating at the 8th graduation ceremony of the University of Kisubi on Friday, 23 February 2024 at the campus long Entebbe Road.

The Deputy Speaker commended Kisubi for attaining a chartered status, which is the highest recognition offered to a private university by the Head of State.

A charter is a sovereign right to exercise the responsibility of running a university and is evidence that the university meets requirements of academic excellence set by the National Council of Higher Education.

The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Deogratias Mugema, asked Tayebwa to push government to meet its obligations on arrears accrued from the government sponsorship scheme.

“We are grateful to the President for this offer for enabling Ugandans access education. Whereas the university met its obligations, it has yet to receive all the money from government and the delayed payment of arrears heavily affects the operations of the university,” said Mugema.