History of Makerere University 1922-2012

Makerere university started with 14 day students

Today 3rd Aug 2013, Makerere university will officially be crowned in a Grand Finale Celebration to mark 90 years of existence.

The Campus Times brings you the annotated history of Makerere university from 1922-2012.

Established in 1922 as a humble technical school, Makerere University is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in Africa.

In January of that year, the school, which was later renamed Uganda Technical College, started with 14 day students studying Carpentry, Building and Mechanics.

On 1st August 1922, the Uganda Government established Makerere College.

The College immediately shed the trade course previously offered and soon began offering various other courses in Medical Care, Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences and Teacher Training.

By 1925 there were seventy-six students enrolled in Makerere to receive vocational training. Makerere expanded over the years to become a Center for Higher Education in East Africa in 1935.

This was as a result of a proposition of the then British Governor, Philip Mitchell (1935-1940). In 1937, the College started developing into an institution of higher education, offering post-school certificate courses.

In 1949, it became a University College affiliated to the University College of London, offering courses leading to the general degrees of its then mother institution.

The first African Writers’ Conference as hosted by Makerere University in 1962; soon after Uganda gained independence from Great Britain, brought together great African writers like Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka and spread the Institution’s reputation, making it the largest and most distinguished university in sub-Saharan Africa.
With the establishment of the University of East Africa in June 29, 1963, the special relationship with the University College of London came to a close and degrees of the University of East Africa were instituted.

On July 1, 1970, Makerere became an independent national university of the Republic of Uganda, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses leading to its own awards.

Today, Makerere University offers not only day but also evening and external study programmes to a student body of over 35,000 undergraduates and 3,000 postgraduates (both Ugandan and foreign). It is also a very active centre for research and innovation.

The University transitioned from the Faculty-based to the collegiate system on 1st July 2011 and as of Friday 30th December 2011, Makerere University officially transformed into a Collegiate University with 9 Constituent Colleges and one School, operating as semi-autonomous units of the University.