Makerere university to double fees for private students – New report

Makerere university students will face another hardship if the the new Government report named Omaswa report is implemented.

The new report recommends that the university tuition fees for private students at Makerere university be doubled for effective running of the university.

The report recommends that Makerere university private students pay an additional sh2.29m on top of what they have been paying.

Private students have been paying tuition fees of about 2.69m shillings annually while government sponsored students pay an average of 7.8m shillings annually.

However, if the new proposed tuition fees increment is implemented according to the report, each privately sponsored student will be required to pay about sh4.98m shillings annually.

The new report follows a task force that was set up and agreed upon between the Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi and Makerere university council and management after the lecturers’ strike in 2011 over salary increment.

The task force was headed by Prof. Francis Omaswa. They visited all public universities in Uganda and other universities abroad.

Though the proposed tuition fees increment is about Makerere university, it’s most likely to affect all the other public universities like Kyambogo, Mbarara, Busitema and Gulu  in case it’s implemented.

In case the recommendation in the report is considered, this will be the third time for public universities to increase their tuition fees.

Public universities last  increased their tuition fees in 2009.