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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University has resolved to extend the suspension of the 15 percent annual tuition increment for privately sponsored students.
The 15 percent policy provides that the university will increase tuition by 15 percent every academic year for the next five years.
The policy took effect with the students enrolled for the 2019/2020 academic year triggering chaos in the university with the students, saying it will deny children from poor families from accessing education.
In 2021, the then Guild President Ivan Ssempijja asked the university management to halt the increment policy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic constraints.
The student leaders also demanded a waiver on functional fees, which are part of tuition. They argue that online studies did not give students a chance to fully utilize items paid for like sports, halls of residence, and library among others.
Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, the University Vice-Chancellor, said then that the council had heeded the request of the students and the increment was suspended for the next two years.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academics affairs, Professor Umar Kakumba, says that the University management has agreed to stay the suspension of the increment.
He says that the fee structure will remain consistent with that of the 2019 intake.
In 2018, student leaders led by Papa Were recommended the 15% cumulative increment to replace the University Council’s proposed 41 percent and 91 percent which Vice-Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe suspended.
The university council later approved the 15 percent cumulative tuition increment three weeks into the 2018/2019 academic year, with the move affecting new students who joined the institution in August 2018.
Although the 15% increment recommendation looked more favorable than the previous 41-91%, it sparked several demonstrations in the University which saw several students arrested and others suspended.
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