By Ayaanle Mohamed Omar

Part 2

Introduction

My aim of writing this article is to encourage the students who are willing to study in Uganda, both either under graduate and postgraduate, and also to give a brief background on the Ugandan leading universities especially the historical background; admission requirements, major faculties, schools, and institutes; students and accommodation among others. I have also given contact address of each university so that you can easily contact any university that you wish either by phone or email.

Kyambogo University

Background

Kyambogo University (KYU) is a public university in Uganda. It was established in 2001 as the third public university in Uganda. It is a merger of Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo (ITEK), and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education (UNISE)

Location

The university is located on Kyambogo Hill, a few kilometers from Kampala, along the Kampala-Jinja highway. It is only 8kms from Kampala City Centre along Kampala-Jinja high way.

Library facilities:
The main library has 120,000 books and 10,100 journals. Former UPK library has 100,000 volumes in engineering and technology while the special needs library has 60,000 books.

Accommodation:
There are five modern halls of residence for Government-sponsored students and a limited number of privately sponsored students. Two of the halls are for female students.

Students’ enrolment :
Male students - 6,969
Female students- 4,443.
There are 4,282 students enrolled for the Distance Education Programmes.

International Students

Kyambogo University admits students for full time or exchange programmes from all over Africa, especially the Great Lakes Region, and has links with some European and American Universities. The students are represented by a Foreign Affairs Minister on the Students’ Guild.

Online application
Print out the online application form (You must have adobe acrobat reader on your machine,if not, download it for free from the website whose address is: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html), fill it and post it to

Fill it and post to:
The Academic Registrar
Kyambogo University
P. O. Box 1
KYAMBOGO
KAMPALA, UGANDA, EAST AFRICA.
E-Mail: arkyu@kyambogo.ac.ug

Academic Departments:
Academic Departments: University has a total of six Faculties divided into 27 department:

• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation
• faculty of Vocational Studies

Address.
P.O BOX 1 Kampala-Uganda
arkyu@kyambogo.ac.ug
www.kyambogo.ac.ug

Kampala International University

Background
Kampala International University (KIU), commenced operation as a private university in October 2001. The university currently runs on a provisional licence. It has many foreign students including those from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan.

Location
KIU is located in Kansanga, a rapidly growing suburb of Kampala. The university is only 3km from Kampala city centre and 2km from the shores of Lake Victoria, the largest fresh water lake in the world.

Legal status
The University currently has a provisional operating licence. It sits on 20 acres of land.

Programmes
the university offers both undergraduate and graduate programmes on full-time as well as part-time basis during the day, evening and weekend. All KIU programmes are conducted on a semester basis except the Access Program, Health Science, in-service education courses and the MBA, which follow separate schedules

Accommodation
Students stay in hostels outside the campus. The owners of these hostels are directly answerable to the university and their accommodation facilities must meet the set university standards. In addition the university has a one main hostel for girls and there are some other hostels that are affillated to KIU.

Medical services: It operates a 24-hour clinic on the campus to cater for minor or emergency health problems of staff and students. There is always a standby ambulance in case of any serious cases, which are referred to Kibuli Hospital.

KIU FM (107.5): The University operates a radio station at the main campus. The station was established in 2004 to offer hands-on-experience to students taking Mass Communication. Facilities to enable broadcasting in Central, Western and Eastern Uganda have been installed.

Current enrollment
it is home to 7,000 regular students and 3000 inservice students with a majority of them coming from Kenya. However there are also students from Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda, Brundi, and Somalia among others.

University Schools , Faculties and Their Offerings

The academic programmes of the University are administered under four Schools and four Faculties, each headed by a Dean/ Director assisted by an Associate Dean/Director. There are several departments within these Schools and Faculties and the duration of the programmes range from a few months for certificate programmes to three of four years for bachelors degrees.

The Schools/Faculties are as follows:

• School of Business and Management
• School of Computer Studies
• School of Postgraduate Studies
• School of Health Sciences (at Western Campus)
• Faculty of Social Sciences
• Faculty of Education
• faculty of Law

Access Programme: This is a pre-college programme to assist students whose native programmes may differ from Uganda’s secondary system. The programme prepares students for regular admission to Kampala International University.

Sports and scholarships: Sporting disciplines at KIU include chess, scrabble, pool table, table tennis, Taekwondo, Karate, Judo, boxing, soccer, basketball, volleyball, netball, handball, squash, lawn tennis, swimming, athletics and field events, hockey and darts.
KIU also awards scholarships to students who excel in sports. Since its inception, the award has boosted sportsmanship at the university.

Admission Requirement
Degree courses
- O’Level certificate, two principal passes and one subsidiary pass at A’Level

Diploma courses
An A’Level Certificate with a principal pass

Address:
Kampala International University.
P.O Box: 20000, Kampala Uganda.
Tel: 256-(0)41-266813.

www.kiu.ac.ug

admin@kiu.ac.ug

Mbarara University of Science and Technology

Background
Mbarara University of Science and Technology, the second public University in Uganda was started in 1989 to cope with the increasing demand for trained and skilled personnel in science and technology.

Location It is situated in southwestern Uganda in Mbarara municipality about 286 kilometers from Kampala along Mbarara-Kabale high way.

Accommodation Facilities
Three halls of residence, one for the females and the others for males.
All rooms are fully furnished with beds, mattresses, a reading table, wardrobes and curtains. Each room has an average of 3 beds.

Faculties

Faculty of Science: Established in 1995 with three departments of Physics, Mathematics and Educational Foundations and Psychology.
In October 1998 two other departments, Biology and Chemistry, were opened in the faculty. In addition the faculty started a one-year Certificate and Two-Year Diploma course in Science Laboratory Technology.

Faculty of Medicine: The faculty of medicine started in 1989 with the aim of training health professionals who are acquainted with different working conditions and health need of the society.

Faculty of Development Studies: The Faculty of Development studies started as a department providing a service course in development studies to medical and science undergraduate students. In January 1998 the faculty was accorded full faculty status. The Faculty also offers a course in Computer Science.

The Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) at Bwindi: The Institute was established in 1989 as a research arm of Uganda Wildlife Authority, (UWA), under the auspices of the university as its home. Bwindi being home to half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas has to over see primate research and excel in monitoring of montaine ecosystems.

Who can apply for a course?

• An applicant should the holder of the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) or its equivalent with passes in at least 6 subjects obtained at the same sitting.
• Have obtained at least 2 advanced level passes of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) or its equivalent taken at the same sitting, secured in the current year or previous two years.
• For the Postgraduate programmes, applicants must have a good honours degree or its equivalent from a recognized University

Contact Address

P.O.Box…1410,
Mbarara,
UGANDA

Tel: +256 485 20785

Email: ar@must.ac.ug

http://www.must.ac.ug/#

Other Universities and their Contacts

Gulu University

For further information, contact:
The Academic Registrar
Gulu University
P.O Box 166
Gulu - Uganda
Tel: +256 (0) 471 32921
argulu_university@yahoo.co.uk

Ndejje University  

Address
Address:
P.O Box 7088, Kampala.
info@ndejjeuniversity.ac.ug.
077-730321

Fair Land University

Address
P.O. Box 2010
Jinja, Uganda
Tel.043122577
Fax;256-43-121322
fairversity@yahoo.com.
fairland_ University.com

Reference

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda

• The New Vision University guide 2006-2007

Ayaanle Mohamed Omar

KIU, Kampala. Uganda

Ayanle97@hotmail.com