Makerere university students in a recent strike over the new tuition policy. (Courtesy Daily Monitor)
By Herbert Zziwa
The government should honour its pledge of Shs. 300 billion to public universities to help end strikes.
The government is expected to remit this fund in the coming financial year in form of staff wages as one way of reducing the university expenditure on salaries.
The General Secretary Makerere University Academic Staff Association Louis Kakinda says universities are forced to hike tuition because they are underfunded.
“We think that once this money comes through, we’ll see a drastic reduction of these rampant strikes. If you are number four in Africa and climbing up, we should maintain both the quality on paper and in conduct,” he says.
Kakinda says the quality of education in public universities is likely to be compromised if the causes of student’s strikes are not addressed.
He has urged the ministry of finance to make sure that the president’s pledge is actually honoured in the coming budget.
