By Philip Wafula
The YMCA College of Business Studies in Jinja City will start offering degree courses, authorities
have said. Ms Roselyne Birungi Ssebaleke, the national executive director of Uganda YMCA, who also serves as the governing council chairperson, said the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) recently recommend- ed this degree-awarding institute for chartering and they are in the final stages.
“We will soon start offering degree programmes here (in Jinja) when the process is complete,” Ms Ssebaleke said last Friday during the institution’s 20th graduation ceremony.
Currently, the college only awards certificates and diplomas. Once cleared to offer degrees by the NCHE, it will join the YMCA Comprehensive Institute (YCI), which includes the main campus in Wandegeya and Bwambo Campus in Wakiso District. Ms Ssebaleke noted that there has been a rapid increase in the demand for their services, particularly regarding the niche of vocational and technical training, and subsequently,some of their branches and institutes have largely expanded their facilities to accommodate the increased number of students.
She, however, noted that Technical and Vocational Education and Training is very expensive in terms of equipment, which makes the fees charged high and leads to high dropout rates.
“We request that the government subsidises the training equipment and materials for skills training. There have been attempts to lobby for training equipment from partners. However, the taxes charged to deliver the equipment to Uganda are also very high. We, therefore, request that the government gives consideration on taxes charged on training equipment,”Ms Ssebaleke said.
A total of 486 students graduated. Of these,351 received certificates and 135 were awarded diplomas, com- prising 72 males and 414 females. However, the number was significantly less than 744 who graduated in 2021.
