The Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni, who on Friday paid a surprise visit to halls of residence at Makerere and Kyambogo Universities was shocked by the rotting structures.
Kataaha visited the halls of residence in what has been termed at “impromptu on-spot inspection” aimed at assessing the current status of accommodation for students in higher institutions.
The Minister suggested that there should be routine maintenance of all public facilities in learning institutions instead of waiting for things to get spoilt first.
The First lady’s visit was also a move aimed at inspecting the halls whether they can accommodate students well in this COVID-19 period ahead of planned reopening. She was escorted by a team from the Ministry of Education including the Minister for Higher Education JC Muyingo, Mrs Rosemary Seninde (Minister for Primary Education), among others.
The team visited Kyambogo’s North Hall and Pearl Hall as well as Makerere’s Mary Stuart, Lumumba and Africa Halls. They checked out rooms, wash rooms , laundry rooms, dinning rooms and the kitchens.
While inspecting the halls, Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe disclosed that Makerere University halls of residence have the capacity of accommodating about 4,700 students out of the total enrollment of 31,227 students.
In his briefing, Kyambogo University Vice Chancellor Prof Eli Katunguka revealed that the institution has over 30,000 students but most of them reside in private hostels, outside the university premises.
Nawangwe further suggested that Makerere should be allowed to reopen under maximum observance of COVID-19 SOPs, shortly after bragging about their success in the recently concluded end of semester exams that registered no COVID-related case.
