Kyambogo University will this week graduate a record 23 doctoral candidates, the highest in its history, even as its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eli Katunguka, says chronic under-staffing, limited supervision capacity and the high cost of postgraduate training continue to slow PhD completion.
The graduations, set for December 10–11, cap years of effort by candidates who have worked through what Prof. Katunguka describes as “systemic rather than academic” hurdles. He says the university had expected a larger number, but several candidates failed to submit their work on time.
Speaking ahead of the ceremony, he pointed to a pattern seen across the continent.
“In Africa, students take about six or seven years to finish their PhDs, whereas in other countries a PhD takes three or three and a half years,” he said.
According to Prof. Katunguka, the pressure begins with cost. Most doctoral students are self-sponsored, and many struggle to keep up with tuition payments. Science-based programmes may cost about Shs 9 million a year, while humanities programmes average Shs 5 million.
“Those who pay for themselves sometimes find it difficult to keep pace with the payments of the university, and that causes them to lag behind,” he said.
The other bottleneck is supervision. Kyambogo is operating at 37 percent staffing, far below what is required to support doctoral training. With the national pool of professors already small—and highly concentrated at Makerere University—there are few senior academics available to supervise PhD candidates across the public sector.
“For a university to supervise PhDs, you must have people at the higher level. The capacity to supervise is still limiting in many of our universities,” Prof. Katunguka said.
Kyambogo is asking government to raise its staffing level to at least 50 percent to improve supervision and reduce delays.
To address shortages, the university is investing heavily in staff development. It is currently sponsoring about 80 academic staff members in postgraduate training, which the Vice Chancellor describes as the most ambitious programme of its kind among public universities.
But developing senior academics is slow work.
“Professors are trained over a long period of time. They do not just appear,” he said.
He appealed for increased government support for both postgraduate students and the training and retention of senior academics, arguing that without sustained investment, PhD timelines will remain long.
Despite the constraints, this year’s graduation marks a significant step forward. Of the 23 PhD graduands, 12 are from the School of Education, four from the School of Art and Industrial Design, three from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and four from the Faculty of Science.
Prof. Katunguka credits the progress to deliberate reforms that shifted the university’s focus from diplomas and certificates toward advanced degrees.
“When I came to this university, it was offering many diplomas and certificates. I emphasized that we must shift to teaching masters and PhDs,” he said.
He noted that the number of PhD graduates would have been higher if several candidates had completed their dissertation corrections on time.
Across the two-day event, 5,138 students will graduate—3,157 male and 1,991 female. He described the overall class as “relatively small,” saying it reflects a mop-up of students affected by COVID-19 disruptions and delays in UACE results.
Day one will feature 2,463 graduands, while day two will have 2,675.
For Kyambogo, the record PhD turnout is both a celebration and a reminder of the distance still ahead. The university hopes that with better staffing, more supervisors and stronger funding, future doctoral candidates won’t have to wait as long to cross the stage.
