Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister for ICT has castigated Makerere university students over the open for all protests against the institution’s blended system of learning.
While speaking at the National Broadband Baseline survey and infrastructure Blueprint Validation workshop in Kampala, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi said he was dismayed by the Makerere protest against online learning.
According to Baryomunsi, the world has fastened technological enhancement and Makerere students shouldn’t be the ones to oppose virtual learning.
“I was embarrassed the other day when I read in the media that Makerere university students are striking because the university is insisting on championing online learning and students are saying no to it. It speaks volumes about the transformation, digitisation agenda because where we are going is digital.” Dr. Baryomunsi said.
Makerere University students, led by their Guild President Shamin Nambassa, rose up to protest against the institution’s blended learning on 7th February an act that Dr. Baryomunsi regards as shameful and embarrassing. In their pursuit, the students demanded that the university opens for all students to study physically but all in vain. Besides, Makerere’s guild president argued that if the university can’t open physically for all, it should at least cut the functional fees which she claims are not functional.
According to the academic calendar from the office of the academic registrar, Makerere students are to continue studying through a blended system throughout the 2021/2022 academic year. As per the schedule, freshers will be prioritized as far as physical learning is concerned and others will join in after a month.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, most institutions resorted to online learning and even after the full reopening of the economy, most are willing to maintain this cut-edged learning methodology.
