All is not well for Makerere University’s entrants for the 2017/2018 Academic Year. Campus Bee is reliably informed that the University has abolished the UGX 380,000/= refund that it has been remitting to students during the past years for their internship practice.
One of the clauses in a provisional admission letter seen by this website indicates that: “…the University will no longer reimburse the students [with internship fee] as has been the case.” However, the University has also scrapped the requirement for students to contribute internship fees beyond UGX 200,000/= which has been at all times used to cover administrative expenses involved in supervised students at their internship placements.
Internship fees have been a major cause of standoffs between the Makerere administration and its student population. Delays by the University administration to post internship allowances on students’ bank accounts before the internship period kicks off have seen some students accusing university officials of investing the money in businesses such as gambling and stocks in order to make profit off it before releasing it back to the students.
In 1989, Makerere students convened a paralyzing strike against Government’s decision to scrap living allowances, commonly known as “boom”, that it was hitherto giving to the students. The students boycotted all lectures and when various ultimatums issued to them by Government went unheeded to, the University was closed indefinitely.
It remains to be seen how scrapping of internship fees will affect the perennially testy relationship between Makerere and its students.
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