Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) has today, June 28, started the second semester of the academic year 2020/2021 with studies taking place online until further guidance on the resumption of schools is issued by government.
The development comes three weeks after the President of Uganda ordered for the closure of all schools and institutions of learning amidst a resurgence of Covid-19 infections in the country.
At the time of closure, MUST was in the second week of End of Semester Examinations, an occurrence which a section of students say, had a very big setback on their academics most especially finishing up their courses in the stipulated time frame.
Few days after the closure, the University’s Academic Registrar – Dr. Martha Kyoshaba Twinamatsiko, through a memo, wrote to the students noting that the following semester would kick off today, a move which would see the students enter a new semester before they finished final exams from the previous semester of the same academic year.
In the same memo, Dr. Kyoshaba also noted that the remaining end of semester exams from the previous semester would be completed once schools and institutions of learning are given a go ahead to re-open.
Campus Bee made an effort to talk to some of the students from the institution to share their takings on the move and how prepared they are to dive into a new semester online.
“I’m a bit worried how this process is going to go because I’m financially constrained during this lockdown. It’ll be tough for me to afford data that will take me through 5 days per week if the semester continues online longer” Naboth Tumushema, a second year student said.
Another student we contacted expressed frustration with the quality of internet network in his home area, where he went to, when schools closed.
“The online learning move is okay with me, however, the biggest challenge I have is the network signal in my area. I’ve tried participating in Zoom meetings before but they’re not good enough on the kind of network is use. So it’s going to be troublesome for me to attend each and every class soomthly and my prayer is that I don’t miss out on the lectures” the student who preferred anonymity, said
Several other universities have announced their re-opening dates such as Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Kampala International University (KIU) among others.
[zombify_post]
