Alfred Masikye Namoah has raised his concerns following the irregular circumstances under which several students received free marks after failing some examinations.
In a letter dated 8th October to the 1st Deputy Vice Chancellor Dr. Okello Ogwang, the Academic Registrar notes that there was generally poor performance of students in course EHR 3102 Critical Thinking, a course unit under Bachelor of Ethics and Human Rights for semester one in the 2017/18 academic year.
Masikye further explained that only 159 out of the 325 students offering the course passed the paper and 155 failed while some missed the paper over undisclosed reasons. Masikye added that 206 students were added 10 marks each, 44 added between 6-9marks, 30 added between 1-5 marks, 18 students added between 11 and 15 marks while four students didn’t receive any additional marks.
More details in Masikye’s letter show that the highest increment of marks was 28 awarded to a student with registration number 14/U/7602/PS while another student Registration Number 15/U/21417 had his/her marks reduced by six.
Masikye asserted that circumstances under which the marks increment was done are unclear and wants the university to investigate the matter.
“The minutes of the Department of Philosophy where the students’ marks were considered were not availed. Based on this, it can be concluded that there was no systematic increment in the marks to students. The marks were allegedly arbitrarily awarded by the former Head of Department.” Says Masikye.
It should be noted that Makerere University fired four staff members for forging marks and smuggling unqualified students onto the 2017 graduation list. The fired staff include; Dr. Isaac Okullo, the Deputy Principal of the College of Health Sciences, Dr. Rose Chalo Nabirye-the Dean of the School of Health Sciences, Fatuma Nakatudde-the Deputy College Registrar and Paul Apunyo, a senior Administrative Assistant among others.
