During a meeting chaired by the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, students Guild leaders of Uganda Christian University (UCU) and Makerere University asked the Ministry of Education and Sports to provide laptops as opposed to Radios and Televisions to students in higher institutions of learning.
The students’ leaders also called upon the Vice-Chancellors of the two universities to engage with the Education Ministry regarding the same matter. A couple of issues were raised during the meeting among which include; provision of stimulus package to the institutions to support lecturers, suspension of taxes on private institutions and reduction of tuition by institutions of higher learning.
Following the discussion, the Vice Chancellors will hold further talks with their respective University Councils about tuition reduction and report back in two weeks.
The meeting resolutions are expected to help students and lecturers who are struggling with financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Both students and lecturers have been home since March when the President ordered the closure of all education institutions in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19. President Museveni later allowed the resumption of lectures for final year students starting October 15th.
Despite the reopening, both lecturers and students are still struggling financially yet studies have to go on smoothly.