A decision was made that all business courses at Uganda Christian University, Main campus should be shifted from September (Advent) Semester to the January Semester.
The decision was presented to the class representatives of the second-year students who would be affected by the decision most and asked to vote. There was a strong opposition. The students of these classes were also asked to vote whether to have their courses shifted to January or not. The majority of the students voted that the changes should not be made.
However, at the end of the May semester in August, the students were presented circulars that directed them to report in January and not September as the case has usually been. The second-year students have not reported this semester.
Business courses have been in the September and May semesters. The change makes it January and May as the semesters during which these courses will be on campus.
The third-year students will not be affected because it is their final year.
The first-year students have been allowed to study only this semester in the September semester but at the end of the semester, they will also be given circulars asking them to return and study for the January and May intake.
“We shall give circulars to the freshers at the end of this semester” says one administrator at the university.
Some of the reasons being advanced for the decision are that the September semester is usually very congested and so there arose the need to decongest and balance the numbers. The January semester on the other hand has usually had few students. The change will see the numbers grow.
This also gives the second-year students a chance to do their internship at a time when other universities are at school, reducing the competition for intership places.
Students who are against the move say they do not want to miss choosing a guild president.
“The university wants to impose a guild president on us” some of the students say. They also add that whoever will be voted will not be their president.
The university holds general elections in November every year. This means that these students will not have the opportunity to decide who their guild president will be. If these students decided to front a candidate for the same position, they would not be enough voters to guarantee a victory for their candidate.
The second-year students are now in the long holiday from September to December. The challenge arises for the first-year students who are on semester now. They will be required back at campus for January, and then the May semester, when they will be entering their second year. The students for this and the next academic year will not have a long holiday and will have a marathon of 3 semesters (September, January and May semesters).
The implication being that parents or those paying tuition will not have breathing space to arrange and find tuition for their students because there will be a short period before these students report to campus again.
“This new setup will stress the university” one student who is yet to graduate in October thinks.
Already, there was such an arrangement for the law students who had a September and a January intake. The January intake was terminated years ago after it costed the university.
