Ugandan Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi has challenged the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) to ensure that the quality of education and increased access to universities is well-balanced, local media reported on Monday.

Nsibambi, also the chancellor of Makerere University, was quoted as saying over the weekend that higher education without quality would not be useful, referring to the dilemma of most institutions: a mismatch between enrollment and education facilities.

"As university leaders, we have to work together to give our people quality, relevant and appropriate higher education," he said at the inaugural meeting of the Chancellors' Forum.

The first forum at Entebbe, 40 km south of Kampala, elected Nsibambi as forum chairman, taking over from David Some, the vice- chancellor of Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The forum was attended by chancellors and vice-chancellors of over 20 universities in East Africa.

East Africa has 56 universities with about 100,000 students, Nsibambi said, adding that surveys by the Uganda National Council of Higher Education indicated that the quality of higher education was declining.

He said most institutions had outdated curricular based on memorization and not on problem-solving, which was oriented towards civil service employment.

Nsibambi expressed concern over poverty in Uganda, saying on average, a student could only afford 30 percent of the cost of education.

The unbalance did not only occur in higher education sector, but also in secondary schools. In a move, the education ministry is to recruit 9,600 teachers to cater for the deficit in secondary schools,.

"We have a shortfall of 9,600 teachers. Recruitment is expected to begin next financial year," said Yusuf Nsubuga, the ministry's commissioner for secondary education.

Nsubuga said the plan also included the private schools other than the government-aided 850 schools to solve the insufficient teaching staff.

Source: Xinhua