Story By Trevor Wabwire, & Photos by Andrew Bugembe
Uganda Christian University (UCU) has retained the National Council for Higher Education Exhibition award for the fourth consecutive time. This comes after a three-day exhibition contest at the UMA show grounds, which attracted over 80 exhibitors.
UCU emerged as the overall best among both public and private universities. The first runner-up was Uganda Martyrs University, followed by ISBAT University.
The first-place win is the fourth straight one for UCU, having emerged as the best exhibitor at the 2018 and 2019 fairs. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no exhibition in 2020. UCU won the 2021 virtual NCHE exhibition. The resumption of the physical exhibition by the NCHE didn’t stop UCU from taking the best exhibitor at the 2022 exhibition.
In the September fair, institutions of higher learning exhibited their “Enhancement of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment with ODEL in Higher Education” that reflected the integration of programs taught and their capacity to admit and facilitate learning for students.
They also displayed technological innovations to facilitate teaching, learning and assessment because it is the way to go.
The former vice-chancellor of Makerere University and the leader of the panel of judges, Prof. Goerge Barnabus Kirya, commended the institutions of higher learning for participating in this year’s exhibition.
“You have displayed a high standard and it was difficult to tell the winner. To me, all of you have won,” said Kirya.
The inspection of the stalls was both physical and online in respect of the theme. The judges considered how the stalls exhibited aligned with the theme of the exhibition.
“We looked at the alignment of your stall with reference to the theme of the exhibition. We specifically highlighted the evidence of the existence of e-learning platforms in your various stalls and institutions, the usage of the e-learning platform, level of innovation and subject of display from the stalls, specifically looking at the level of effort and thought,” said Kirya.
He added that they also considered the level of funding because the exhibition required money for a successful exhibitor. He continued to state that they considered the level of participation, especially representation of students and administrators in stalls.
The panel inspected the level of instructiveness and number of stalls for the virtual exhibition. The number of visits to a virtual stall was highly regarded by the judges. Knowledge of the theme was a major aspect of this year’s exhibition.
Christa K. Oluka, UCU’s Director of Admissions and Student Records, Christa K. Oluka, said the win was a vote of confidence by their regulator in the university’s level of innovation.
“It is special whenever your regulator recognises something good about the institution,” Oluka said, adding: “This motivates us to keep working harder and finding new and better ways of doing things.”
She appreciated the team from UCU that she exhbted for three days at the Lugogo UMA show ground. All gratitude was given to God for the good He has done for UCU as an institution.
Dr. Nora Mulira, the director of ICT, research and innovation at the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) and the chairperson of the 13th NCHE exhibition, appreciated the exhibitors for exhibiting during this year’s exhibition.
