By Victor Turinawe
The Executive Director of the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICD), Professor James Njiru, has called for strengthening partnerships between universities and communities in order to translate academic research into practical solutions that can improve livelihoods across East Africa.
Professor Njiru made the remarks yesterday during his keynote speech while addressing a congregation of vice chancellors of all the 62 public and private universities in Uganda during a one day engagement. The meeting took place at Uganda Christian University premises in Mukono Municipality.
“When our leaders established AICD, they realised there was a gap between universities and the communities that should benefit from the research and innovations produced by these institutions,” Njiru said, adding that it will properly align with the government proposal of introducing competence based curricula in higher institutions of learning.
According to the Chairman of UVCF Professor Paul Waako, who is also the Vice Chancellor of Busitema University, the competence-based curriculum has significant advantages, particularly in preparing graduates for the job market.
“Competence-based education is expected to produce graduates who are ready for work and can immediately apply their skills in their respective disciplines with minimal additional training,” he noted.
The Vice Chancellor of UCU Professor Aaron Mushengyenzi explained that as leaders, their focus is on the competence-based education and training model introduced by the government at the secondary school level.
“Preparations include reviewing and aligning university curricula to match the principles of competence-based education, retraining lecturers on how to handle learners trained under the new system, and rethinking teaching spaces such as lecture rooms and laboratories to support practical learning because the competence-based curriculum will benefit learners by equipping them with hands-on skills and competencies that will improve their career prospects in the future,” he said.
