Thursday, 19 April 2012 20:18
8 Comments
We claim to be knowledgeable because we have accessed Western education.But we have failed, or deliberately refused, to use our knowledge to solve our problems. Ultimately, we have allowed mediocrity to flourish. Makerere University is in the process of searching for a substantive vice chancellor, with Professor Venansius Baryamureeba’s tenure having ended. Here is what the university should focus on: Some Makerere University lecturers (certainly not all of them) solicit money from students in exchange for marks, just as some students solicit marks from lecturers in exchange for money.
Some staff in the senate, who enter
students’ marks also solicit money from students in exchange for better
grades, just as some students solicit better grades in exchange for
money. I am at pains to reveal this grim reality, as many people are
aware, but have not had the wherewithal to have this information
published. But like Norbert Mao says, “you cannot treat a cancer with
Vaseline”: we cannot solve problems without tackling their root causes.
I reveal this not because I hate
Makerere University, which is my alma mater, but because I love the
institution dearly and I fell in love with its motto “We build for the
future” when I joined it. The press has reported about cases of sex in
exchange for marks in the same institution before and these reports
cannot just be dismissed.
While appearing on a UBC TV show on
March 6, 2008, I stated that because the job market favours the
mediocre, the philosopher kings, if I can borrow from Plato, were busy
working as coursework mercenaries, running coursework bureaus in
Wandegeya and around Kikoni and Nakulabye, and I was vindicated a few
weeks ago when Sunday Vision ran a comprehensive feature on coursework
mercenaries.
This is happening, not because the
‘academic giants’, as Dr Simba Kayunga used to call them, have no
integrity, but because for them to survive in Kampala where virtually
only the dirty thrive, they have to break some moral rules and trash
their values. Corruption begets corruption and if one cheats in the
exams, or hires mercenaries to do coursework for them, they ‘earn’ a
certificate not a degree. I should add that those who buy marks usually
pose around with Makerere University papers but they do not have
degrees.
A degree is intrinsic. It is not just a
transcript or a certificate. And alas, this problem is not confined to
Makerere University. During our school days, some students in relatively
good schools also used to access UNEB exam papers beforehand, which
they used to call it akasasi in Runyankore-Rukiga parlance.
If a Law student cheats exams to be
admitted to the Law programme, buys marks at LDC and he or she ends up
enrolling as an advocate, what sort of advocate will he/she be? What
will stop such a person from being compromised with bribes? If such a
person is ultimately appointed as a magistrate or judge, what sort of
justice will they dispense since from their formative stages, they will
have been corrupted? Those retained as teaching assistants are selected
basing on their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Now, if one
coughs money to get good grades, what sort of lecturers are we getting
for our children?
If Makerere, which churns out
professionals of all kinds, is promoting mediocrity, why should we be
surprised that we have mediocre lawyers, teachers, physicians, pastors,
and politicians? Why should we be surprised to find journalists who
practise yellow journalism and do public relations instead of sticking
to principles of accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, balance and
attention to detail?
Of course, what happens at Makerere is
replicated in other institutions. If anything, in other universities it
could even be worse. I remember in one of the ACODE breakfast meetings,
economist Bernard Tayebwa stated that Ugandans survive through kuyiiya
(cutting corners). This explains the dubious deals many Ugandans engage
in. It is absurd that today, people with integrity are shunned and
labelled failures while the crooks are glorified. Makerere can only
build for the future by embracing integrity and leading by example.The author is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
