Makerere University has suspended its master’s programme in journalism and communication due to ‘inadequate competent staff.’
Journalism is the second post-graduate programme to be suspended in a space of one year. Over 100 students had applied for the course, following newspaper and online adverts which the university ran in February.
The university had earlier in September 2010 suspended its doctor of philosophy degree (PhD) programme in education management and administration also due to inadequate proficient teaching staff.
The proposal to suspend the master’s in journalism programme was mooted by the administrative staff at the mass communication department after some of their senior academics resigned early this year. Master’s and PhD courses are taught by professors and senior lecturers who have PhDs.
Those who resigned include Dr. George Lugalambi, who was the head of the department. He had succeeded Dr. Peter Mwesige, who resigned in 2008 to take up a senior position in a Kenyan media company, before setting up his African Centre for Media Excellence the following year. Lugalambi reportedly got a lucrative job with the Revenue Watch Institute and was posted to its Ghana office. Other staff allegedly went on sabbatical.
However, Prof. Godfrey Kirumira, the deputy principal of the college of humanities and social sciences, said the suspension would only affect students who had applied to join the course.
“The department suggested that we do not admit first-year students. The programme will run with the continuing (second-year) students who will be doing their research,” Kirumira said.
The 2011/2012 academic year starts next week on Saturday. But Kirumira explained that this year’s journalism applicants will wait for the 2012/2013 intake, where they will not need to reapply.
The university senate, which is the institution’s topmost academic decision-making organ, meets next week to formalise the suspension of the course.
However, some of the students who had applied have not been amused by the development.
“Makerere ought to get serious. If they knew there were not enough lecturers, why did they advertise the course?” a student asked.
Story by Francis Kagolo, The New Vision
Makerere Suspension of Master of Journalism a Step to the Rear
ReplyDeleteBy James Thembo,
October 19, 2011
The Closure of the Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication programme at Makerere University this academic year (2011/2012) is a stunning example of the challenges facing Journalism training and education in Uganda and East Africa as a whole.
For the profession and craft that Journalism is and the role it plays in society, me thinks Makerere University should have put staid endeavors in ensuring continuity of a course that started at the University at undergraduate level in 1988.
Suspension of the programme having been due to the departure of two professors (one of them on Sabbatical leave) and another senior lecturer, is highlight enough of the nature of exodus of highly qualified journalism instructors (call it local brain drain) to the private sector where pay is better.
Some of the commonest destinations for departing graduate practitioners and lecturers are the areas of Public Relations and private consultancies.
Most PR and Information Officers and Consultants have increasingly become essential mediators in virtually all government departments and private organisations.
What will be the impact of suspension of the programme, you might ask. Well, Makerere University is (has been) the only institution where the Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication programme (exists) existed.
First, the academic dreams of over 100 students who, according to the University Administrators, had applied for the programme this year will be smashed until the course re-opens.
It also is a step backward instead of a move toward to starting a PhD programme in this area. In the mean time, it could lead to an even bigger shortage of lecturers at the department, including at the Undergraduate level.
Suspension of the programme will similarly affect prospects of media research development since at the M.A level, student research works, part of the requirements for this degree’s award, are scholarly.
For solutions, Makerere University should end senior staff shortage by hiring expatriate staff, pay existing staff well, adopt on-line teaching and use of satellite instruction links and up-date equipment at the various colleges to enable technologically-linked training.
Equally, relevant Associations like the African Journalism Educators (CAJE) and the African Media Educators (FAME) should rise to the occasion and think-out long-lasting solutions.
thembojms@yahoo.com
By now the government should know that people in academia do not feed on oxygen. They need money to pay bills and put food on the table.
ReplyDeleteOn the other it is embarrassing that a department that has been in existence for more than twenty years is still struggling to get enough competent staff to run its programs. You cannot run a university department on volunteer staff like Radio Maria. Some young graduates of the department over time should have been retained and mentored into a career in academia.
Fred Jenga