By Jimmy Siyasa

Overview of Research

In a joint research publication by Dr. Mary Kagoire Ochieng and Dr. Faith Mbabazi Musinguzi, alongside three scholars from Busitema University and Health Tutors College Mulago, a significant correlation between the head teacher’s support role and the achievement of quality inclusive education in selected secondary schools was discovered.

The study, titled “Head Teacher’s Support Role on the Quality of Inclusive Education in Secondary Schools in Iganga District,” established that secondary school administrations implementing certain best practices are more likely to realize inclusive education quality. These practices include;

• Continuous professional development workshops
• Staff welfare initiatives
• Support supervision
• Provision of teaching aids, among other constant factors.

These research findings in the U.K-based Advances in Social Sciences and Management, a monthly online publication by the Open-Source Journals under the Public Knowledge Project, shed light on the importance of effective leadership in fostering inclusive education environments.

Publication Abstract

The study investigated the Head Teacher’s support Role in the Quality of Inclusive Education in Secondary Schools in the Iganga District. It examined the head teacher’s mandates in the realization of quality inclusive education in selected secondary schools.

Explicitly, the study determined the influence of the head teacher’s support role on the quality of inclusive education in secondary schools. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey design, drawing on quantitative and qualitative research approaches with a sample size of 83 respondents. Interview guides and questionnaires were used for data collection. SPSS software version 23 was used with a focus on descriptive statistics. The verbatim method was used for qualitative data.

The study revealed that there was a moderate positive or constructive significant correlation between the head teacher’s support role and achievement of quality inclusive education in selected secondary Schools. The study established that putting in place continuous professional development workshops, welfare, giving support supervision and provision of teaching aids, while other factors or issues remain constant, is most likely to better the process of inclusive education quality in secondary school.

Conclusively the study revealed that the Head teacher’s planning, support and motivation cannot work in isolation in the attainment of quality inclusive education. Monetary and non-monetary ways greatly influence the quality of inclusive education. Also, the study recommends head teachers make relevant plans and increase support and motivation to uplift secondary schools’ quality of inclusive education.

For more information and to access the full study, click here.

About the authors

Lastone Balyaino, researcher at Busitema University; Dr. Charles Muweesi, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences and Education, Busitema University; Dr. Kagoire serves as the Dean of the UCU School of Education, Isabirye Christopher from Health Tutors College; and Dr. Faith Mbabazi, Head of the Education department at UCU.

By Irene Best Nyapendi

In the developing world, having a baby will be the riskiest thing a woman will do. Yet in many cases, mothers there deliver without any skilled attendant.

This is what makes organizations such as Save the Mothers (STM) relevant, according to Dr. Edward Mukooza the former Interim Director of STM, who handed over the directorship role to Dr. Mushin Nsubuga at Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Florence Mirembe Hall. 

STM believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to save some of the 342,000 mothers and four million children who die in the developing world annually due to unsafe childbirth.

Dr. Mukooza notes that STM is highly relevant due to the high maternal and child mortality rates in Uganda. As a result, there is a lot of work to be done by Nsubuga, to seek support and mobilize resources.

He explained that saving the mothers requires resources, connections, partnerships, and people.

“I expect that he will strengthen the teaching of the Master of Public Health Leadership (MPHL) program because it is an important component of saving the mothers,” Mukooza said.

The STM Program offers MPHL to working professionals from a wide range of disciplines, not just the health discipline. STM East Africa hosts the MPHL at UCU.

Florence Mirembe, the founder of Save the Mothers at UCU, thanked Mukooza for filling in while they searched for a permanent executive director.

She urged Nsubuga to collaborate with alumni and ensure that the MPHL students are well-assessed and taught.

“We are all ready to support you Nsubuga, create a good alumni network, and attract as many students as possible,” Mirembe said.

UCU Welcomes Dr. Mushin Nsubuga to STM Board

Dr. Miriam Mutabazi, the Dean of the UCU Faculty of Public Health, Nursing & Midwifery, expressed gratitude towards STM for their partnership with UCU and is thrilled to see this partnership continue.

“On behalf of UCU, I welcome you, Dr. Mushin, and we look forward to working with you,” Mutabazi said. “We value the Save the Mothers program because of its BPHL initiative. We are confident that once we introduce the Ph.D. program, our alumni will return to further their studies.”

Mutabazi mentioned that they are currently planning to offer a PhD program and hope that MPHL students will be able to enroll in it.

Dr. Mushin Nsubuga, an Obstetrician and Gynecologist, was given a warm welcome to the board.

Nsubuga expressed gratitude to the founders for creating an opportunity for everyone to participate in saving mothers in their respective sectors.

He mentioned that saving mothers is close to his heart and he is grateful to God for calling him to this important work.

“No mother or baby should die from preventable causes,” Nsubuga said.

He expressed his gratitude to Mukooza, his predecessor, for imparting valuable knowledge and skills. Additionally, he acknowledged Mukooza for the warm welcome and confidently stated his hope for continued mentorship.

 “The first time I interacted with Dr. Mukooza I felt like I was in the hands of a father and he has successfully taken me through orientation.”

Nsubuga looks forward to training game changers, promoting initiatives that make hospitals more baby-mother friendly, ensuring the availability of necessary services, encouraging community involvement, and conducting research.

During the handover, he urged members present to continue supporting maternal health. He also read from Philippians 4:13, which states that we can do all things through God who strengthens us.

STM promotes maternal health in the developing world through education, public awareness, and advocacy. Based in Uganda and North America, Save the Mothers is part of a global movement to improve the health of mothers and babies.

By Patty Huston-Holm
The experience that Julia Christy Ayinza Kizza had a year ago couldn’t have been farther from her comfort zone in terms of ethnicity, religion and outdoor temperature and landscape. In her first airplane ride from Africa, she dove in anyway.

“It’s flat and cold,” Julia recalled of her five-month international study experience at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands in 2023. Talking in January 2024 while getting a hair weave within the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus in Mukono, she added that in comparison, “Uganda has hills” with warm-to-hot days.

Uganda’s year-round, daytime temperatures average in the low 80s Fahrenheit. In the northwestern European country of the Netherlands, winters can be snow covered, and summers average in the low 60s (17 Celsius). The Netherlands, which is sometimes called Holland, is known as one of the most liberal countries in the world with 55% of its citizens declaring to be non-religious. In Uganda, over 80% of the population is Christian. 

Julia, a senior in UCU’s School of Business, was the only African among French, Italian and Spanish students and Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese lecturers for her International Marketing and Management cohort. The other three UCU students there at the same time weren’t in her classes because they are in social work.

Since 2017, UCU has offered four business and social work undergraduates the opportunity to study abroad during each late January to early July term within Hanze undergraduate programs of study. More than 30 students, including Dutch counterparts who have come to UCU and completed fieldwork training in Ugandan agencies, have participated. In the six years since the partnership began, two faculty each from UCU and Hanze, have served annually as guest lecturers at the respective locations. 

Such collaborations are supported by UCU leadership and coordinated by the Research, Partnerships and Innovation directorate.

According to Kasule Kibirige, head of undergraduate studies, School of Social Sciences, and one of the UCU faculty who guest lectured, the teaching and learning have been “immensely valuable for both students and faculty.”

“Academic networks have developed through regular meetings among faculty members during guest lecture exchanges,” he said. “Student world views have been broadened, and participants indicate gaining broader insights about practice within the academic domains. Participants report increased professional growth and enhanced interest in personal exploration.”

Martin Kabanda, acting dean, UCU School of Business, concurred that the experiences “serve to increase student exposure to learning, culture, and life skills and increase their social network.”  Seven business students are part of the Hanze alum with two more going in 2024.

Julia, age 23, is one of the nine from business. For her, the curriculum blend was in international marketing and management, change management and research.  The latter involved a group project related to a simulated company offering advice on color applications.

“I knew very little about the Netherlands except that it would be cold and that people there have a special celebration called King’s Day every April,” she said. The national holiday celebrates King Willem-Alexander’s birthday. 

One of four children to professional parents – a father in IT and mother in journalism – Julia is from Kooki in Rakai District, which is southwest of where she grew up in Kampala. 

“Being here taught me to grow up, to realize that people around the world think differently, and I can’t take offense to that,” she said, recalling one student who believed her life includes lions and mud huts.

Julia overcame homesickness and three bouts of flu without her usual emotional and physical support system that was over 3,800 miles away. She engaged in student work of cleaning rooms for 12 euros ($13) an hour to support her financial needs in a country with an average food cost of $40 a day, compared to Uganda’s roughly $5 a day cost.

“Jobs are more available there,” she said.  “I took advantage of that.”

UCU Julia’s Kind Gesture Articulates Her Faith

Except on snowy days, she rode a bicycle everywhere. She grew to appreciate a simpler life devoid of large ceremonies, “like our big weddings.” She maintained her 4.57 GPA academic standing. While she didn’t spend time talking to students about her faith, it was during one day of the work experience that her Christian character was noticed.

“When a van came around to pick us up, I gave up my seat to another student who looked really tired, and I did it without thinking,” she recalled. “A student asked why I would do that because she never would. I told her I was trying to be nice. Kindness isn’t a strategy but a way of life.”

Additionally, during one exercise when students were asked to prioritize their values and others listed religion last, Julie put it first. 

“It was a bit awkward because I’m used to being surrounded by people that think like me,” Julia said.  “I found more (like-minded thinkers) as I attended a local church. I stayed away from parties that were mostly loud music and alcohol.” 

Regardless of challenges, Julia says she “came back a better person.”  As she graduates from UCU in October and thinks about her next steps – an HR consultant or owner of a beauty school – she sees her international experience as a reminder to avoid complaining and a lesson in flexibility.

To Holland, she offers up the only Dutch word she recalls: “Dank je wel.”  Translated to English, that’s “thank you.”

By Kefa Senoga
It is not uncommon for people to post on the Internet, informing their followers on social media about an impending trip, and where they will be going. However, such actions, according to an online safety expert, could jeopardize one’s security.

Baker Birikujja, the Manager for Compliance and Investigations at the Ugandan Government’s Personal Data Protection Office (PDPO), said when people use social media to share their locations and upload photos of their travels on a regular basis, it makes it easy for people with bad intentions to harm them.

Making a case for data privacy and security at Uganda Christian University (UCU), Birikujja urged the students to pay more attention about the kind of information they share on the internet and with whom they share what information.

“Only share information with people you trust, anything you upload on the internet can be stored and used against you,” Birikujja told students during an address on January 24. The event was organized by the Computing Sciences and Engineering Students’ Association in the UCU Faculty of Engineering, Design and Technology.  

“You may not have something to hide, but there are people who value your data and they could use it for not-good intentions,” Birikujja counseled.

His call came as part of activities to preach the importance of personal information, as the world marked the International Data Privacy Week, January 21 to 26. The International Data Privacy Day is celebrated every January 28.

Birikujja, a lawyer, also referred to the risk associated with downloading some mobile applications (apps). He said some apps collect sensitive information about the phones on which they have been installed, as well as the digital profiles of the users. 

In a study conducted from 2018 to 2020, Privacy International, a global agency that works to promote the human right to privacy, reported it was discovered that some menstruation-related applications were sharing certain sensitive information with companies such as Facebook, without user knowledge.

“Out of the 36 apps we tested, we found that 61% automatically transfer data to Facebook the moment a user opens the app. This happens whether the user has a Facebook account or not, and whether they are logged into Facebook or not,” Privacy International wrote on their site.  

It added: “We also found that some of those apps routinely send Facebook incredibly detailed and sometimes sensitive personal data. Again, it didn’t matter if people were logged out of Facebook or didn’t have an account.”

However, in a response, Facebook said: “Developers can receive analytics that allow them to understand what the audience of their app enjoys and improve their apps over time. Developers may also use Facebook services to monetise their apps through Facebook Audience Network.” 

UCU Cyber Security Improves Data Privacy

Ddumba Timothy, the interim chairperson of the UCU Cyber Security Chapter, said they intend to organize more awareness campaigns to teach people how to keep their data private. Ddumba said they distributed fliers with information on data privacy, such as teaching readers how to safeguard their passwords, for instance, by changing them frequently. 

In 2019, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni assented to the Data Protection and Privacy Bill, making it law. The Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 protects the privacy of an individual and personal data by regulating the collection and processing of personal information. The Act also provides for the rights of the persons whose data is collected and the obligations of data collectors, data processors and data controllers as well as regulates the use or disclosure of personal information and for related matters.

By Kefa Senoga
When Pamela Tumwebaze joined the three-year-old Uganda Christian University (UCU) in 2000 as an undergraduate student, neither she nor the institution envisioned that it was the start of what would become nearly two decades of a symbiotic relationship.

In the 21 years since Tumwebaze completed her undergraduate course at UCU in 2003, she has worked both for UCU and other organizations beyond the university. The farther she moved away from UCU, however, the harder her heart beat for her to return to her alma mater. 

When she left the country for a teaching job in Rwanda, she was there for just two years. When she went farther to Tanzania for yet another teaching job, it was not for more than one year.

Tumwebaze eventually returned home, but was still hesitant to return to UCU. As such, she got a job in a non-governmental organization, but that was not for long, until she returned to her home, UCU. Today, she is the university’s new Director of Students Affairs (DOSA).

Tumwebaze recalls that in 2003, after attaining her Bachelor of Arts with Education from UCU, she took a job as a tutorial assistant in the Faculty of Education. Thereafter, she pursued a Master of Arts in Literature at UCU. She is currently completing another master’s degree, MA Strategic Communication at UCU.

At the university, she has served in the positions of teaching assistant, administrative assistant, Executive Assistant to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs, Executive Officer to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Finance and Administration and the Head of the Honors College, a role she currently juggles with being DOSA, a position she has held for three months now. 

As DOSA, Tumwebaze says she has to serve all the students in the university, as opposed to the job at Honors College, where it’s just a select few of the university’s top students. The Honors College, whose concept is borrowed from the Dutch and American universities, admits only the institution’s crème de la crème students from the different faculties. 

Applicants must have at least a 4.0 Cumulative Grade-Point Average out of 5.0 to be enrolled to the college that offers talented students the opportunity to tap on their mettle through an extra certificate-program, alongside the regular bachelor’s degree course. 

UCU DOSA: Nurturing Future Leaders with Passion

Tumwebaze says she enjoys working and guiding young people who are still going through formation. “I love to see them become adults, I also love the chaos that comes with being young because I guess it says much about them,” she notes.

“Being DOSA means looking at probably a 20-year-old troublesome young adult. But five or more years from now, that 20-year-old may be a CEO or a big-name journalist; so, what can we do now to make sure that they become that?” Tumwebaze asks. 

As a mother, Tumwebaze views students as children, she understands that each child has weaknesses and uniquenesses and that there is something about each of them that needs to be groomed into something better. She is a mother of two boys and is married to Alexander Matsiko whom she met at UCU.

“As the older generation, we have the burden of putting things into perspective for the younger generation; if we don’t focus on that then we could lose the next generation,” Tumwebaze warns. 

She notes that her job as DOSA requires a skill set that comes with having an open mind because “everyday has its own shocks.”

Tumwebaze comes from a large family in Mbarara, a district in western Uganda. She attended St. Helens Primary School Mbarara for her primary education and Kyeizooba Girls Secondary School in Bushenyi district for her secondary education. From Kyeizooba, she joined UCU for her undergraduate course.

By Kefa Senoga
As a project established to foster a green economy in Africa closes at four universities in East Africa, the institutions are counting the benefits they have accrued from the multi-institutional venture that has been running for three years. 

The DALILA project, a collaborative venture, sought to increase awareness about clean energy, climate change, the green economy, and global emission targets. To achieve this goal, the project, courtesy of a 99,993,700 Euros ($117.8 million American) grant, was supposed to lead to the creation of new academic curricula on sustainable energies and green economy in Africa, as well as the installation of green laboratories at Uganda Christian University (UCU), Uganda Martyrs University, and two Tanzanian institutions — the University of Dodoma and the State University of Zanzibar. The Education, Audio-Visual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union provided the grant for the project.

The Swahili origin of DALILA means delicate and gentle. Since 2020 and connected to UCU, it refers to the Development of Academic Curricula on Sustainable Energies and Green Economy in Africa. It’s a capacity-building project funded by the Education, Audio-Visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Union­.

The courses were rolled out at the four universities, as were the green laboratories. For instance, Uganda Martyrs University developed and implemented the undergraduate course on the green economy in Uganda, while UCU created the curriculum for a related post-graduate diploma course. 

When Uganda’s supervisory body for curricula in higher institutions of learning, the National Council for Higher Education, gave the nod for the rollout of the course at UCU, the first cohort was admitted in 2022. That group was among the 986 students who graduated at UCU’s October 13, 2023, graduation, according to UCU Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Rev. Assoc. Prof. John Kitayimbwa. The nine students received the Post-Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Business and Renewable Energy from UCU.

At a seminar held in December 2023 to mark the closure of the project at UCU, the university’s Director of Academic Affairs, Vincent Kisenyi, underscored the project’s unique approach, emphasising that the integration of classroom learning with hands-on, practical experiences enables the learners to participate in renewable energy businesses while simultaneously contributing to environmental conservation.

One of the main objectives of the project was “transferring both theoretical and practical skills, identifying and bringing together stakeholders, creating links and synergies between companies and those who will be the professionals of tomorrow, and preparing them to be the driving force of positive change.”

The green laboratories established at each of the four project-implementing universities in East Africa were equipped to enable the students to achieve skills in converting sunlight into electric energy using photovoltaic panels. At the State University of Zanzibar, the green laboratory was equipped with solar simulators, lab computers, sputtering units, photovoltaic panels, DC voltmeters, and DC ammeters, among others.

Partners outside Africa in the European Union three-year funded project through the Erasmus+ Programme were Sapienza University of Rome in Italy, the University of Cadiz in Spain, and professional agencies, such as Sahara Ventures in Tanzania, Asud in Italy, and a renewable energy organisation called INOMA Renovables in Spain.  

The Director of Research, Partnerships, and Innovation at UCU, Assoc. Prof. Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito, said the project has taught them how to respond to climate-related issues by educating them on how to improve the world and how to take advantage of business opportunities that arise from the different life challenges.

During a seminar to close the project at UCU, Eng. Simon Sekitoleko, the Assistant Commissioner for Renewable Energy in Uganda’s energy ministry, said: “As the nation embraces cleaner energy sources, UCU’s role in offering a postgraduate diploma in sustainable business and renewable energy is recognised as a crucial step in building capacity and turning graduates into job creators.” 

David Mugawe, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Finance and Administration, said that the project’s combined focus on business and renewable energy not only gave participants real-world skills but also sparked a collective response to urgent climate issues. 

Sharon Longora, Agatha Ankunda, and Ronald Mayanja, who were part of the pioneer class of the PostGraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business and Renewable Energy at UCU early last year, travelled to Spain and Italy for a resume-building internship that included visiting solar and hydropower plants, doing hands-on experiments, and getting exposed to sustainable waste management research.

During an interview with Uganda Partners last year, Amos Mangeni, who was also part of the UCU team that travelled to Europe, said: “I visited a 100kw solar PV grid connected plant at the University of Cadiz faculty of business in Spain. This PV plant supplies energy to the faculty, and the surplus is connected to the grid for sale, especially during the day.”