The Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU), Associate Prof Aaron Mushengyezi, has said UCU students are to start examinations on September 15 after the National Council for Higher education cleared the university to pursue their online learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof Mushengyezi said the university is well prepared to carry on with examinations and all students will be reached out wherever they are.
He said this at the university during a press conference and called on students to prepare themselves for online education.
“The National Council for Higher Education cleared us on the School of Medicine, so we call upon our medical students and dentists to prepare,” Prof Mushengyezi said.
The deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic Affairs, Dr John Kitayimbwa, said more than 90 per cent of the UCU students own laptops and about 92 per cent own a smart phone, adding that e-learning is possible and will be free. Dr Kitayimbwa said the university had subscribed to MTN for data and students will only have to buy an MTN card at Shs3,000 and then connect to access the UCU academic servers.
“Inform parents and students that life may never come to normal even if they reopen, we may not go back to normal,” he said.
Dr Kitayimbwa said examination materials will be delivered to students at their homes, and also urged students who are upcounty to take the responsibility and call the university for examinations. The new vice chancellor has also instituted a team to mobilise resources locally to support the UCU staff who are not working.
The deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Mr David Mugawe, said on the issue of tuition, it is only the functional fees that will not be paid.