The Archbishop of Mbarara , Lambert Bainomugisha has appealed to the new head of Makerere University Business School (MUBS) Mbarara campus, Professor Richard Akisimire to be innovative and intentional in the courses they offer to be tailored to addressing community challenges.
The Archbishop made the call 20 during the inauguration of Professor Akisimire as the new head for MUBS Mbarara campus in Kamukuzi, Mbarara City, replacing Dr Pontius Byarugaba who is retiring.
“Mbarara City is becoming an education hub but I implore high institutions of learning to be innovative and offer skills that are relevant in addressing community challenges such as poverty. I thank MUBS for bringing this campus here of which I am sure will be key in transforming communities,” he said.
The Archbishop appealed to institutions of learning that they need to collaborate and work with each other to develop a strong foundation to address community challenges, adding that as the church, they will continue to work with them on this need.
MUBS Principal Professor Moses Muhwezi in his remarks noted that institutions of learning that are detached from communities remain irrelevant.
“It’s high time that institutions of learning move outside their gates and go to communities, and work with them to find solutions to the problems they face. You must be relevant to communities and that is why as an institution we are telling our lecturers to go out in markets and teach those old women on how to make books of accounts, marketing strategies and managing workers among others,” he said.
He added that lecturers should help young people interpret and realise their dreams.
“These young people are very innocent, the time we went to school we would be very old, likely to reason and survive on our own but these days you find someone between 18 and-19 years at university. These need to be supported to realise their dreams because most of them have never seen any hardships in their lives,” Professor Muhwezi added.
He said part of the efforts to see the students that pass through MUBS campus is the model of the B.Com (Bachelor of Commerce) plus one Model.
“Every student who goes through our campus will graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce, but plus another hands-on skills course such as carpentry, tailoring, plumbing. This is meant to ensure that our graduates are multi-skilled and can easily wade through the world of work,” he added.
The new team leader for MUBS Mbarara campus Professor Akisimire promised that part of his agenda is to collaborate and work with the community.
“Priority on my agenda to nurture, teach and mentor the young people, we will make sure we offer skills that are able to manifest with the 21st century with competences to solve the world of work,” Professor Akisimire said.
Professor Akisimire noted that the 18 years of his work at MUBS gives him an upper hand in serving better because he has been on the journey to see this institution grow.
“I have been part of the journey to see MUBS grow and I think together with the committed staff, we will do our best to serve Ugandans better especially in this era where the world of work demands competitive skills,” he added.
He also promised to prioritise the welfare of staff and students.
Professor Nixon Kamukama, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) also said it high time higher institutions of learning thought of helping communities than just awarding irrelevant degrees.
“These students we teach come from communities that let their efforts go in vain but help to address the challenges they face,” Professor Kamukama said.