The Minister-in-charge of Higher Education John Chrysostom Muyingo, has directed health training institutions to ensure that their enrollment figures match with the capacity of their facilities.
The minister’s directive comes at a time when health training institutions both government and private are experiencing a surge in students who seek to enroll in their facilities most especially at the certificate level.
Muyingo notes training more nurses is critical to the country as more are needed but underscores that those trained must be of the highest quality. He adds that to have quality training institutions, there is a need to have facilities and equipment matching the students they enroll.
Muyingo made the remarks while releasing results of the 35th series of the Uganda Nursing and Midwifery Examination Board-UNMEB on a Thursday in Kampala.
The Minister emphasized that institutions must not sacrifice quality by admitting more students than their capacity allows.
He also provided guidance, suggesting that institutions lacking the necessary facilities and equipment should consider temporary closure until they can develop the required capacity. Alternatively, he said that they could choose to admit only a manageable number of students that they can adequately accommodate.
John Wakida, Chairperson of UNMEB, brought attention to the fact that there has been a noticeable rise in the number of Nursing and Midwifery Training Institutions, coupled with an increase in student enrollment.
Wakida reminded the minister that in light of these developments, it becomes crucial for the Ministry of Education and Sports to take steps to increase the supply of qualified tutors accordingly. He underscored that the current state of tutor-student ratios in both public and private institutions is a cause for concern, as it could potentially have implications for the overall quality of nurses being educated and trained.
During the presentation of the examination results, Helen Mukakarisa Kataratambi, Executive Secretary of UNMEB, pointed out that there has been notable performance at certificate levels for both continuing and final semester candidates.
Mukakarisa highlighted that performance at the diploma level has sustained a lower standard. The released results further revealed that a total of 4,493 continuing candidates, constituting 12.9 percent of the cohort, were ungraded. Similarly, among the candidates in their final semester, 1,548, accounting for 11.1 percent, also were ungraded. These candidates were advised to retake the respective papers during the next available opportunity.
Furthermore, there were 156 continuing students and one final-year student who faced discontinuation due to reaching the maximum limit of three attempts allowed for repeating the same paper.
“Following the Nursing and Midwifery curricula guidance, the said students will be discontinued due to exhaustion of the allowed three attempts of repeating the same paper…The discontinued candidates have an option of starting the course afresh,” Mukakarisa noted.
However, Minister Muyingo expressed concerns regarding this policy and suggested a review. He raised the possibility of examining individual cases to gain insight into why a student might have faced repeated failures on the same paper three times before making a decision on discontinuation.
Equally disheartening for Muyingo was the discovery that a number of students were unable to participate in the examination due to unpaid tuition fees. In his view, institutions should consider permitting these students to take the exams, with the understanding that their results or certificates would be withheld until the outstanding fees are settled.
Alternatively, he suggested that continuing students in such circumstances could be required to clear their dues before being allowed to participate in the next semesters.
Mukakarisa also added that during the same event, the board encountered instances of malpractice. These included a noteworthy case where two students from separate institutions submitted identical research reports.
Additionally, there were instances where some candidates presented falsified logbooks featuring forged signatures of Tutors, Clinical Instructors, and Mentors. Furthermore, some candidates were found to have attempted to bring unauthorized materials—such as notes on scraps of paper—into the examination room. URN