Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING AROUND THE WORLDand research and are required to seek as much financial supportas possible from sources other than government. Thisis the terrain under which engineering is taught, learnt andpractised in Uganda. The challenges of engineering traininginstitutions are discussed from inputs (students), delivery(human capacity, hardware, and infrastructure) and outputs(graduates, employment opportunities and linkages withindustries).Access, enrolment and opportunitiesThere has been increased enrolment (more than five-fold) duringthe past decade. This relatively high level of growth may beexplained by demographic changes, gender mainstreaming,relatively more schools offering science subjects at advancedlevel and partly by some privatization of university education.Private universities have offered more opportunities, for studentsthat can afford to pay, to join engineering programmes.However, maintaining the balance between the provision ofgreater access to engineering programmes and using the limitedavailable facilities, without affecting the learning in viewof scarce resources, is one of the challenging tasks. A numberof students who join engineering programmes do so only onthe strength of their grades rather than their interest or motivation.Essentially, some are not prepared for or suited to theprogrammes, but it is difficult to build interest and motivationin engineering given that, for example, four or five studentsmight have to perform one experiment simultaneously, particularlyin the early years of study. Such limitations in teachingresources, needless to say, compromise inquisitivenessand may hamper the potential of even the most enthusiasticstudents.Staff, welfare and retentionIt has become increasingly difficult to sustain a credible staffdevelopment programme in engineering faculties. The reasonsare many, but the most significant are:■■■■■The best-qualified staff must be hired on a competitive basisbut pay in universities is low.All lecturers in engineering faculties are required to have aPhD – a requirement regarded by many as being too exclusiveand unsustainable.The longest-serving and best-qualified staff resign in desperationand frustration, as the universities do not have incentivessuch as mortgages, staff transport, medical schemes orvehicle loan schemes and so on.Any benefits due to the lecturer are consolidated and taxedheavily.Offspring of those who die in-service are not catered for.■■■Freezing staff recruitment, due to a lack of funds to pay staff,is common.Expansion of establishment, even where it is justified, meetsstiff resistance, possibly because it impacts on finances.Vertical mobility in engineering is hampered by rigid promotionalrequirements at each ladder as promotion policyemphasizes papers in international journals rather the generaland specifically teaching output of staff.■ Universities also experience ‘ brain drain’ as their best graduatesremain overseas after winning opportunities to goabroad for further study. Some of those who return andrejoin the workforce are forced to abandon university servicesdue to poor working conditions such as low pay andan absence of incentives.Delivery modesEngineering classes have grown relatively large. It is no longerunusual to find a class of eighty-five students. With suchnumbers, the traditional lecturing mode of ‘chalk’ is stillwidely practised. Tutorials where students are divided intosmall groups are rarely conducted. This is mainly because thefew staff members are excessively overloaded and there arefew teaching assistants. The universities have tried to recruitpart-time supporting academic staff but they are not enoughto adequately cope with the problems. Timetabling for parttimestaff is a very big problem as they are fully deployedelsewhere. Laboratory work has continued to suffer due toinsufficient functional equipment, and obsolete ones lackspare parts. Most of the existing equipment/apparatus is obsolete.Four or five students, especially in the early years of study,perform one experiment simultaneously. This state of affairs,needless to say, compromises their inquisitiveness, enjoymentand potential.Relevance of engineering programmesThe relevance of any programme should be analysed accordingto its role and place in society, its mission, relationshipswith the public and private sector, community and sourcesof funding, and its interaction with other levels and forms ofeducation. Traditionally, relevance of engineering programmeswas judged according to the appropriateness of the trainingto meet the needs of the government and wider publicservice. This has changed however, due to restructuring andthe privatization of the economy. Engineering programmeshave to respond positively and quickly to the demands of themarketplace and industry, whilst at the same time producegraduates who can create jobs through fast adaptability andentrepreneurship. Engineering faculties review and updatetheir curricula once every five years or so, and do introduceelectives that are deemed essential. This area, however, is stillchallenging.215