Makerere University Business School-MUBS has halted the end of semester two examinations that were scheduled to start on Thursday this week. The MUBS Principal Professor, Juma Waswa Balunywa halted the exams following protests by the students over missing marks from the previous semester.
“I appeal to you to give us time to address these issues. We are now tackling third-year students’ issues and we hope that they are resolved in the next two days,” said Prof. Balunywa in a statement. In a heated protest at the university library on Monday morning, the students complained that marks from some course works were missing following the release of results two weeks ago as they didn’t reflect on their online records.
They also complained about the faulty grading system where some of them were given retakes even after scoring above the pass-mark. Just like other institutions, MUBS students sat online examinations in October last year.
Failure to rectify the issue of missing marks automatically qualifies a student for a retake during their final examinations. Maureen Nakito from the Faculty of Energy, Economics, and Management, said that she had filed complaints about the mess without success.
Gilbert Kasiimwe, a third-year student revealed that students like himself have run out of patience and time for the university bureaucracy. He demanded that the University management sort out the issues once and for all.
Another student on government sponsorship who preferred anonymity explained that she is missing marks from four out of six-course units, which has hindered her registration this semester as a finalist.
“The moment I cannot register means that I will be discontinued from the sponsorship and yet I applied for it well knowing I could not handle University tuition,” she said. While the issue of missing marks was more pronounced during the demonstration, the students also cited the payment of internship fees yet some supervisors never showed up.
In addition, the students complained that the university charges them 45,000 Uganda Shillings for student Identity Cards each academic year and yet they are issued once in the first year. Other institutions that sat online examinations like Ndejje University and Makerere University among others recorded similar scenarios.
