Ndawula Stephen (PhD), Kyambogo University- Uganda
And a Visiting Professor Hiroshima University, CICE

Background Uganda is one of the developing landlocked countries located in East Africawith a population of 33.4 million.
 Uganda attained independence in 1962 from the British colonial masters.
 The Uganda system of education is based on an initial 7yrs of primaryeducation, 4yrs Ordinary Level Secondary , 2yrs Advanced Level Secondary,
after which to tertiary /higher institutions.
 At independence, Uganda had one of the best higher education systems in
Africa Uganda suffered an economic setback that began during the (1971‐1985) thatwas characterized with political turmoil.
 In 1987 the new government, embarked on an economic recovery program
aimed at reducing poverty by restoring fiscal discipline and monetary stability.

The Ugandan economy
 88 % of the labor force working outside the formal sector. Uganda is

predominantly a rural country—only 13 percent in urban areas.
 Adult literacy rates at 78 % men and 58% women.
 HIV/AIDS‐related deaths result in high attrition of the labor force and a large
number of orphans.
 Generally the income level for the people of Uganda is very low; a person
survives on ¥ 150 a day.
 corruption and poor infrastructure are yet other restrictions to the benefits ofnational economic growth (DFID, 2010).

Higher Education in Uganda: An Overview
 Higher education began with Makerere University initially established in 1922
 With her 22 faculties now merged into eight colleges, Makerere University has a

student population of about 40,000, and the best university in Uganda.
Makerere University is among the Africa’s most impressive example ofinstitutional reform in higher education (URAP, 2010 and World Bank, 2001).

Other public Universities in Uganda Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST) 1989
 Kyambogo 2003is the second largest Public University by merging three

institutions16,547 students (KYU, 2010).
 Gulu University 2003
 Busitema University (BU), the latest 2007

Traditional
Media
Naval
Media

•Chalkboard•Realia•Flannel boards•Flip Charts•Textbooks•Models•Charts•Excursions•Display Boards

Radio
Televisions
Personal
Computers
Digital Cameras
Projector
Video
Tape RecorderInternet
Cellular phone

Media and Education in Uganda
In Uganda while a large portion of the Traditional Media can be designed andproduced locally by teachers, the Novel Media is either imported or obtained
as donations from abroad.

Why e-media in Education?
 The adaptation of Novel Media (Computers) in Education in Uganda is due tothe United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals MDGs.
 ICT applications are deemed essential in the achievement of the MDGs.
Particularly Goal 8 of the MDGs that Target 18 (Wamakote et al, 2010).

The Electronic Learning Media and Higher Education in Uganda Although the concept of Novel Media takes into account power

driven teaching/ learning devises, in this paper shall be confined tocomputers as pedagogical devises at higher education (Balarabe,2006).

Funding of NovelMedia at higher
education in Uganda

Government of
UgandaParents/fees

Donor Community

The Donor Community and e-Media at higher education in Uganda Students’ fees is too meager to accomplish the founding of e‐media at
 As a solution, public universities have taken initiatives to bridge the deficit

through sponsorship (donor agents).
Currently Uganda has a number of donor agencies, among others are:‐ The Netherlands’ International Institute for Communication and Development(IICD)
 Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA/SAREC
 Connectivity for Educator Development Project (Connect Ed)
 International Institute for Communication and Development
 Makerere University with financial support from the British Council
 The Indian government
 The African Virtual University
NB These are only part of the Donor community in Uganda, there are others unlisted.

Challenges
 The developing world recognizes the part played by the donor projects togreatly extend ICT assistance at Higher education. Nonetheless, the course offunding is constrained by some forces in relation to surrounding circumstancesin Uganda as a developing country.
 This section is based on a framework by Claudia R. Williamson (2009) who
explores the failure of foreign aid with a twofold approach. His approachsuggests that both the donor agencies and recipient countries mater in shaping
the ultimate outcome of foreign aid.

Challenges of sponsored instructional media
in the developing world

Recipients• Over dependence ofRecipients• Brain drain due tolow remuneration• Lack of enoughcomputers• Low income• Limited Power supply• Shortage of ICT
teaching staff• Graduate
unemployment• Socio‐cultural ties
• High student‐
Computer Ratio

Challenges of sponsored instructional
media in the developing world

Donor
Agencies• Unaffordable
tuition• Electronic waste
crisis.
• Unreliable
Internetconnectivity• Technologicalinfrastructure• Sustainability

Prospects of Sponsored Instructional Mediaat Higher Education in Uganda There are prospects in terms of adequate government budgetary supplement topublic universities
 The government has a strategic plan aimed at improving use and access to e‐
media in higher education.
 The national ICT policy lays emphasis on providing e‐infrastructure at higher
education (Infodev, 2007).
 Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. In Uganda a full
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology was established inJune 2006 with a mandate of providing strategic and technical leadership

Recommendations
 Government of Uganda with other developing countries should negotiate with

the international donor agencies (IMF/IDAF) on the quality of e‐media. Special
considerations for the recipient university system to avoid accepting very old e‐technology that hampers ICT progress.
 Continuous staff training is a key to achieving modern ICT skills. It is therefore

necessary for the academic staff and universities to emphasize ICT staff refresher
programs.
 Universities in Uganda should explore collaboration and linkages with reputable

institutions and organizations abroad (e.g. Hiroshima –Kyambogo collaboration).
 Universities in Uganda should also expand the area of income generation forsustainability of ICT. This would control the dependence syndrome. Uganda
needs to find more local sources of funding e‐media at higher education, rather
than total reliance on overseas aid.

Thank you!!
Arigato !!

Sponsored Educational Media at Higher Education in the Developing World: Challenges
and Prospects: The Experience of Uganda
140th seminar

Abstract
In Uganda instructional media in the school system addresses both the Traditional and the NovelMedia (e-media). While a large portion of the Traditional Media can be designed and produced
locally by teachers, the Novel Media is either imported or obtained as donations from abroad.
Currently Uganda has a number of donor agencies that have championed the sponsorship ofNovel Media in both private and public learning institutions. Whilst sponsored instructional
media has done much to bridge the digital divide, there is some disappointment associated with
it. Various technologies are of low quality, and have been greatly misused by the recipients. This
presentation gives an experience of the state of sponsored instructional media, challenges andprospects at higher education in Uganda.

Background
Uganda is one of the developing landlocked countries located in East Africa with a population of
33.4 million. Uganda attained independence in 1962 from the British colonial masters. The
Uganda system of education is based on an initial seven years of primary education. Students
who successfully complete primary schooling join a four years secondary ordinary level(O.Level). Those who successfully complete O.Level may then choose to enroll in the two- year
Advanced Level (A.Level) program, after which to tertiary institutions. At independence,
Uganda had one of the best higher education systems in Africa, attracting many students fromneighboring countries.
Uganda suffered an economic setback that began during the (1971-1985) that was characterizedwith political turmoil. In 1987 the new government, embarked on an economic recovery program
aimed at reducing poverty by restoring fiscal discipline and monetary stability. The Ugandan
economy is largely informal, with 88 percent of the labor force working outside the formal sector.
Uganda is predominantly a rural country—only 13 percent of the population lives in urban areas.
Adult literacy rates are high for the region at 78 percent for men and 58 percent for women.

1Higher Education in Uganda: An Overview
The terms higher’’ or ‘‘tertiary’’ are often used interchangeably to denote types of postsecondary
institution education (Mohamedbhai, 2008). In Uganda apart from universities there are otherpostsecondary institutions and colleges that constitute to higher education. However, given therole played by donors in sponsoring educational media, more evidence is at university than otherlevels of the education system in Uganda (Namugenyi, 2010). Hence, this presentation about
sponsorship of instructional media at higher education will be an experience of University
education in Uganda. Higher education was introduced by the Europeans, who were the colonial
masters of Uganda. At the moment Uganda has 29 universities, of which 5 are public and 24 areprivate (New Vision, 2011).
Media and Education in Uganda

Educational
Media

Electronic Media

Traditional MediaRadio

Chalkboard

Televisions

RealiaFlannel boards

Personal Computers

Flip Charts

Digital Cameras

Textbooks

Projector

ModelsVideo

ChartsTape Recorder

Excursions

Internet

Display Boards

Cellular phone

The above framework is based on a description by Heinich et al (1999), that instructional media
is means of communication, carrying information between source and receiver. A deeper
clarification made by Reiser and Dempsey (2007) that in any instructional environment, there
should be some resources responsible for transmission of messages. These are the physicalmeans via which instruction is presented to the learners. This includes textbooks, videos,computers, and having an instructor physically instructing a group in a classroom. In the context
of Uganda, the means are either traditional or electronic.
In Uganda while a large portion of the Traditional Media can be designed and produced locallyby teachers, the electronic/ Novel Media is either imported or obtained as donations from abroad.
The adaptation of Novel Media (Computers) in Education in Uganda comes as a result of the2

United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals MDGs. The UN at its fifty-fifth general
assembly announced the MDGs to be realized. The UN members had to help developing
countries reach certain standards by the year 2015. Each goal success or failure is measured bytargets. Target 18 asserts, “In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of
new technologies, especially information and communications.” This target is measured by the
number of computers, cell phones or telephones per 100 persons (United Nations, 2000 and
infoDev & ITU, 2011).
The 2003 report of the sub-committee on ICT and Governance presented at the Third Meeting of
the Committee on Development Information (CODI III) encouraged African countries, like
Uganda to complete their national ICT policies. Uganda being a signatory to the MDG had tocomply by putting in place mechanisms like the approval of the national ICT policy framework(Torach et. el, 2009), and later the formulation of an educational sector ICT policy in 2005
(Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports, 2005). In Uganda ICT applications are deemed
essential in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This is particularly
imperative as government’s commitment to realize Goal 8 of the MDGs that Target 18(Wamakote et al, 2010).
Higher Education in Uganda and Novel MediaIn complicity with national ICT policy, universities in Uganda provide Electronic Learning Media tostudents so as to increase their capacity to incorporate the resource while attempting academic tasks.
Some universities have developed Web presence for students and the outside world. Novel Learning
Media in Uganda as one of the most significant technological developments in institutions of higher
learning, has the potential to provide learning opportunities all the time, at any location, is cost effective
and has wide reach (Kim, et al, 2005 and Michau et al, 2001). Given this exponential growth, there islittle doubt that e-media learning tasks will become major for university students.

The Electronic Learning Media and Higher Education in Uganda
Higher education curriculum in Uganda has undergone reforms in line with modernization and
Globalization. Although the concept of Novel Media takes into account power driven teaching/learning devises, in this paper shall be confined to computers as pedagogical devises at higher
education (Balarabe, 2006). Through strengthening educational media to suit the current
demands and expectations, higher education is being challenged by new opportunities relating toappropriate technologies accessed by students. Using technology to enhance student learning inuniversities has become an important area for discussion and study. Electronic (ICT) devices arerecently emerging technologies that have become integral part of higher education system(Mukwa et al, 2008; Crowe, A., et al 2006 and UNESCO, 2000). In the developing world,
besides universities soliciting local funding to adopt Electronic Learning Media, several donor
projects have greatly extended assistance.

3

Funding of Novel Media at higher education in Uganda

Sources of Funding
Novel Media at higher
education

Government of
UgandaParents/fees

Donor
Community

Government of Uganda
Government funding for instructional media at higher education has been declining over theyears due in large part to the financial constraints brought about by the exceptional growth at thelower levels of education. Higher education received about 10 percent of a total ministry budgetof Ushs 619.93 billion in the 2004/05 budget year (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2005), a
rate that has remained more or less constant since the mid 1990s despite the massive enrollment
increases.
The revenue support for higher education and the great expansion of enrollments are throughcost sharing and private sponsorship. The government sponsors 4,000 students (about onequarter of total university entrants). These students, who are fully financed by the government(tuition fees, room and board), attend only public universities.
Parents/fees
A fee collected from students by the university is retained for university-wide activities(supplementing staff salaries, staff development, and research) and sends the remainder to theincome generating units (faculties and institutes.). In 2007, Makerere University took a decision
to charge an ICT fee for both private and government-sponsored students. Each undergraduate to
pay sh50, 000 (USD20) and post-graduates will pay sh80, 000 (USD32) per academic year. This
money would be used to boost the university’s ICT program and to improve the international
image of the university by publishing research on the internet.
The Donor Community and Novel Media at higher education in Uganda
The total collection from students’ fees is too meager to accomplish the founding of e-media at
higher education. For example, since 2000 MAK gets approximately UGX 300 million(equivalent to approx. USD 172,000) annually as students’ contribution to support research. As asolution, public universities have taken initiatives to bridge the deficit through sponsorship(donor agents). Currently Uganda has a number of donor agencies that have championed the4sponsorship of Novel Media in both private and public learning institutions. Some donors andProjects have assisted by distributing computers in schools. These include the Computer Aid
International, Digital Links, and World Computer Exchange (Farrell and Shafika, 2007). Since
the 1990s, there are several international donor and development agencies that have gone into
partnerships with national MoES to promote educational ICT (Farrell, 2007). Among others are:The Netherlands’ International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)
IICD has been instrumental in Kyambogo University in sponsorship of ICT in Education in
Uganda. The funds from IICD enabled the initiation of a project for ICT basic skills training(IBaT) hosted at Kyambogo University. This project is representative of experiences of
implementing ICT projects in tertiary institutions in Uganda. The target trainees of the project
include academic and support staff at the university as well as all students that did not have ICT
training in their core programs. At KYU, Students and staff underwent training in ICT basic
skills through IBaT.
Another Netherland Project in Uganda is ‘Building a Sustainable ICT Training Capacity in the
Public Universities in Uganda’ was based in Uganda under the NPT Program. 392.6 million
Japanese yen (2004 – 2008) for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capacity
building in the Public Universities in Uganda, namely Makerere University, Kyambogo
University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Gulu University. The target
group was staff and students in the above institutions and mid-career ICT professionals. The
main activities required expertise from the Netherlands, for support in Curriculum Development
and Implementation, in development of research capacity and to advise on the establishment of aCentre of Excellence for ICT Training and Research.
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA/SAREC
This is another donor agency funding the development of ICT policy and master plans at higher
education in Uganda. Both an providing a coordinated framework for the development of ICT
skills, infrastructure and systems. In Makerere university SIDA has sponsored the installation of
the Makerere University Local Areas Networks (LANS). The support has enabled the training of
University staff in the use of e-learning in teaching and learning, establishment of email andInternet user services on the whole campus. The university has set up Internet kiosks for use by
the students, fitted with computers and servers. The support also enabled the establishment of theMakerere University Library support (MakLIBIS) which has helped to integrate ICT in all
library functions, especially enabling online information access for students/staff in the
University. SIDA has also helped to create more capacity in the main Library throughinstallation of a LAN and 171 data points, servers, On-line Public Access Catalogue in addition
to making available more than 3000 electronic journals. This is greatly facilitating access torelevant literature for research and teaching.
Since 2000 to date, SIDA has provided support to Makerere University valued at $ 63.2million.
The funds have been utilized to install a Campus-wide fiber optic backbone; the improved
gender terrain due to support accorded to the gender mainstreaming division and support touniversity efforts to improve the capacity building (http://mak.ac.ug/index.php).

5Connectivity for Educator Development Project (Connect Ed) set up
Funded by USAID and Education Development Center, Connect Ed set up computer centers andInternet points of presence at Kyambogo University (KYU) and at eight affiliated primaryteachers’ colleges (PTCs). It provided computer literacy and materials development training forteacher educators, and began to re-purpose the print-based national PTC curriculum into aninteractive, accessible online version. Connect-ED Phase II builds on the infrastructure
established in Phase I but with closer collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports
and KYU. The focus is on sustainability and long-term ICT strategies for KYU and the PTCs
and on continuing to provide computer training and completing the digitization and enhancementof the national PTC curriculum.
International Institute for Communication and Development
The International Institute for Communication and Development supported the establishment of ICT
maintenance facilities for rural Uganda at five technical colleges. These five UTCs are located in or nearupcountry towns and are geographically well distributed throughout the country. An ICT maintenancefacility set up at each college to provide technical support and to introduce a new course called ICT
Installation and Maintenance to train technicians.

Makerere University with financial support from the British Council
E-Learning and Teacher Education (ELATE) program in Makerere University School of
Education, began in 2007 as a professional development initiative to enhance secondary teacher
training in Uganda. The School of Education jointly with Open University in Britain won the
British Council Research Grant amounting to £92,000 to run the project. ELATE has involved
teacher educators in the production of e-Resources for student teachers and newly qualified
teachers. The British Council through ELATE has sponsored the production and distribution ofover 800 CD-ROMs to schools throughout Uganda. The ELATE CD-ROMs has content which isinteresting and locally relevant to the curriculum covering the use of graphs and pictures.
The Indian government
The Indian government through Africa Union (AU) extended a bid to Makerere University Faculty ofComputing and Information Technology to create an e-network that will provide connectivity for easternand central African countries to a pan-African network through fibre optics and wireless links. This
project which commenced 2006 covers the Eastern and central African regions. Makerere is the lead
university serving Comoros, Djibouti, Eriteria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda,
Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Africa Union intended to promote the sharing ofresources such as BlackBoard digital learning software, backups, and elearning courses. Makerere trains
staff in e-learning and supports elearning in the whole of the university.

The African Virtual University
African Virtual University (AVU) jointly with the African Development Bank (ADB) has funded
the ICT supported distance teacher education program for in-service student teachers at public
universities in Uganda (Gabona, 2008). The AVU has set up a satellite station at Kyambogo for
on-line communication. A series of workshops were held to develop the e-modules with common
curriculum content in all subject areas. AVU intends to use SMS (text messaging) as one way
students can get tutor support for their online programs. Being a “Virtual”, AVU is not meant tohave a campus and or faculty of its own; instead utilizes facilities, programs and courses offeredby other member universities. On-line modules have been accomplished and can be accessedfrom OER @AVU [Open Education Resources @ AVU].
6

Challenges
The developing world recognizes the part played by the donor projects that has greatly extended
ICT assistance to Higher education. Nonetheless, the course of funding is constrained by someforces in relation to surrounding circumstances in Uganda as a developing country. This section
is based on a framework by Claudia R. Williamson (2009) who explores the failure of foreign
aid with a twofold approach. His approach examines the donor countries, aid agencies andrecipient countries shaping the ultimate outcome of foreign aid. Both donors and recipients may
not have the information or knowledge to actually target and achieve the desired effects.

According to Claudia (2009) the donor agencies and recipient countries mater in shaping theultimate outcome of foreign aid.

Challenges of sponsored instructional media in the developing world

Challengesof sponsored
instructional
media in thedeveloping
world

7

Agencies
1. Unaffordable tuition
Even though tuition is still the lowest in the East African region, for most students eventhis small amount is beyond their means. The level of tuition fees for ICT related courses,
compared to other programs, is relatively high. Fee levels vary widely between the ICT
related course and the non ICT-based programs. On average the variation is about Y180,
000 Vs. Y95, 000 per year respectively. Tuition increases are generally difficult to many
parents who have resorted to non ICT related courses for their children. Numerous
student strikes and unrest in public universities have been attributed to tuition increment.
For instance, the proposed ICT fee policy in 2007 was criticized and resisted by thestudent leaders. Even in humanity related courses, students have been asked to pay extra
ICT fee on top of the ordinary tuition
2. Electronic waste crisis. A large number of electrical equipment discarded or below
standard of the developed world has found cheap dumping ground in African universities
as donation in disguise of 'bridging the digital divide. In Uganda such junk computers,
cellular phones, cameras, TVs and radios are being imported. Among the global
environment threats today is E-waste, one of the fastest growing, reportedly to capacityof 50 million metric tons generated annually (SAIM, 2009). Recently, the United Nations
moved policies to protect African countries from unregulated imports of e-waste. Uganda
alone expects e-waste flows from PCs only to increase sharply from 4 to 8-fold in thenext 10 years (ScienceDaily, 2010).
According to Brown (2010), out of the 27,000 computers delivered into Uganda in 2007
only 4,000 (15%) were working computers; while the rest of these were merely clones.
Universities have experienced a large number of second-hand and refurbished computersobtained from groups like Computer Aid International, Digital Links, and World
Computer Exchange (Farrell and Shafika, 2007).
3. Unreliable Internet connectivity
Donor agents in Uganda institutions of learning have as well funded internet connectivity
to the computer labs. Regrettably the Internet has always been very slow in taking
connections. Internet services are usually hampered by “traffic congestion” that makes
accessing some websites hard and disappointing to most students, especially at peak
periods of the day. Further, Internet access is usually concentrated in places found closer
to the major urban centers, or often found at the universities rather than in students’
homes. Access to the Internet through an ISP is implies another cost to be incurred by thestudent. Students who are privately connected to Internet service can expect to pay anaverage of about ¥5200 per month in service fees.
4. Technological infrastructure
The technical infrastructure is still of low quality in Uganda and yet a comprehensive
technology system would be required to facilitate and support the e-media activities athigher education. In general, electronic educational media in Uganda is scanty. For
instance, many universities have just small size laboratories accommodating few users at
a time, with limited number of computers. Experience from research suggests that etechnology is a major factor in managing instruction at higher education (World Bank,
8

2000 and Eliot, 2000). This challenge has highly constrains the initiatives of donor agentsin higher education in the country.
5. Sustainability and misuse
Some donor programs end prematurely; without having given thorough orientation andpreparation to the recipients. This is particularly evident when donor period suddenly
phases out. What follows is shortage of ICT materials such as software programs, failure
to run the generator and ISP subscription. The availability of these services in adeveloping country becomes a big problem. The consequences are media abuse andmismanagement by the recipients. Some of the instructional e-resources are misused andvandalized by especially by students. Such damages render the whole system confused
and worthless to end-users.
Recipients
1. Recipients over dependence on donor funding
Seemingly, donor projects ‘pamper’ government to be reluctant and over dependent tomeet the obligation of fully financing e-media at higher education. Some institutions haveacquired addiction to sponsored media. The culture of dependence has deeply
undermined the pride, originality, and self-confidence of higher education in thedeveloping world. Studies carried out by the World Bank on higher education in selected
African countries (including Uganda) showed the importance of higher education todevelopment. Uganda’s allocation of funds to education in 2005/06 to 2014/15 do notindicated a change of heart in substantially funding education. For quite long, budgetary
allocation to higher education has lingered on less than 15%. The consequence ofunderfunding is the delivery of declining quality of higher education and a drastic
reduction of researches and limited use of e-technology in public universities.
Many of the universities under AVU sponsorship spend little of their resources to ensure
a steady running of the program. A report from the recent pilot project shows that out of
the six sites, it was only Kenyatta University said to have purchased more than a handfulof its current stock of computers (Juma & D’Antoni 2006). The scenario is worsened bydelayed procurement protocols that make it difficult to run program. Universities should
also make sacrifice to give e-media the due priority just like other programs.
Overdependence renders the program vulnerable; hence arousing fear over the future fatein case donation phases out.
2. Brain drain due to low remuneration and social economic crises
After donor community spending so much to develop human capacity at higher education,
the products disappoint the system by indulging into Brain-drain. This departure ofseasoned academics and scientists frustrates the inputs of donors. Uganda, like many
African countries, has experienced external mobility and migration of best scholars fromthe universities to greener pastures and better-paying government and private agencies
and firms that may or may not be able to tap their talents effectively. Recently in terms ofthe countries with the highest rate of ‘brain drain’, Uganda was ranked sixth in the world.
3. Another outstanding hurdle and a threat to sponsored media at higher education today islack of enough computers. According to a report by microsoft.com (2007), the country,
9

by 2007 had less than two percent of its population online. This figure in comparison
with that of Japan which had about 78.2 % of the total population as Internet users as per2010 is exceedingly low (ITU, 2010). Some universities have tried to purchase the devises
for their learners, but still not enough. Since a good number of students are even, ICT
illiterate possession of a PC may even seem immaterial.
4. Low income: on average a person in Uganda survives on 150 ¥ a day. In such a situation,buying a new computer probably does not fit. In fact there are about 10 installed
computers per 1,000 people; giving a ratio of 1:100 (Brown. 2010). Economic
impoverishment and the reality that most students do fail to pay university dues on time,plus management of large and extended families has hindered the participation of
students in IT education.
5. Limited Power supply also demoralizes the promise of donor community. Most of the
ICT gadgets are power driven. In Uganda, connection to electricity is only in some urban
places. There are still very many students’ homesteads without power supply. And evenin places with power supply, it has become highly unreliable. Access to power supply is a
general problem and particularly severer in rural areas of the country (Seguya, 2010). In
many places the load-shedding is a day and night affair.
6. It is vital to note that the donor agents play a key role in capacity building by promoting
ICT skills and training at higher education. Nonetheless, shortage of ICT teaching staff isstill a challenge. Comparatively few teaching staff with skills to make pedagogical use of
ICTs across the university curriculum. At the moment, there is no any core ICT training
cutting across the entire university program. While some students who received suchtraining are often through trial and error methods.
7. Graduate unemployment
In Uganda as in many other developing countries, graduate unemployment is a daunting
problem and has been the subject of much debate in the education policy discourse.
There are grandaunts from departments whose programs were funded by the donor
community who are unemployed. A 1997 tracer study of Makerere University graduates,for example, reports that employment opportunities for graduates are dwindling, theperiods spent searching for jobs getting longer and graduates are contacting an increasing
number of employers before they secure jobs. Similarly, a 2003 study of the employmentoutcomes of school education in East and Central Africa, conducted under the auspices of
the Department for International Development (DFID), reports that graduate selfemployment in Uganda is generally non-existent, despite the donor spends heavily on
their training.
8. Socio-cultural ties
Gender a major hurdle to the progress of Donor agent in the promotion and utilization of ICT at
higher education. The gender gap has demonstrated itself in some notions and stereotypes. The
common belief that technology is meant for men frustrates a large number of female students.
This impression, coupled with the fact that boys are more aggressive and swift in attachingthemselves to the limited number of PCs has left the girl child ICT vulnerable. Some female
students in Uganda have found it hard to access electronic technologies on ground that; ICT as adiscipline suits more of male characters.
10

9. High student- Computer Ratio is yet another hurdle to ICTs at university. Most of theclasses are increasingly overcrowded yet the number of computers has remained static.
Learners have to share in ratios ranging from 1: 2 to 1: 6, and in a lesson. Students are
therefore disheartened and withdraw from such a discipline mounting pressure. The
illustration below is indicative of the situation. At one public university in Uganda,
students are between 1000 to 1500 per year.
According to United Nations Millennium Project (2005), the stated goal of foreign aid is to end
extreme world poverty and achieve development in poor countries. But when examining the stateof sponsored media at higher education in Uganda, it is still far away from success. Sponsored
media should not be merely for marginal successes but for extensive prosperity in higher
education.
Prospects of Sponsored Instructional Media at Higher Education in Uganda
Generally the growth rate of ICT at higher education has been described as slow andinappropriately managed (Farrell et al, 2007). However, some improvement is likely to berealized due to the emergence of ICT policy frameworks and the growing government
commitment to ICT in education.
 There are prospects in terms of adequate government budgetary supplement to public
universities and also by proprietors to the private universities for research holds muchprospect for increased level and quality of e-media undertakings by Ugandan universities.
The government has a strategic plan aimed at improving use and access to e-media inhigher education. It plans to establish a student loan program, actively seek multiple
sources of funding for higher education, and set up a scholarship program associated withdisciplines related to e-media (MOE, 2003).
The national ICT policy lays emphasis on providing e-infrastructure at higher education(Infodev, 2007). The policy framework document also stresses the goal of lifelong
education for all.
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
In Uganda a full Ministry of Information and Communications Technology wasestablished in June 2006 with a mandate of providing strategic and technical leadership,overall coordination, support and advocacy on all matters of policy, laws, regulations andstrategy for the ICT sector. It also ensures sustainable, efficient and effective
development; harnessing and utilization of ICT in all spheres of life to enable the country
achieve its national development goals.

Recommendations
Inadequate funding constitutes a major challenge to higher education in Uganda. To sustain
excellence, concerted efforts must be made towards redressing the problem of under-funding ofresearch in the institutions.
 Government of Uganda with other developing countries should negotiate with theinternational donor agencies (IMF/IDAF) on the quality of e-media. Special
considerations for the recipient university system to avoid accepting very old etechnology that hampers ICT progress.
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

Continuous staff training is a key to achieving modern ICT skills. It is therefore
necessary for the academic staff and universities to emphasize ICT staff refresher
programs.
Universities in Uganda should explore collaboration and linkages with reputable
institutions and organizations abroad (Hiroshima -Kyambogo).
Universities in Uganda should also expand the area of income generation forsustainability of ICT. This would control the dependence syndrome. Uganda needs tofind more local sources of funding e-media at higher education, rather than total relianceon overseas aid.

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