

25 July 2024, 10:09 am
By Bondry Kilenga
Gulu University administration has expressed their disappointment at the number of applicants who registered for programmes at Gulu University Constituent College – Kotido campus, which is yet to be operational in August 2024.
The campus will be housed at the former Kotido PTC, one of the 22 Primary Teachers Colleges that were phased out in accordance with the government’s teacher policy. This policy marks an official transition away from Grade III and Grade V teaching qualifications in favour of requiring a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
In June this year, the university advertised offering two courses, namely Bachelors in Public Administration and Bachelors of Education (Primary), under the Direct, Diploma, Graduate, and Higher Education Access Certificate entry schemes.
However, James Onono Ojok, the Gulu University Public Relations Officer, while speaking to Etoil A Karamoja, said that only about 200 applicants applied for programmes at the university, and fewer than 150 committed by paying the application fee of 50,000 Ugandan shillings.
Ojok says these numbers would leave the university operating at a loss, considering the costs of operations, such as hiring and transporting lecturers from within and from Gulu, among other expenses.
According to Ojok, despite the poor response to the call for applications, the university will commence the operationalisation of the Kotido campus from the 15th to the 20th of August 2024 with the number of students who have shown interest.
He further appealed to the locals to make good use of the facility now that it has been brought closer to them, in order to reduce unnecessary costs associated with upgrading and studying in other districts.
In February 2023, Dr. Sidonia Angom, the Chairperson of the Task Force for Gulu University Constituent College-Moroto, said the Kotido campus was projected to benefit about 1,427 Grade 3 teachers across the Karamoja sub-region and the neighbouring Teso, Lango, and Acholi regions.