By Benson Tumusiime
The students at Makerere University law school are in great shock after receiving information that the university has sky rocketed law pre-entry examination fees which are due to take place this Saturday.
The university has been charging Shs.80,000 per candidate to sit the exams, which were introduced six years ago as a requirement for admission to the Bachelor of Laws at the country’s oldest institution.
However, the charges have now been increased to one hundred ten thousand shillings (110,000) this academic year.
Dr Muhammed Kiggundu, the university communications director, yesterday said; “Pre-entry exam fees have been increased to Shs110, 000 to take care of materials which the students use.”
Critics, however, said this money will lock out financially disadvantaged but bright students.
Dr Yusuf Nsubuga, the director of Peace and Education Centre of Uganda, told Daily Monitor that pre-entry examinations, especially in government institutions, are a contradiction and pose a vote of no confidence to the ministry of Education and the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb), which administer national examinations that have for years been used as entry points to institutions of higher learning.
“It is also becoming expensive for the ordinary parent. I have never supported that idea of government universities starting pre-entry examinations,” he added.
Earlier, the Makerere University academic registrar, Mr Alfred Masikye Namoah, invited candidates interested in offering Bachelor of Laws to apply and sit the pre-entry examinations. “All applicants interested in government sponsorship must have applied for Bachelor of Laws by filling in the government application form. Applicants interested in private sponsorship for day and evening will apply for admission after passing the pre-entry examination,” Mr Namoah said in a notice.
