Makerere Suspension of Master of Journalism a Step to the Rear

By James Thembo,    

October 19, 2011

The Closure of the Master of Arts in Journalism  and Communication programme at Makerere University this academic year (2011/2012) is a stunning example of the challenges facing Journalism training and  education in Uganda and East Africa as a whole.

For the profession and craft that Journalism is and the role it plays in society, me thinks Makerere University should have put staid endeavors in ensuring continuity of a course that started at the University at undergraduate level in 1988.

Suspension of the programme having been due to the departure of two  professors (one of them on Sabbatical leave) and another senior lecturer, is highlight enough of the nature of exodus of highly qualified journalism instructors (call it local brain drain) to the private sector where pay is better.

Some of the commonest destinations for departing graduate practitioners and lecturers are the areas of Public Relations and private consultancies.  Most PR and Information Officers and Consultants have increasingly become essential mediators in virtually all government departments and private organisations.

What will be the impact of suspension of the programme, you might ask.  Well, Makerere University is (has been) the only institution where the Master of Arts in Journalism and Communication programme (exists) existed.

First, the academic dreams of over 100 students who, according to the University Administrators, had applied for the programme this year will be smashed until the course re-opens.

It also is a step backward instead of a move toward to starting a PhD programme in this area. In the mean time, it could lead to an even bigger shortage of lecturers at the department, including at the Undergraduate level.

Suspension of the programme will similarly affect prospects of media research  development since at the M.A level, student research works, part of the requirements for this degree’s award, are scholarly.

For solutions, Makerere University should end senior staff shortage by hiring expatriate staff, pay existing staff well, adopt on-line teaching and use of satellite instruction links and up-date equipment at the various colleges to enable technologically-linked training.

Equally, relevant Associations like the African Journalism Educators (CAJE) and the African Media Educators (FAME) should rise to the occasion and think-out long-lasting solutions.

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