Parliament Questions Overlapping Mandates Between Universities and Tertiary Institutions

A legislative debate is brewing in Uganda’s education sector as Members of Parliament question why traditional universities continue to offer certificate and diploma programs. The Parliamentary Committee on Education has called upon the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) to streamline the tertiary ecosystem, arguing that universities are drifting away from their core mandates of degree education and high-level research.

Led by legislators like Connie Nakayenze (Mbale City Woman MP), the committee noted that the aggressive expansion of lower-level certificates in universities is suffocating specialized technical institutes and vocational colleges. “We have established Uganda Technical Colleges and vocational institutes for skills training. If universities take over diplomas, what happens to these specialized colleges?” Nakayenze questioned during a recent budget review session.

Furthermore, MPs expressed concern that higher education is increasingly being treated as a commercial enterprise rather than a public service. To maximize enrollment numbers and tuition revenue, some universities established primarily for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are now admitting disproportionately high numbers of humanities students without expanding their infrastructural capacities.

NCHE Executive Director, Dr. Mary Jossy Nakhanda, acknowledged these systemic overlaps, particularly following the enactment of the TVET Act of 2025 and the establishment of the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE). The Attorney General’s office has been called upon to help harmonize the legal frameworks governing universities and tertiary institutions. Resolving this mandate clash is seen as vital to protecting the integrity and value of academic qualifications in Uganda.