Project

Teacher Professional Development in Ugandan Universities: Towards Designing Labour Market Responsive Study Programmes

The world is facing severe economic problems and challenges, this has created and/or is creating anxiety among the masses regarding their income earning possibilities and opportunities that can enable them to meet their basics of life.

Profile

George is a Sandwich PhD candidate sponsored by NUFFIC under the auspice of NFP. His PhD training duration runs from 15/01/2011 to 15/01/2015 at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. George holds a MSc. in HRM in Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Education (Educational Administration / Curriculum) from Makerere University, Uganda.

He is currently working as a lecturer in the Department of Educational Planning and Management, Kyambogo University, Uganda. His expertise and  research interests lie in the area of teacher professional development; and HRM in education.

Research

We live in a time of rapid social, economic and political transformations, where change is the rule not the exception. However, despite the breakthrough and advancements in science, technology, and telecommunication. The world is facing severe economic problems and challenges, this has created and/or is creating anxiety among the masses regarding their income earning possibilities and opportunities that can enable them to meet their basics of life. The nature of work and/or working globally due to advanced technology, innovations and various economic pressures has been substantially redefined and is still being redefined. This raises concern about which competencies are required for people to work in this turbulent economic environment and what can be done to develop them.

To this effect, higher education institutions have a challenge to educate and train people with appropriate knowledge and skills that can make them productive and competitive in the ever changing global knowledge-based economy. Thus, endeavours to transform higher education has become a matter of great concern and top priority, especially in developing countries where its state is appalling. For instance, in Uganda there are calls to overhaul the higher education system, as it is accused of producing low quality graduates most of whom are considered irrelevant to the country’s  economic development and labour needs. The calls and policy directives to reform and/or transform higher education pose a big challenge to educationists and researchers. This study therefore sets out to contribute to the research agenda geared at establishing what can be done to enhance university teacher competence to design and implement Labour Market Responsive Study Programmes (LMRSPs) that can lead to the production of graduates that have capacity to solve present and future economic problems and challenges facing nations, organisations and individuals.

Main objective

The main objective of this study is to establish competencies and PDA university teachers need to design LMRSPs in Ugandan universities?

Main research question

What can be done to develop university teachers’ competence to design LMRSPs in Ugandan universities?

Sub-research questions

  1. Which generic competencies are required by university graduates to be effective in a responsive labour market scenario?
  2. What are the characteristics of a  LMRSP that develop these generic competencies?
  3. What is required from teachers to be able to design LMRSPs that develop graduates’ generic competencies?
  4. What is needed at institutional level to realise LMRSPs that develop graduates’ generic competencies?  

Keywords

  • Teacher professional development
  • Competence
  • Responsive Study Programmes
  • Labour Market

Project team

  • G.W. Kasule, MSc
  • Prof. Dr. M. Mulder
  • Dr. R. Wesselink