Kampala — FOR the last five years, Makerere University has been in the media for strikes, mismanagement, decline in academic rating, lack of salaries for staff, diversion of pension funds, dilapidated halls of residence (part of Lumumba hall was evacuated two years ago because it was feared it could collapse on students), standoff between academic staff and management due to lack of teaching materials; the list is long.

Makerere University, once referred to as the Harvard of Africa, is now trailing in ratings and lecturers warned during the long vacation that should the university open before management addresses their grievances, they would not teach.

After last year's strike which forced the university to close, the Government instituted an inquiry. Among other things, the committee found that the university was under-funded by the Government.

Makerere is not alone. We witnessed the strikes at Kyambogo University and its subsequent closure. Investigations revealed that the university had no professors because it was poorly funded by the Government. But despite these findings, the Government is reluctant to address the issues.

Besides public universities, government-owned secondary schools like Lango College, Nabumali High School, Nyakasura School, Busoga College and others which used to be first world schools are dilapidated. This is a clear manifestation that the Government has neglected a bigger section of the education sector. However, it is the common man, the tax payer, who suffers.

The Uganda Revenue Authority has boasted of hitting its targets every year. Revenue collections have hit a record $3b but the tax payer is still denied the basic need of quality education. We have the money but the problem is poor priorities and short-sightedness.

The Government's focus on universal primary and secondary education is not convincing. It only shows that the Government does not realise that education, like defence, should be given priority. Unless the human resource is fully developed, Uganda will never develop and foreign investors will be employing their kin who will repatriate their earnings back to their countries.

The Government should reconsider its priorities and fund the entire education sector to make the future of the young generation better.

The writer is an alumnus of Makerere University