Kampala — Education in East African universities will soon be harmonised, the education ministers of the East African countries - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have agreed.

According to a statement released by the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), the three ministries in the region have already concluded the Universities' draft curriculum for selected programmes - Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and Basic sciences. "Students undertaking the four selected subjects will be gratis to move between all East African universities from December when implementation of the programme starts," the statement says in part.

Once in operation, the initiative will enable students transfer credits between and among public and private universities within the region. According to the details of the programme, a student pursuing Medicine at Makerere University, for example, will find it unproblematic transferring credit to the University of Nairobi or University of Dar-es-Salaam.

The Credit Accumulation Transfer System Project is expected to harmonise curriculum in various disciplines to augment student mobility. The development comes a year after Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE), Kenya's Commission for Higher Learning and Tanzania's Commission for Universities resolved to open up the region's institutions of higher learning to all citizens of the three countries.

The resolution followed numerous complaints lodged by Kenyan and Ugandan students to the IUCEA that the region's students were disadvantaged as the closed system of operation was barring students from exploiting the diverse research opportunities in the region. Even Kenya and Tanzania that currently use the same accreditation method are locked out because of the absence of a policy legitimising credit transfers.

As the programme comes in to play, however, students pursuing courses outside the four selected ones will have to wait for the three education councils to bring the other disciplines on board. The breakthrough was announced at Kenya's School of Monetary Studies after a joint consultative meeting attended IUCEA. The event had been convened to review the project.

Kenya's Science and Technology Permanent Secretary, Crispus Kiamba, hailed the programme saying it would not only enhance student mobility but lead to the creation of an East African Higher Education area. He said: "...this development will eliminate huddles to student's mobility because it will abolish student visas and enable East African Universities gain international recognition."

However, when the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Livingstone Luboobi, was contacted on October 25 to give an update of the development, he said: "My friend, call me next week, right now I am boarding a plane." The university's Academic Registrar, Amos Olal-Odur, could not be reached for comment as his phone was switched off.

Uniform grading system

The regions universities are also set to adopt a common grading system currently being drafted by the IUCEA based in Kampala. Presently, East African universities apply different grading levels.

At Makerere University, for example, for one to qualify for a First Class Honours Award, they must hit above the 80 per cent mark. A Second Class is graded at between 70 and 79 per cent, a Second Class Lower Division lies between 60 and 69 per cent and a pass degree is awarded at the 50-59 per cent mark.

At the Universities of Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, however, a criteria adopted from the British universities is applicable. Unlike Makerere, a First Class Honours begins at the 70th mark, a Second Class Upper Division between 60 and 69 per cent, a Second Class Lower between 50-59 and a Pass is 40-49 per cent. 39 per cent and below is considered as failure, 10 marks lower than Makerere's level.

IUCEA is therefore tasked to determine the "pass" level by either adopting the Makerere mode of grading or the Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam style or formulate a totally new system that will cut across the region. "The different grading systems will soon be phased out and a common grading policy adopted," the statement further reads.

A source who attended the Nairobi meeting, however, said that a sharp disagreement erupted when a Ugandan delegate proposed a hike in the grading system because of the increase in the number of students attaining first class degrees today. He claimed the majority of students were using dubious ways to get the prestigious award.

Makerere recently increased its grading level for Post-graduate students who now have to attain a 60 per cent mark to pass a paper.