Islamic
University in Uganda (IUIU) through its staff development programme is to
sponsor more academic staff for doctoral studies in various programs. The Vice
Rector in charge of Academic Affairs Professor Ismail Simbwa Gyagenda revealed
that IUIU has patterned with various international organizations to sponsor its
staff for PhD studies.
“Ideally
70% of our academic staffs must have PhDs in the next five years. We are working
to support all our staffs to acquire PhD in all fields but with much focus on
sciences”, he emphasized.
IUIU’s
staff development programme that started over 20 years ago has so far benefited
over 180 staff at different levels including diploma, bachelors, masters and
PhD respectively.
The
Vice rector acknowledged the enormous
support from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Malaysia, Turkey,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, South Africa, and United Kingdom, geared towards
sponsoring IUIU staff in different programs.
“With support from the International Institute
of Islamic Thought (IIIT), we are also involved in exchange programs where our staff are trained in different African Universities like
the Muslim University of Morogoro in Tanzania and Bayero University in Nigeria”
he added.
Remarkably,
the Professor Gyagenda noted that the staff development program has been so
beneficial to the University since its inauguration.
He
highlighted that in institutions of higher learning like IUIU, staff
development programme ensures that at least majority of the staffs have a
consistent level of skills, knowledge and experience either at masters or PhD
level.
Dr.
SSali Bisaso Muhammad, one of the fellows of staff development program at both
his Masters and PhD level from Malaysia and Turkey respectively attributed his
accomplishment to IUIU’s sponsorship.
Currently,
Dr. Bisaso is the Director Centre for Postgraduate and a lecturer in the
faculty of education at the Islamic University in Uganda.
“The
training and development I got during my study a broad helped me to acquire
relevant and up to date knowledge. This program enhanced my professional development,
skills and it increased on my experience and flexibility in conducting
university businesses.” He testified.
Nevertheless,
statistics from the secretariat of the staff development programme indicates
that 19 of the University staffs are currently undertaking PhD studies in
different programs namely Sharia, Arabic Language, Management Studies,
Information System, Educational Management, Media and Communication Studies,
Radio and Television, History, Sociology, Economics, Agricultural Innovations
Computer Science, Physics, Astrophysics, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics
respectively.