The Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) sent a delegation to Nigeria to select the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) lecturers to bridge the human resource gap in academics and obtain technical and skills transfer from Nigerian Universities.Â
The Vice-Rector Academic Affairs (AA), Dr. Jamil Serwanga, and the Academic Registrar, Dr. Halima Wakabi Akbar, traveled to Abuja, Nigeria, to meet with the TAC Director, Mr. Mohammed S. Kangiwa, to guide them in the selection process mid last month.Â
The IUIU duo selected 50 applicants from different fields, including education, law, management, social sciences, and health sciences.Â
According to the Vice-Rector, most of the applicants are Ph.D. holders except for a few Lab Scientists.
"Our target was to select staff who are in senior positions, mostly Ph.D. holders, to help not only in teaching and learning but also in research and supervision of postgraduate programs," Dr. Jamil emphasized.Â
Dr. Serwanga revealed that the technical and skills transfer program has been in existence for some time, but since COVID-19 broke out, there has been a suspension of the program.Â
"IUIU is now resuming to get assistance from Technical Aid Corps so that we get eligible lecturers to support teaching and learning in IUIU," he said.Â
However, the Vice-rector says the selected applicants are yet to confirm their acceptance to travel to and work in Uganda.
"We shall keep in touch with Director to let us know how many of the selected applicants will have confirmed, and we make arrangements for receiving them in February 2022 for orientation," Dr. Jamil revealed. Â
The Nigerian government established the TAC in 1987 to serve as a “practical demonstration of South-South Cooperation”. TAC is a voluntary international service scheme where highly skilled Nigerians volunteer to help offer academic services in developing countries for two years. The program was designed to share Nigeria's human resources with other African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries to strengthen their international relationship. The IUIU duo met with the Director of Programs to see how IUIU and TAC can maintain and enhance their relationship.
