KAMPALA – Makerere University has suspended the admission of students to its Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme for the 2020/21 academic year amid concerns that the institution does not meet the requirements set out by the Joint East African Medical and Dental Council.
In a June 23, 2020 letter to the student body, the Makerere University Academic Registrar, Mr Alfred Masikye Namoah, said the students admitted to the programme will be transferred to other institutions of their choice as the university strives to meet conditions of the regional body.
“Accordingly, the students admitted to the programme on government sponsorship will be shifted to other choices that they applied for…. We regret the inconveniences,” he said.
In July 2019, PML Daily reported that a joint inspection team from the East African Community Secretariat has recommended the closure of the Dental School at Makerere University for failing to meet the minimum teaching standards.
In a report dated 3rd July, 2019, the joint council recommended that Makerere University should close the dental department at it’s Mulago-based College of Health Sciences and redistribute the already admitted students for the September 2019 intake to other dental schools in the region over failure to meet the minimum requirements.
The report added that the Makerere University dental school does not meet the requirements in terms of staffing and infrastructure.
“The University should stop new admissions in the Dental programme until the recommendations are complied with a re-inspection by EAC Partner States National Medical Boards and Councils,” the report says.
The report was compiled by influential medical practitioners in the region including, Prof. David Ngassapa from the medical council of Tanzania, Mr. Daniel Yumbya, the CEO of Kenya Medical Practitioners Council and Dr. Tharcisse Ngambe from Rwanda Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council.
The medical council is set for the second round of inspection come July 20, 2020.
The same council last year cleared the newly established Kampala International University (KIU) Dental School to admit students and recommended the closure of the one at Makerere University for failing to meet the minimum teaching standards.