Writes Leo Odera Omolo
Member states of the five countries of the East African Community are set to pick centers of excellence to train a pool of human capital to aid I the regional bloc’s integration.
Reports emerging from the Arusha based secretariat of the community disclosed the proposed centers will focus on training human capital in several fields across the region.
The exercise is set to rekindle memories of the old days when Makerere University, University of Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam University were still constituent colleges of the then University of East Africa.
The system that was so vibrant in the 1960 and 1970s saw most engineers in the region trained in Nairobi, lawyers in Dar Es Salaam and doctors at Makerere in Kampala.
The report says that Ms Immaculate Mpemberane from Burundi, led a team of five regional assessors drawn from each of the five EAC states on an evidence based assessment exercise to establish whether the institutions that applied to be considered meet the required threshold.
“A candidate institution must have proper infrastructure and adequate staffing levels among other things to qualify, according to the Principal Officer in the Ugandan Ministry of Eat African Affairs Salvadore Amutenda said “The proposed centers of excellence are necessary because the community cannot fund all institutions in the region to meet the required regional standards of personnel needs.@ she said adding, the team would present a report of their findings to the East African Community Sectoral Council of ministers of Education that would then make a final decision.
From Uganda, Makerere University College of Agricultural and Enviromental Sciences,National Agricultural Research Organization,Uganda Industrial Research Institute and Nakawa Vocational Training Institute were shortlisted for assessment.
In Kenya, University of Nairobi’s College of Health Science, Kenya Institute of Education, Kenya Marine and fisheries research Institute, Bomas of Kenya and Rift Valley Institute of Technology were shortlisted.
In Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam marine Institute in Zanzibar,Taasisi ya Sanaa na Utamaduni-Bagamoyo, Dr Es Salaam Marine Institute, Mwaka Wildlife Unstitute and Moshi University Collage of Cooperative and Business Studies were short-listed. While Rwanda had Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, Tumba College of Technology, Institute of Scietific and Technological Research, Rwanda National Examination Council and Rwanda Museum, Heritage and Cultural Center. However assessors opinion was tat Mwaka Wildlife Institute ,Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies and Rwanda Museum, Heritage and Cultural Center, were not assessed due to time and financial constraints, says Amatenda, adding that selection exercise will occur in phases and institutions that miss out in the first phase will get the opportunity in the subsequent phases.
Ends