NRU :: Browsing by Author "Nabaho, Lazarus"

Browsing by Author "Nabaho, Lazarus"

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Assuring the Quality of Teaching at Makerere University in Uganda: Practices and Experiences of Academics and Students
(Alternation Journal, 2016) Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica N.; Oonyu, Joseph
Quality is an ethos in academia and assuring it is top of the agenda at many universities. Since the 1990s, substantial research has been conducted on the quality assurance systems of developed countries with advanced higher education systems. However, literature on quality assurance systems in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa is limited. The study examined the practices and experiences of stakeholders at the student-academic interface in assuring the quality of teaching at Makerere University. A case study design was employed and respondents included academics and final-year students. Data was collected through documents review, interviews and focus group discussions. Thematic analysis and content analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings demonstrate that the university employs five practices to assure the quality of teaching, namely, recognition of teaching, student evaluation of teaching, pedagogical training, monitoring and supervision of teaching, competence-based deployment and interfacing. The findings further show that stakeholders had varying experiences of teaching quality assurance practices.
Battling Academic Corruption in Higher Education: Does External Quality Assurance Offer a Ray of Hope?
(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2011) Nabaho, Lazarus; Turyasingura, Wilberforce
The post-1980s changes in the global higher education landscape have triggered a burgeoning of incidents of academic corruption in higher education institutions. Since 2000, the discourse on how to combat academic corruption has gained traction in higher education and quality assurance is advanced as one of the strategies for fighting corruption in higher education. In 2016, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation) issued a “wakeup call” to quality assurance systems to take up a leading role in the battle against academic corruption in view of the massive societal risks associated with the vice. However, there is a dearth of empirical and conceptual studies on how the quality assurance systems, in general, and external quality assurance systems, in particular, can take up a leading role in the crusade against academic corruption. This conceptual article, using the crime– punishment model as an analytical lens, discusses how the national quality assurance agencies (and systems) can exercise the leadership role in combating academic corruption. The article advances the setting of academic integrity standards, institutional and program accreditation, accreditation of academic journals, sharing information and promoting whistleblowing, monitoring of institutions, applying sanctions, and ranking of higher education institutions on the basis of integrity indicators as options that are available to quality assurance agencies to exercise their leadership role in combating academic corruption. These approaches are likely to create both incentives and disincentives for the higher education institutions and staff in connection with engaging in academic corruption. Nevertheless, the article takes cognizance of the idea that external quality assurance is necessary but not sufficient in combating corruption at the academy level.
Community Participation And Solid Waste Management In Urban Councils: A Case Of Masaka Municipal Council
(2015) Luyimbazi, James; Nabaho, Lazarus
The inability of municipalities to handle the increasing amount of waste generated is a growing problem in most developing countries. The study examined how community participation affected solid waste management in Urban Councils, a case study of Masaka Municipal council. A theoretical framework was developed employing the Institutional Theory and the Waste Management Theory, which were used as a basis to compare theoretical and actual practices when analyzing waste management practices in municipalities. The report shows that despite some hurdles, there are some municipalities which have addressed the waste management problem using community participation in their localities. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were been used to obtain data that was analyzed to obtain key findings based on specific objectives that included: a positive correlation results for planning (.179**), implementation (.595**) and M&E (.431**) on Solid Waste Management. Findings indicated that there was very low community participation at the planning level and very poor community participation at the implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation levels to contribute to effective solid
Developing Generic Competences in Life Sciences: the untold story of the Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda
(Tuning Journal for Higher Education, 2017) Nabaho, Lazarus
Ordinarily, higher education should transform the student. Transformation refers to the development of high order subject and generic competences as a consequence of the university experience. The current discourse on generic competences, especially in the African context, focuses largely on the end (generic competences to be developed) rather than the means or process (how to develop the generic competences). Relatedly, the discussion on the subject treats generic competences as general and does not give insights into whether the priority attached to generic competences varies across disciplines. It is against this backdrop that the paper set out to identity the generic competences which are aligned with dental surgery and nursing education at Makerere University in Uganda. The paper further delved into the strategies for developing generic competences among medical students. Data for the paper was collected from dental surgery and nursing academics using interviews. The resultant data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that problem solving, lifelong learning and interpersonal competences are aligned with life sciences. The utilitarian nature of life sciences, the rapidly changing mode of diseases and the attendant treatment options, and the highly social nature of the life sciences explicate this apparent alignment. The findings further revealed that the university employs three approaches to develop generic competences: problem-based learning, conducting generic course units, and role modelling. Therefore, it can be inferred that the generic competences to be developed on a particular academic discipline and the approaches used to develop them are a curriculum issue.
Driving up Standards: Civil Service Management and Decentralization: Case Study of Uganda
(Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, 2012) Nabaho, Lazarus
There is a consensus that decentralization by devolution leads to improved service delivery, but debate on the appropriate type of personnel arrangements for delivering decentralized services is far from over. Put differently, the discourse on whether civil service management should be decentralized or devolved still rages on. Little wonder that countries which started off with decentralized civil service management models in the 1990s are currently centralizing some aspects of personnel management while others are having centralized and decentralized personnel arrangements operating side by side in sub-national governments. The paper argues that civil service management should be decentralized whenever a country chooses the path of decentralization by devolution. Using Uganda’s example, the paper highlights two major challenges of managing the civil service under separate personnel arrangements: civil service appointments devoid of merit, and the perennial failure to attract and retain qualified human resource. The paper presents proposals on how to ensure meritocracy in appointments and how to bolster attraction and retention of human capital in local governments.
Employee Benefits And Job Performance: The Case of National Enterprise Corporation (NEC)
(Uganda Management Institute), 2018) Nansasira, Mary; Nabaho, Lazarus; Kaguhangire Barifaijo, Maria
This study sought to establish the effects of employee benefits on employee performance at National Enterprise Corporation in Uganda. The objectives of the study were: to examine the relationship between short term employee benefits and employee performance at NEC, to find out whether insurance benefits have a relationship with employee performance at NEC and to examine whether retirement benefits have a relationship with employee performance at NEC. The study used a descriptive survey design on a population which entailed the employees at an executive level, managerial level, supervisory level and other junior employees. A total of 67 respondents were selected for the study. The researcher used both purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques in selecting the samples. The study was guided by a quantitative paradigm, but with substantial complementary qualitative methods. Questionnaires were self-administered which provided sufficient data from the sample selected, and interviews were used in order to get detailed data to complement and triangulate data which was collected using questionnaires. Data from the questionnaires was analyzed quantitatively using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) where correlation was used to establish the relationship between employee benefits and job performance. Data from questionnaires was presented in form of frequency tables and bar graphs.
An exploration of the ‘African (Union Commission’s) perspective’ of quality and quality assurance in higher education: Latent voices in the African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM)
(Latent voices in the African Quality Rating Mechanism, 2019) Nabaho, Lazarus; Turyasingura, Wilberforce
Quality assurance of African higher education is at the top of the region’s development agenda. Prompted by the imperative to enhance the quality of higher education, the Africa Union Commission is implementing the African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM). The AQRM is a continental tool that affords higher education institutions an opportunity to conduct self-assessment and compare their performance against similar institutions based on a set of common criteria. The mechanism is envisaged to engender institutional cultures of quality and enhance the quality of African higher education. However, a dearth of knowledge exists about the latent notions of quality in higher education that the AQRM aims to assure and the implicit institutional-level quality assurance practices in the AQRM. Therefore, this interpretivist article, based on a review of the AQRM survey questionnaire, answered the following research question: What notions of quality in higher education and the institutional-level quality assurance practices are inherent in the quality standards of the AQRM survey questionnaire? The findings revealed that quality as fitness for purpose and exceptional are the notions of quality in higher education in the AQRM.
Health Resource Management and Service Quality of Safe Male Circumcision Program In Southwestern Uganda
(Uganda Management Institute, 2014) Byabagambi, John B.; Nabaho, Lazarus; Namubiru Ssentamu, Proscovia
The purpose of the study was to establish the extent to which health resource management influenced service quality of Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) program in Southwestern Uganda. Specifically, the study strived to establish the extent to which health human resource management, financial resource management and health supplies management has influenced the service quality of SMC in Kisoro, Rukungiri and Isingiro districts. A cross-sectional survey design was used with both quantitative and qualitative approaches on an accessible population of 239 respondents comprising district SMC focal persons, health unit managers, SMC service providers and clients who have received SMC at selected health units. Data was collected using a questionnaire, interviews and documentary review, and analyzed using percentages, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and regression analyses. The study found out that health human resource management had a high positive significant relationship with service quality and it predicted 71% of the variance in service quality of SMC. Health financial resource management had positive significant relationship with service quality of SMC and it predicted 54% of the variance in project service quality. Health supplies resource management had a very high positive significant relationship with service quality of SMC and it predicted 87% of the variance in service quality. The study concluded that the service quality of SMC significantly depended on proper management of the human, financial and health
Human Resource Management in Local Governments: An analysis of Recruitment and Selection Practices in Uganda
(2013) Nabaho, Lazarus; Kiiza, Alfred
The transfer of staff hiring and firing decisions from the central government to the district local governments 1through the District Service Commissions (DSCs) is considered to be one of the cornerstones of the Ugandan decentralization reforms. Architects of Uganda's decentralization policy opted for a separate personnel system because it increases responsiveness, enhances accountability of civil servants to elected leaders, and overcomes the challenge of dual allegiance by civil servants to central and local government masters. However, the decentralization of civil service management has come along with unintended or perverse effects. One such effect issacrificing merit by the DSCs during recruitment and selection processes. In this paper, we argue that the legal framework for appointing the DSC and the defacto local eligibility criteria for appointment to the DSC; the size and ethnic composition of district local governments; and the tendency to associate districts with employment for indigenes are some of the key obstacles to merit-based recruitment and selection in local governments in Uganda.
Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics’ Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education
(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2011) Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica N.; Oonyu, Joseph
Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics’ perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and, therefore, do not point out cross-disciplinary perspectives in perceptions of quality. This article explores how academics across six disciplines perceive quality in higher education. Method: The article is anchored in the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected from 14 purposely selected academics at Makerere University in Uganda and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings show that academics perceive quality in higher education as transformation, fitness for purpose, and exceptional. The findings further demonstrate that a stakeholder group or an individual stakeholder can subscribe to a notion of quality in higher education but voice divergent views on its variants. Similarly, the academic discipline, the perceived purpose of higher education, and the problems within a higher education system have an influence on stakeholders’ conception of quality in higher education. Conclusions: From the findings it can be inferred that quality in higher education defies a single definition and that stakeholders’ perceptions of quality do not take place in a vacuum. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The multidimensional nature of quality and the contestations around it necessitate a multidimensional approach to assuring and assessing it.
Making Sense of an Elusive Concept: Academics’ Perspectives of Quality in Higher Education
(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2017) Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica Norah; Oonyu, Joseph
Since the 1990s studies on how stakeholders in higher education perceive quality have burgeoned. Nevertheless, the majority of studies on perception of quality in higher education focus on students and employers. The few studies on academics’ perceptions of quality in higher education treat academics as a homogeneous group and, therefore, do not point out cross-disciplinary perspectives in perceptions of quality. This article explores how academics across six disciplines perceive quality in higher education. Method: The article is anchored in the interpretivist paradigm. Data was collected from 14 purposely selected academics at Makerere University in Uganda and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings show that academics perceive quality in higher education as transformation, fitness for purpose, and exceptional. The findings further demonstrate that a stakeholder group or an individual stakeholder can subscribe to a notion of quality in higher education but voice divergent views on its variants. Similarly, the academic discipline, the perceived purpose of higher education, and the problems within a higher education system have an influence on stakeholders’ conception of quality in higher education. Conclusions: From the findings it can be inferred that quality in higher education defies a single definition and that stakeholders’ perceptions of quality do not take place in a vacuum. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: The multidimensional nature of quality and the contestations around it necessitate a multidimensional approach to assuring and assessing it.
Organisational citizenship behaviour and service delivery in urban local governments in Uganda
(Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, 2021) Turyasingura, Wilberforce; Nabaho, Lazarus
The quality of service delivery in decentralised local governments (LGs) in Uganda remains largely unsatisfactory, despite central government’s efforts to improve resource allocation and develop supporting legal frameworks. This has been partly linked to the extent to which LG staff exhibit ‘organisational citizenship behaviour’ (OCB). Extant literature has not given adequate attention to OCB in the decentralisation discourse, especially in sub-national governments within developing countries such as Uganda. This paper tackles the issue of OCB among LG employees and its relationship to service delivery by addressing the following questions: (a) what is the level of OCB among LG employees and (b) to what extent do various dimensions of OCB relate to the quality of service delivery in the decentralised LG context? The study is a cross-sectional survey of 165 LG staff in central Uganda. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Using content analysis and correlational analysis, the study found that OCB among LG employees is too low, and that higher levels of OCB are associated with improved service delivery. The study recommends that LGs should prioritise effective leadership and supervision, a client-centred performance culture, and empowerment of staff in order to promote OCB among employees and thereby enhance service delivery to local communities.
Organizational Change and Financial Performance: The Case Of Uganda Registration Services Bureau
(Uganda Management Institute, 2018) Kateregga, Faridah; Nabaho, Lazarus
The interest in carrying out this research was propelled by data that shows that since its formation in 1998, there has been a remarkable rise in the number of companies registered, civil registrations and trademarks registered including a significant increase in non-tax revenue collections. Guided by three objectives, the research adopted a correlation research design in which primary data was collected from a sample of 82 employees. The main statistical analyses used included a Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The outcome of the empirical analysis showed that changes in the salary structure and ICT adoption had a significant contribution in explaining financial performance of the Bureau. On the other hand, change in the administrative structure was insignificant in explaining this likelihood. The Key recommendations were that in order to be financially effective, the Bureau‘s attention should focus on addressing the problem of insufficient staffing, reducing bureaucratic tendencies and advocate for proper decentralization of power at the directorate levels.
Quality Assurance of Higher Education Governance and Management: An Exploration of the Minimum Imperative for the Envisioned African Common Higher Education Space
(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2020) Nabaho, Lazarus; Turyasingura, Wilberforce; Kiiza, Alfred K.; Andama, Felix; Beinebyabo, Adrian
In 2018, as part of the African higher education harmonisation drive, the African Union Commission (AUC) issued the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASG-QA). Within the ASG-QA, the AUC commits to promoting good governance and management in higher education institutions and provides governance and management as the second standard. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about the governance and management architecture for higher education institutions in the African higher education landscape that is either implicit or explicit in the ASG-QA. Against the above backdrop—using the ASG-QA as a source of data and content analysis as a data analysis method—the paper examines the governance and management imperative for higher education institutions in the African higher education landscape from the perspective of the AUC. Six themes relating to Africa’s higher education governance and management landscape emerged from the data: the role of the state (or government) in higher education, the internal governance framework, focus on quality and quality enhancement, observance of values of higher education, adherence to the principles of good governance, and capable leadership. The findings suggest that the governance and management architecture under the ASG-QA leans more towards providing common
Shared Governance in Public Universities in Uganda: Current Concerns and Directions for Reform
(International Journal of African Higher Education, 2019) Nabaho, Lazarus
This article focuses on Makerere University and Kyambogo University to highlight stakeholders’ concerns pertaining to the shared governance framework for public universities in Uganda. It is anchored in the interpretivist lens and the data was derived from three state-sponsored reports on the two public universities. The secondary data was analysed using content analysis. The findings demonstrate that the size, composition, authority and effectiveness of the university council and the senate and the mode through which leaders assume office, are the salient governance concerns in the two universities. The results further show that, stakeholders’ concerns regarding the current shared governance framework for public universities relate to the substance of the framework rather than its form or the framework itself. This suggests that the governance framework comprising the university council, the university senate and the administration is fit for purpose and in sync with the nature of the academy. Arguably, these governance organs (and the nature of their work) set a university apart from other organisations. Finally, without being prescriptive, the article sketches options for reform.
Stakeholder Management And Compliance With Election Guidelines In Uganda: A Case Study Of The 2006 Elections In Kasese Town Council
(Uganda Management Institute, 2009) Nadduli, Ahmed M.; Nabaho, Lazarus; Ochen-Chagara, Robert
The study sought to examine the extent to which stakeholder management strategies employed by the E.C of Uganda, affect the compliance by election administrators with electoral guidelines. Specifically this research sought to examine the effect of stakeholder identification procedures on compliance with electoral guidelines in Kasese Town council, to establish the effect of stakeholder analysis on compliance with electoral guidelines in Kasese Town council, to examine the effect of the adopted strategy of training on compliance with electoral guidelines in Kasese Town council, to find out the effect of the adopted strategy of facilitation on compliance with electoral guidelines in Kasese Town council and to evaluate the moderating effect of political interference on compliance with electoral guidelines in Kasese Town council. The study focused on election administrators in Kasese Town Council, including polling officials, party agents, tally clerks and supervisors. Responses were sought from officials in the E.C planning departments and the media houses in Kasese District.
The Third Mission of Universities on the African Continent: Conceptualisation and Operationalisation
(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2022) Nabaho, Lazarus; Turyasingura, Wilberforce; Twinomuhwezi, Ivan; Nabukenya, Margaret
The purpose of the study was to explore the conceptualization of the third mission in African higher education and the activities that universities are required to engage in and/or are engaging in to fulfil the third role. Method: The interpretive lens underpinned the study. Data were collected from the documents of the African Union Commission (AUC), in which the third mission is both implicit and explicit. We used content analysis as a data analysis technique. Results: The AUC conceptualizes the third mission as a role of universities, as a social role, as forging partnerships, and as being mutually beneficial to society and the university. Universities in Africa are implementing and/or required to implement 11 third mission activities aimed at bridging the gap between them and society. Almost all third mission activities are anchored to the classical missions of teaching and research associated with higher education institutions. Conclusions: We concluded that: (a) the third mission is built on the classical missions of universities; (b) the distinction between the classical missions and the third mission is that the first mission (teaching) involves the dissemination of knowledge through academic education while the second mission (research) hinges on the generation of academic knowledge, but the third mission involves both in a non-academic context; and (c) the third mission is a multidimensional concept. Implication for Theory and Practice: The study adds to the limited literature on the third mission of universities from a supranational perspective. Second, it extends the conceptual framework of Molas-Gallart
Uganda’s National Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Measures and Implications for Public Governance
(The International Institute of Administrative Sciences, 2020) Bakenegura Namara, Rose; Nabaho, Lazarus; Kagambirwe Karyeija, Gerald; Nkata, James L.; Lukwago, Rajab
This paper analyses Uganda’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uganda responded to the pandemic decisively –with context-specific measures which were underpinned by science rather than fiction –thus registering quick wins and militating against high infection and death rates which are a norm in other jurisdictions. The efficacy of Uganda’s response is attributed to early preventive strategies that were implemented prior to the identification of first COVID-19 confirmed case, the leadership and decisiveness from the topmost decision making organs, unwavering commitment by political and technical officials, the scientific and social experience of handling previous viral epidemics, consistent communication of the guidelines to the populace, effective coordination of the different institutions and actors, and the involvement and vigilance of the masses. However, the responses were constrained by structural and practical challenges such as the limited resources for the health sector, limited inter-governmental coordination and some hiccups in the implementation processes. The early lessons from the Uganda’s experience underscores the critical role of leadership support, effective coordination and communication mechanisms; and the imperative to pursue whole and multilevel involvement of institutions and actors– including the population– in the fight against global pandemics.
Understanding the governance dynamics of a supranational university: The African pioneering model
(Tuning Journal for Higher Education, 2020) Nabaho, Lazarus; Turyasingura, Wilberforce; Aguti, Jessica N.; Andama, Felix A.
Since the 1990s, university governance has attracted the attention of scholars. However, most of the extant studies focus on the governance of national-level universities and use national regulatory frameworks. Therefore, there is a dearth of studies that hinge on the governance of supranational higher education institutions, such as the Pan African University (PAU), with the aid of regional regulatory frameworks. Consequently, little is known about the governance architecture of supranational universities, which are a post-2010 phenomenon. In view of the above, the article answers the following question: How is the Pan African University governed within a multi-layer environment? Using an interpretive lens, data was collected from the Revised Statute of the Pan African University, 2016. Content analysis was used to analyse the resultant data. The findings revealed that observance of the values of higher education, adoption of the steering-at-a-distance university governance model by the African Union Commission and of the shared governance arrangement, and merit-based selection of staff are the hallmarks of the PAU governance architecture. The governance model of the PAU resonates with the governance architecture of country-level universities in form rather than in substance. The notable variations in the substance include the partial adoption of the philosophy of ‘letting the managers manage’, the existence of multi-governance layers, lay
Unravelling Quality in Higher Education: What Say the Students?
(Africa Education Review, 2019) Nabaho, Lazarus; Aguti, Jessica N.; Oonyu, Joseph
The extant literature on quality assurance in higher education points to a dearth of empirical studies on students’ conceptions of quality in higher education. This interpretivist article reports on a study that explored the conceptions of quality in higher education by final year undergraduate students in six academic disciplines at Makerere University, Uganda. Data for the article was collected from 50 final year students in eight discipline-specific focus group discussions and was analysed using thematic analysis. Four conceptions of quality in higher education were evident from the participants’ responses, namely: quality as transformation (value-added); quality as fitness for purpose; quality as excellence; and quality as consistency/ perfection (zero-errors). Nevertheless, transformation and fitness for purpose featured as the dominant conceptions of quality in higher education and these conceptions of quality did not take place in a vacuum. The students rationalised transformation and fitness for purpose by what they perceived the purpose of higher education to be. The multiple and yet competing purposes of higher education occasioned the two definitions of quality in higher education. Therefore, consensus on the meaning of quality can be hastened by arriving at a common purpose of higher education in a given society rather than engaging with the notions of quality themselves. This thinking presupposes the idea that the purpose of higher education varies across time and space and the definition of quality in higher education should be responsive to the prevailing purpose(s) of higher education in a given society.

Browsing by Author "Nabaho, Lazarus"

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