Meeting Emergent Needs in Uganda: A Path to Accelerated Development of Community and Work Colleges

Abstract

National development conditions and goals in Uganda, as in many nations, are such that the robust establishment of community colleges could provide many solutions. Yet the creation of such has been inhibited by a number of factors including the historic roots of higher education in former colonial contexts and a lack of Ugandan familiarity with appropriate models. Proposed in this article is a path forward in Uganda and, by extension, in other sub-Saharan and developing nation contexts, for the accelerated development of community colleges and other alternative models, in particular the work college. The model of inquiry proposed here would involve the short-term exchange of experts, policy makers, and educators, and the consideration of Western models in local contexts. With relatively modest funding, the plan could be executed in a few months and could yield a plan endorsed by both Ugandan education leaders and experts in the models under consideration. The concept could be executed with application to other national contexts in the developing world.