Makerere University College of Business and Management Science (COBAMS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) aimed at exploring collaboration opportunities for mutual benefit.
At the signing ceremony held at the School of Business in Makerere, Prof Eria Hisali, Principal College of Business and Management Science, noted that the partnership is timely as the college programs are pushing to attain international recognition.
“This milestone (exemptions) is a big stamp of quality to the programs we offer as a college but also to the program we offer as a University, we are not in a high ranking position on this continent by mistake but we worked for it. On the side of the University, we are committed to ensuring that we operationalize everything required of us,” Prof Hisali said.
He also revealed that at COBAMS, they have put in place measures to ensure that their students not only pass exams but thoroughly understand what they are being taught and can practice it excellently.
“We give additional support to our students whereby we have several graduate fellows to assist students to understand very well what they could have missed in the lecture room through engaging in group discussions,” he added.
Charlotte Kukunda, ACCA Country Manager for Uganda on behalf of her team, revealed that these exemptions have not been just given to Makerere but it has worked for them and thus urged the staff to work hard so that the eight exemptions of (Bachelor of Commerce -Accounting program) be increased to the maximum exemptions of nine.
“The award of eight successful exemption re-accreditation that was done by the UK Accreditations team is a demonstration of all the input which was put in the curriculum as it was being reviewed and updated. When we offer exemptions, it’s not like a freeby but they have earned it,” remarked Kukunda.
She also noted that the award of exemptions is a clear sign that Makerere’s curriculum has aligned itself to professional qualifications to that tune.
With this in process, out of 14 exams for ACCA, students will be exempted from eight and will only be doing the balance which will save them both time and resources.
Akileng Godfrey, the Dean of Students at the University, applauded ACCA for having assisted the University together with its staff in several ways like getting internship placement/ jobs for the students as well as training of several staff members.
“I am very proud as team leader that through this initiative with support of University council, management and college, we have five full time staff out of 21 in the department of account with ACCA.”
This MOU is a follow up of the earlier one which was signed in 2014. ACCA recently accredited the Bachelor of Commerce – Accounting which will be running for 5 years starting from 2023 up to 2027.