Lack of Nursing Educators in Uganda

Well today was a day for ministry meetings…and would-be ministry meetings.

I had a very exciting meeting with Dr. J. Okou of the Ministry of Education and Sports. Ugandan Universities are under the umbrella of this ministry so they are very important to our work. We discussed in great detail government sponsored scholarships (not full scholarships) and how we can work together. There is particular excitement over partnering together to support the tutor (nursing educators in this case) program in Uganda. There is only one such program in Uganda and they have an average annual enrollment of only 20-30 students. This is a real problem.

The lack of nursing educators is the biggest bottleneck in nursing education here….and globally I might add. For example, the largest nursing school in Uganda has over 800 students but only 9 tutors!! I will be touring this school later next week. It is agreed that supporting this program is a priority for TGF.

Unfortunately my date with the Ministry of Health did not materialize. I can’t say that this is a huge surprise. It is not uncommon to run into challenges (more common than not) scheduling commitments here. I have plans to visit for another day.

Signing off for now...