The Vice-Chancellor of Soroti University of Science and Technology, Prof. John Robert Ikoja, has appealed to the Parliament for an allocation of UGX 4.8 billion to facilitate the recruitment of academic and administrative staff for three newly accredited programs. These programs, set to commence in the next academic year, include Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Finance, Accounting, Computing, and Physiotherapy.
Prof. Ikoja emphasized the need for additional funding, stating that the university requires an extra UGX 2.4 billion to recruit academic staff for teaching in the fourth and fifth years of these programs.
Addressing the visiting committee of education and sports of Parliament, chaired by John Twesigye, Prof. Ikoja highlighted the staffing gaps in the new programs. Specifically, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences has 15 vacant positions out of the required 28, Finance, Accounting, and Computing has a gap of 6 out of 11 positions, and Physiotherapy faces a vacuum of 17 positions out of the needed 29.
In addition to staff recruitment, the university seeks UGX 20 billion for the completion of the Anatomy block.
Prof. Ikoja expressed the university’s commitment to fulfilling its mandate of training competent professionals in Applied Sciences. Soroti University, established in 2019, currently offers programs in Medicine, Surgery, Nursing Science, and Engineering in Electronics and Computer Engineering.