MAKERERE
UNIVERSITY
INITIATIVES AND ACTIVITIES AT THE SCHOOL OF STATISTICS
AND APPLIED ECONOMICS
College of Business and Management Sciences
Makerere University
Kampala,Uganda
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
1
Outline of the Presentation
1. SSAE becomes a School.
2. SSAE Academic Programs
3. Activities of SSAE
4. Challenges to SSAE
5. Training Challenges to NSOs
1.0 ISAE becomes a School
•
•
Makerere University has reconstituted itself into Colleges with effect from 1st
July 2011.
The Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (ISAE) has now become the
School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE) with three
departments:
–
–
–
Department of Statistical Methods changes to Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science.
Department of Planning and Applied Statistics and
Department of Population Studies.
•
The School of Statistics and Applied Economics is now headed by a Dean and
not a Director; and SSAE together with the School of Economics and School
of Business now form the College of Business and Management Sciences
headed by a Principal.
•
In order to promote research and knowledge and skills transfer, a Centre for
Statistics and population research has been established.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
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2.0
(i)
•
•
•
•
•
SSAE Academic programmes
Undergraduate Programs
Bachelor of Statistics
Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science
Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Economics
Bachelor of Science in Population Studies
Bachelor of Science in Business Statistics
(ii) Postgraduate Programs
• Postgraduate Diploma in Demography
• Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics
• Master of Statistics
• Master of Science in Quantitative Economics
• Master of Arts in Demography
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
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2.0
•
•
•
SSAE Academic programmes (cont.)
Master of Science in Population and Development
Master of Science in Population and Reproductive Health
Master of Science in Population Studies
(iii)
Doctorate Programs
• PhD in Statistics
• PhD in Population Studies
Staff Establishment:
SSAE has 42 members of academic staff (establishment is 69 positions) out of
which 23 are PhD holders and 8 are currently enrolled on PhD programmes.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
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2010/11 Student Population
Table 1.(a) Undergraduate
COURSE
Female
Male
Total
BPOP
205
186
391
BSAS
58
135
193
BSBS
210
286
496
BSQE
166
295
461
BSTA
82
204
286
TOTAL
721
1106
1827
PERCENTAGE
39.5%
60.5%
100%
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School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
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2010/11 Student Population
Table 1.(b) Postgraduate
COURSE
Female
Male
Total
PGD (STAT)
1
5
6
MSTAT
2
17
19
MSC PRH
5
11
16
MSC QE
2
5
7
MSC PS
2
2
4
MA DEMO
1
1
2
MA PD
1
1
2
PH.D STAT
1
3
4
PH.D POP
1
0
1
TOTAL
16
45
61
PERCENTAGE
26.2%
73.8%
100%
The number of international students currently stands at 65 for the undergraduate programs
and 6 for the postgraduate programs.
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61st Graduation Ceremony
•
SSAE presented a total of 515 graduands at the Makerere University 61st graduation
ceremony held during the week of January 17 - 21, 2011 (though SSAE lacks regional
supply and demand information). A total of 482 graduands were presented in various
undergraduate programs while 33 were presented for graduate programs as shown in
Table 2 (a) and (b)......
Table 2 (a): Undergraduate
COURSE
FEMALE
MALE
TOTAL
BPOP
76
47
123
BSAS
22
20
42
BSBS
50
74
124
BSQE
42
68
110
BSTA
29
54
83
TOTAL
219
263
482
PERCENTAGE
45.4%
54.6%
100%
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School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
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61st Graduation Ceremony
Table 2 (b) : Postgraduate
COURSE
FEMALE
MALE
TOTAL
PGD STA
0
1
1
PGD DEMO
0
0
0
MA PD
0
3
3
MA DEMO
1
4
5
MSC QE
0
2
2
MSC PRH
3
5
8
MSTAT
1
11
12
PH.D
0
2
2
TOTAL
5
28
33
PERCENTAGE
15%
85%
100%
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3.0
Activities of SSAE
• (a)
Reviewing and updating of the curriculum
The curricula of all the programmes at SSAE were reviewed to enhance their relevance by:
• Critically looked at the concerns raised about statistical training in Africa i.e. need for
more practical training and training being done from both the supply and demand side.
• Noting the changes in demand for data from traditional statistics to development
statistics for informing policy and development agenda.
• Including new areas that are relevant and important e.g. Qualitative assessments,
Statistical legislation and ethics, gender responsive statistics, National and International
frameworks, Development of indicators etc.
• Empowering the students with communication skills, IT presentation techniques, report
writing, use of GIS, more detailed data analysis techniques most especially policy
related analysis.
• Considering the concerns and feedback of the various stakeholders namely the
Advisory Council, ministries, local government, private sector, etc. and also through the
field attachment programme regarding the quality of the graduate required to fulfil their
demands.
• Competition from other universities/institutions.
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Activities Cont’d
• Effecting changes in the admission requirements as a result of new subjects
that are relevant to the different programmes.
• To take into account changes in the job market (increased needs for reliable
statistical data – opening up new recruitment opportunities)
(b)
Designing of new programmes
In order to offer more specialised training in selected areas, the following
programmes have been developed and are due for submission to the University
Senate and Council for Approval:
• M.Sc. in Actuarial Science
• M.Sc. in Business Statistics and
• M. Sc. in Agricultural Statistics
(c)
Enhancing partnerships for statistical training
Between SSAE and UBOS and other official statisticians
• Official statisticians (senior and experienced) at UBOS teaching more practical
and applied courses at SSAE
•Involvement of SSAE staff in the work of data producers in the development of
methodologies, the design of survey instruments, data analysis and report writing,
etc.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
School of Statistics and Applied Economics (SSAE)
Activities Cont’d
•
Official statisticians at UBOS assisting the academicians to identify areas for
methodological research.
• access to datasets from UBOS. and
•
Effective participation by official statisticians in the advisory Council of SSAE
With other statistical training centres
• With EASTC and ENSEA through the assistance of In Went Germany now GIZ.
(Harmonisation of curriculum, staff exchange, needs assessment, joint research, etc.)
• Efforts are being made to build partnership with the Statistical Institute for Asia and the
Pacific
• AGROST to help create meaningful partnerships with the other training institutions in
Africa and beyond
Coming up with an inventory of the Alumni of SSAE
• promote awareness of the alumni achievements and accomplishments among all
alumni,
• get professionally successful alumni to mentor students and staff, and
• generally to support the work of SSAE
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Activities Cont’d
Other Partnerships developed for statistical training and research by SSAE
• African Migration and Development Policy Centre in Nairobi
• UNFPA
• Africa Development Bank which is funding the International Comparison Programme (ICP)
and the Statistical Capacity Building (SCB) Project
• FAO
• North West University of South Africa to develop a Masters programme in Population
Research Policy
• Lund University, Sweden (Twinning arrangement for the M.Sc. in Population and
Reproductive Health)
• GIZ for statistical capacity building
• Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France.
• The Southern Sudan Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation (SSCCSE) for training of
their staff in statistics and planning
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2016
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Activities Cont’d
(d) Introducing e-learning to vary and strengthen teaching programmes
In the triangular cooperation between GIZ, SSAE and ENSEA and later EASTC, one
of the major activities was for GIZ to train participants from these institutions in
technical and didactical skills of e-learning. This was done in October 2010. This
programme provided:
An in-depth and practical insight into the preparation and delivery of e-learning
from the angle of an e-learning manager, instructional designer, content developer
and on-line tutor. This is one of the steps that have been taken to build capacity for
trainers at these centres and to help in the implementation of the e-learning
projects in future.
E-learning centre at the University has been put in place but the training of staff as
far as this mode of delivery is concerned has been very slow.
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Activities Cont’d
(e) Modularization of programs
This enables short-term, competency based training of varying durations for the
on the job and off the job training.
(f) Improving training in statistical analysis, reporting, presentation and communication
As already stated this has been taken care of in the review of programmes
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Activities Cont’d
(g) Conducting short-term training courses for data producers and training for data
users.
The following courses have been conducted this academic year:
(i)
Project Monitoring and Evaluation for NSSF and NARO
(ii)
Macroeconomics Modelling and Forecasting
(iii)
Use of Statistics for Policy, Planning and Decision making
(iv)
Processing and Analysis of Economic Data for Banks
(v)
Project Planning and Management
(vi)
Data Analysis using SPSS/STATA
It is hoped that SSAE will also be involved in the training and retraining of junior
cadre staff e.g. statistical data clerks, field staff, etc as well as help in the
existing general in-service training programmes at UBOS.
(h) Improving academic and professional development of staff
•
Professional seminars are organised once a month at SSAE
•
A good number of staff are now members of ISI, International Biometric
Society, Union for African Population Studies and other professional
associations. All staff are members of the Uganda Statistical Society.
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Activities Cont’d
• SSAE staff have attended international seminars and conferences, and written articles for
publication in professional journals. The AfDB SCB project has contributed significantly to this
aspect.
•The concept of Mentoring is gradually being introduced as it is believed a
combination of classroom discussions, mentoring and internship in the training of
statisticians for all applications of statistics is the best approach.
(i) Expanding undergraduate research and internship by:
• Encouraging students to use for their research data sets from NSOs.
• Having internship sometimes referred to as industrial training being a basic
requirement for all second year undergraduate students at SSAE. This
attachment gives valuable work experience and skills to students to enhance
their employability and it also increases awareness among students of job and
career opportunities.
• This cooperation also enhances the potential for research with the various
partners.
• It is also possible to access training facilities and resources that are not
available at SSAE.
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Activities Cont’d
(i) Improving community services through research relevant to development needs
of society
SSAE is trying its best to provide appropriate information solutions to governments, the
private sector and civil society. During this academic year, SSAE has carried out the
following research projects
• Situation Analysis on Gender, Population and Reproductive Health funded by UNFPA
• A Baseline Survey in Five Model Fishing villages in Kalangala District funded by the
Iceland International Development Agency
• African Migration Survey: Remittances of People working abroad to the country funded
by the World Bank
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4.0 Challenges to SSAE
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Funding
Staff retention
Inadequate space
Fellowships for both trainers and trainees
Provision of consultants and visiting lecturers
Equipment and Accessories
Small number of trainees from the user countries (lack of information, inadequate
promotion of programs at SSAE, other avenues for training, funding a limitation, role of
development partners)
Support for seminars, workshops and short courses in priority areas of applied statistics
Periodic assessments of the performance of SSAE with regard to the needs of the user
countries.
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5.0 Training Challenges to NS0s
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Decentralisation – need to develop capacity at different levels of local
govt. There is also increased demand for quality data and institutional
changes in the generation of statistics.
Retention of staff as a result of competition from private sector, etc ; and
therefore staff development at different levels has to become routine.
Need for a training plan to avoid having the right training for the wrong
people; right training for the right people only to go back and cannot use
their new skills and staff wanting training which is different from what they
need. (In general, lack of national manpower development plans)
Knowing which institutions are offering what type of training so that these
institutions are optimally used.
Determining what type of training they need for the professional staff. Do
they go for short courses, Masters training, post- Masters training. There
is need to assess these needs from time to time.
Maintaining the quality of the products from their staff and thus need for
continuous professional development.
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