Uncle Dödós

PSU’s latest position raises a fundamental question: Are we regulating pharmaceutical education to advance professional standards, or preserving limitations that no longer reflect Uganda’s realities and ambitions?👌🏻 Maintaining @VUKampala ‘s previous 50-student quota, challenging additional admissions, declaring cohorts void and seeking to halt teaching does not address the country’s shortage of pharmacists. It raises an even bigger question about whether our regulatory processes are keeping pace with the demands of a changing Uganda. Under @ReachDrMuganga leadership, Victoria University has continued to invest, expand and challenge conventional approaches to higher education. The university has pursued increased training capacity and sought regulatory inspection. Yes, a pending application is not approval. But neither should an unresolved application become an indefinite barrier to institutional progress, particularly when students’ futures are involved. Nobody is asking the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda or any regulatory authority to compromise professional standards, staffing requirements, infrastructure or clinical training. Quality is non-negotiable. However, regulation must be evidence-based, consistent, transparent and timely. The appropriate response is to inspect the facilities, assess actual capacity and make a decision based on established standards. There is another principle worth remembering: Regulatory authority comes with a responsibility to rise above personal interests, past differences and individual convictions. Public and professional responsibilities must never become instruments for settling personal scores or resisting institutional change. Institutions should be judged by their facilities, faculty, compliance and outcomes, not personalities or historical disagreements. Uganda cannot continue complaining about professional shortages while making it unnecessarily difficult for institutions willing to invest in producing more professionals. If Victoria University falls short, let credible inspection findings establish that. If it meets the requirements for increased intake, let the appropriate approval follow. Meanwhile, students who committed their futures to these programmes deserve fairness, clarity and protection. We must also understand something about transformation: it rarely comes without resistance. New ideas challenge established structures, unsettle familiar systems and sometimes expose the limitations of conventional thinking. That is not, in itself, evidence that the ideas are wrong. Dr. Lawrence Muganga’s vision should be examined through evidence, institutional development, educational quality and the impact of the graduates being produced, not simply through the discomfort that change may create. Uganda cannot keep demanding transformation while resisting every institution that dares to challenge the status quo. We cannot build tomorrow’s institutions using yesterday’s limitations. Quality must be protected. Accountability must be demanded. Innovation must be encouraged. And above all, progress must not be held hostage by resistance to change. The future will not wait for everyone to become comfortable with transformation. @bukyanajulius2 @cbusinge @CHRISBARYOMUNS1 @JorynCarterVU @CanaryMugume @SheilahGashumba