UNIMAK’s Vice Chancellor highlights challenges
The University of Makeni, which had a humble beginning as a result of hard work, perseverance, teamwork and commitment, was established with the aim of promoting and continuing the increasing dialogue between faith and culture and making the former relevant is societies.
It is also aimed at providing quality education that it will also address the social, political, religious and economic challenges in the country.
Formally the Fatima Institute, the University of Makeni (UNIMAK) is a dream come true of Bishop Emeritus Rev. Dr. George Biguzzi.
As the first private university in the country, UNIMAK offers certificate, diploma and degree courses under the following departments: Agriculture, Business Administration and Management, Communications and Information Technology, Development Studies, Education, Law, Philosophy, and Public Administration.
With Reverend Professor Father Joseph Alimamy Turay (in photo) as Vice Chancellor, UNIMAK continues to support students with its little resources to ensure that they achieve their academic goal.
About seventeen students have so far been sent abroad for post graduate studies, and thirteen of which had their PhDs.
The University, according to Father Joe Turay is currently giving priority to women in terms of encouraging them to gain enrolment. He told this press that the university has provided full and half scholarship support to about sixty students to the tune of about two hundred million Leones (Le200million).
The University has for the first time produced two female students amongst the three that are enrolled in the Law School.
In spite of the above successes, UNIMAK is however facing challenges that require government and other partners’ attention. Father Turay revealed that as a private university, it cannot afford the cost to send students out of the country for studies.
“We are not receiving subvention from government and the support from our Missionaries overseas is not forthcoming,” he said, and added that the government and other partners should come in with support in order to enable the university to achieve its objectives.
UNIMAK has encouraging fees, which are normally used as running cost for administration and operations.
Despite the above challenges, UNIMAK continues to operate with its core values of reflecting high Christian ideals, striving for academic excellence, courses are demand driven and therefore meet the community needs, emphasizing on quality and not quantity, leading in education, development and values and treats everyone with respect.
“With the Ebola saga in the country and all its challenges, the University was able to reopen in March this year and with modalities in place to respond to any emergency in our campuses,” says Father Benjamin Sesay, Director of Finance and Administration.
He added that the University has been supporting the mobilization, psychosocial and clinical pillars in the Bombali District Emergency Response. These initiatives, he said, have galvanized into partnerships with European and African Universities in establishing a legacy with safety infectious disease research laboratories which became functional at the Sylvanus Koroma Campus in Yoni.
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