Ankole Health Students Say No: Why Interviews For Diploma Courses Are a Problem
Let us talk plain.
You finished S.6. You passed UACE. You filled forms. You chose nursing, lab, pharmacy. You sat home, waiting for that admission letter. Hoping maybe government pays fees.
Then boom. New rule.
Now they say, “Before we give you admission, come talk to us. Oral interview.”
That is why Ankole health students are angry. And, they have point.
The Game Changed After Kick-Off
Since long time, S.6 leavers fill PUJAB forms. You write your best courses. You write your best schools. Then UNEB marks talk. If your grades are good, you enter. If not, you try private. Simple. Clean.
Now TVET department under Ministry of Education brings new thing for 2026/2027. Diploma health courses — direct from S.6 — must do interviews first.
Students are asking: “Which law?”
AHESAM president Canary Barekye says even TVET Act does not talk about interviews for diploma entrants. NDP IV also quiet. So where is this coming from?
When you change rules after students already finished exam, you kill trust. Semester is starting. Some students don’t even know if they are government or private. Confusion everywhere.
Interviews Favor Who?
Let us be honest.
Oral interview needs confidence. Needs good English. Needs transport to Kampala. Needs nice clothes so you don’t look “village”.
Now ask: Who has that?
Child of doctor in Kololo or child of farmer in Kiruhura?
Marks are marks. A from Isingiro is same A from Kampala. But in interview room, accent talks. Shoes talk. Connections talk.
Poor student with distinction can fail interview. Rich student with credit can pass because “he expressed himself well”.
Is that fair? Is that Uganda we want?
We Already Have Enough Problems
Health courses are not joke. We need nurses. We need lab people. We need radiographers. Mbarara Hospital is full. Patients sleep on floor.
Instead of making entry easy for serious students, we are adding roadblocks.
Another student leader(names withheld), said it well: “Before, you fill form and wait. Now you don’t know what to wait for.”
Students are stranded. Parents are confused. Some already sold goat for admission, now they hear “come for interview”. Transport? Where?
Who Even Runs Admissions?
Timothy Atwine and team went to UNEB. Went to Makerere. Went to Kyambogo.
Answer was same: “Admissions, scholarships, student affairs — that is our work”
So why is Health Education and Training department now making shortlists? Why are they calling interviews?
When too many cooks enter kitchen, food burns.
Ministry must answer. Moses Kasakya said petition reached Permanent Secretary. Good. But students don’t eat “we forwarded”. They need decision. Fast.
The Real Danger
If we allow this, what next?
Tomorrow they will say engineers must do interview. Then teachers. Then lawyers.
Soon, getting course will depend on who you know, not what you scored.
Uganda is already fighting corruption. We are fighting “technical know who”. Interview system without clear law opens door for bribes, for tribalism, for favors.
Poor child from Ntungamo with 20 points will lose to city child with 15 points because “he was smart in interview”.
That is not development. That is going backwards.
What Students Want is Simple
AHESAM is not refusing to talk. They are saying: “Follow the law. Use the system we know. If you want to change, put it in Act, teach us early, not after we did UACE.”
That is not too much to ask.
Education must be predictable. Student in Bushenyi should know in S.5 that to do diploma nursing, you need marks + interview. Then he prepares. You don’t ambush him after results.
Let marks speak first. If you want interview, make it addition, not replacement. And put it in law.
Otherwise, stop it.
Last Word
This country has enough confusion. Job market is hard. School fees are high. Now even getting into school becomes gambling?
Ankole students have stood up. Not for themselves only. For that girl in Sheema. For that boy in Mitooma. For every S.6 leaver who thought UACE was the last battle.
Ministry, listen. Parents are watching. Uganda is watching.
Do things right. Or leave things as they were.
Because health courses train people who will hold our life tomorrow. We cannot gamble with their entry.
