Muyingo warns unlicensed health training schools of closure
“No institution is allowed to train unless you are licensed and approved by councils concerned. If you have such a school, my advice to you is to close voluntarily because you are very dangerous,” he said.
Safina Museene (left), the Commissioner Health education speaking as John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Minister of State for Higher Education looks on during a press conference on the health education conference, at the media center on 26th March 2025. (Photos by Nicholas Oneal)
John Masaba
Journalist @New Vision
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Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education, has cautioned health training institutions against operating without licenses, saying non-compliant institutions risk indefinite closure.
Muyingo said that the ministry is aware, through reports and complaints, of some institutions resorting to using untrained staff. This he said compromises the quality of graduates, which is dangerous to the country’s health sector.
“No institution is allowed to train unless you are licensed and approved by councils concerned. If you have such a school, my advice to you is to close voluntarily because you are very dangerous,” he said.
“My advice to those that have not been cleared yet, please go to relevant authorities and ask the inspectors to come and verify and check on your standards. If you insist, the law will catch up with you.”
He made the call while addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Wednesday ahead of the Third National Health Professionals’ Education and Training and Health Care conference scheduled to take place at the Source of Nile Hotel in Jinja next month.
President Yoweri Museveni is set to preside over the event which is scheduled to take place from April 1-4. The theme is: “A transformed health education and training for better healthcare outcomes and a productive population”.
The conference will bring together experts, researchers, healthcare administrators, principals, tutors, students, industry leaders, and policymakers as well as health professionals to discuss transformative approaches to health education and training in Uganda.
(L-R) Rose Nassali, the chairperson Association of principal of Health Training Institutions with John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Minister of State for Higher Education Safina Museene, the Commissioner Health education during a press conference on the health education conference, at the media center on March 26, 2025.
According to Dr Safina Musene, the commissioner of health training institutions at the Ministry of Education and Sports, a total of 400 participants are expected to attend.
“This conference will feature paper presentations (both researched and innovative), but also alongside skills competition,” she said, adding that participation is through registration.
Musene said that last month, health training institutions in Uganda embarked on skills competitions in the area of nursing, midwifery, clinical medicine and medical laboratory. The students who performed well at the regional level will be presented at the national level to compete in the listed areas.
The skills competition will be on the second day of the upcoming conference (April 2), and the winners will be announced on the third day.
“We shall also have exhibitions which will look mainly at new technologies in health education, and best practices in health care provision. We shall also recognize the best performing principals, tutors and clinicians in the area of education and training of medical workers,” she said.
Musene said they are collaborating with Belgian development agency Enabel, the Allied Health Professionals Council, the Uganda Nurses and Midwifery Council and the Association of Principals for Health Training institutions in Uganda and Self-Care Initiative and Seed Global to see that the conference is done well.