Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, has attributed the increased number of university student dropouts to failure to pay tuition, which they lose to sports betting.

The Vice Chancellor made these remarks while addressing students and parents during the award ceremony of the College of Business and Management Sciences 12 best-performing graduates at Makerere University School of Business on March 12, 2024.

“After revelations that students drop out of the institution due to failure to pay tuition, we conducted research and found out that at least 1000 students drop out of Makerere University annually after losing tuition fees to sports betting,” the Vice Chancellor revealed.

“Our investigations have shown that students acquire fees from their parents and invest in sports betting in order to get interest,” Prof. Nawangwe added.

He noted that the same students never attend lectures and end up deceiving their parents into escorting them to Freedom Square on graduation day.

Makerere University, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), partnered with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and Prudential Uganda to award the best graduates with cash prizes, mentorship and graduate training, and scholarships for students to enroll in Certified Public Accountant (CPA) course.