MUBS decry high rate of failure by statistics students

EDUCATION | MUBS | STUDENTS | COVID-19

Makerere University Business School (MUBS) has expressed concern over the high failure rate of statistician students.

Prof. Moses Muhwezi, the deputy principal at the college of statistics, said before the pandemic, students used to perform well, but the situation has changed.

Muhwezi told New Vision at MUBS that immediately after the pandemic, the performance rate slowed down, and this affected organizations that employ statisticians.

“When we introduced online learning due to COVID-19, students had challenges with connectivity and navigation." Students have a phobia for mathematics, lack confidence in doing statistics, and also have a poor reading culture," he said.

Makerere University Business School Students (mubs) Being Addressed On The Career Of Statistics At Nakawa On 8 August 2022. (Photo by Wilfred Sanya)

Muhwezi said statistics is a course that needs attention as most of them spend their time on social media instead of concentrating.

He was speaking at the business statistics day organized by students of the Business Students Statistics Association (BUSSA) under the theme of harnessing statistics in the changing business environment.

He explained that statistics were introduced to assist policymakers by providing statistical models for decision-making and predicting the likely outcomes of policy proposals.

"Modern regulatory agencies could not function without the services of statisticians," he added.

Moses Muhwezi Deputy Principal Makerere University Business School (mubs) And Dr Suzan Watundu After Addressing Students Of Statistics At Nakawa, Kampala 8 August 2022. (Photo by Wilfred Sanya)

Kennedy Owamazima, a third-year student, said statistics is a very practical program and some students don’t attend lectures to learn the concept.

Owamazima stated that students tend to have a bias in mathematics, which could be among the factors contributing to poor results.

He advised the university to find a better means of boosting the performance of students by engaging them.

"The university should make mathematics more interesting like other subjects," he said. "At times, students get bored, and that results in poor performance."

 Muhwezi also revealed that to boost students’ performance, the university has embarked on providing tutorials and business magazines to students after every class.

He stated that students used to teach students after classes, but the discussant did not know much; however, they would be able to understand more with tutorials and business magazines.

"The university is planning to introduce magazines for business so that students get more knowledge about businesses," he explained. "Students will be able to get a deeper understanding even if the lecturer is not with them." "Let's link students to our potential employers because it is our role," he said.