The Director of Public Communication and Publishing at the university, Egara Kabaji also agreed that the student population has grown and overwhelmed the town.
Prof Kabaji said MMUST is a visible industry in town and with the increasing student population; the town must now adjust by putting up more houses.
?“This situation offers a good investment opportunity for locals as half of the student admitted at the main campus reside outside the campus,” he said.
?The University has three big hostels accommodating about 1,400 students and another for over 200.
?At the same time, the university has entered into public/private partnership, where the community invests in putting up hostel to the required standards and the university allows students to rent.
Silver lining
?“We have ten of such hostels already and they are situated about one to two kilometres away from the university. We inspect to ensure they met the specified requirement,” he explained.
?Kabaji said the university has the same arrangement for lecture halls, adding that so far they have three venues.
?“It is a stop-gap measure to address the shortage we currently face. We have hired these places to assist for the time being but it’s not a unique case at MMUST,” he said.
?Kabaji said the university has constructed another science block to house the laboratories, lecture halls and offices, also they are putting up a multi-purpose hall within the campus to address the scarcity.
?He dismissed calls by some lectures that the hired places posed a health hazard to the learners.
?“We are having a double-intake and the semesters must go on to clear the backlog of students still waiting to join the university,” he added.
