By Peninnah Nalubega & Anthony Kizza
What do students say about COMMPASS, the online course aimed at enhancing skills of journalists and learners to better appreciate and report migration issues?
At the ongoing international conference in Uganda, students and alumni of the programme from Burkina Faso, Malawi and Uganda share their experiences,
The five-day CoMMPASS Conference kicked off on Monday at Uganda Christian University and brings together scholars, researchers and practitioners from 28 countries.
During a panel discussion on the theme: “What do students think? Feedback on a pan-African online journalism training experience”, Bill Dan Borodi, an alumnus of Uganda Christian University who graduated in 2023, recalled the excitement he felt when one of his lecturers invited him to join the COMMPASS program saying it was an opportunity to learn. “I was so excited to be part because the program had eight universities across Africa. I knew that the certificate was a good one to own,” he said.
Bill Dan Borodi, a former student of Uganda Christian University.
Aisha Traoré, a journalist from Burkina Faso, highlighted the flexibility of the course, noting that it allowed her to complete modules and study from anywhere at any time.
Clara Phiri from Malawi emphasized the importance of verifying the accuracy of data collected online. “I learnt that after you have collected data, you have to approve whether it is accurate, especially in this era of misinformation and disinformation,” she explained.
Chisomo Sumani, also from Malawi, described her time on the CoMMPASS course as a “great experience” adding that the course design made it “very flexible” for the learners. “It was easy for me to work in time,” she added. Sumani however noted that there’s need for blending live sessions and online learning to motivate and encourage students to continue with the course.
Clara Phiri, a graduate student from Malawi.
Prof. Ralph Afolabi Akinfeleye from Nigeria, who spoke in reaction to the students’ views, stressed the need to Africanise the CoMMPASS course content across all modules, ensuring that the program reflects the continent’s unique perspectives and challenges. This was in line with his keynote address delivered on Monday, titled: “Contending Issues in Reporting Migration among journalists and journalism students in Africa”.
Dr. William Tayeebwa, a principal investigator on the CoMMPASS project and senior lecturer at Makerere University, highlighted the need to professionalize and accredit online courses with the responsible bodies so as to make online courses more valuable. In response, Saul Waigolo, from the National Council for Higher Education, noted that the higher education regulatory body in Uganda is “still trying to fully understand how to accredit online courses and equate them.” However, he added, “the government of Uganda is now going to focus on competency-based education and training for all courses…”
The conference underscored the growing impact of CoMMPASS in shaping journalism and communication studies across Africa, with participants calling for collaboration of other universities in Africa.
Earlier in the day, students were challenged so as to tap into digital education opportunities.
Mpindi Abaasi, Co-founder of the Media Challenge Initiative, while delivering a keynote on the future of online journalism education in sub-Saharan Africa, observed that many students still do not take online learning seriously because they remain attached to traditional education systems, where they physically attend classes and graduation ceremonies. According to him, this mindset, which he called outdated, is limiting Africa’s ability to embrace modern learning models.
He noted that the world is rapidly changing and that education must evolve to meet new realities.
“We must change our mindset regarding online education. We must view education not as a place but as an outcome. The future of online education must align with the context of the changing world and train journalists to perform and work effectively in today’s dynamic news environment,” he said.
The conference is being held under the theme: “Media, Migration & Mobility: Reimagining the African Narrative.” It aims to discuss challenges in reporting on migration and to assess the impact of online learning initiatives such as CoMMPASS.
The CoMMPASS project, now in its third year, is an online learning platform designed to empower African journalists and journalism students to report on migration and mobility with greater accuracy, ethics, and impact.
Muzamil Mukwatampola, a Commissioner at Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports appreciated the European Union for funding the CoMMPASS and other education projects in Uganda. “We hope it will improve the media coverage on migration,” Mukwatampola added.
Under the CoMMPASS – “Communicating Migration and Mobility, E-Learning Programs and Newsroom Applications for Sub-Saharan Africa” project, more than 100 researchers and teachers have been trained at partner and associated partner higher education institutions. More than 1,500 students and journalism professionals have benefited from the online courses in four key languages for sub-Saharan Africa -English, French, Portuguese and Kiswahili.
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