The Award was received by the Head of Community Engagement at ARU-Mr. John Tusiime    Milly Muhindo Desire and John Tusiime at Gulu University on behalf of the Vice Chancellor -Dr Mwalimu Musheshe

The African Rural University (ARU), a value-based all women University has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair for its groundbreaking and unconventional approach to education. The Award was received by the Head of Community Engagement at ARU-Mr. John Tusiime    Milly Muhindo Desire and John Tusiime at Gulu University on 11, Tuesday,2024. Currently, ARU Educational Model is the only model in Higher Education in Africa with an orientation from problem solving to a visionary approach.

ARU is also the only University where students are trained not for job market but to create conditions to know that there are key to their own development and as such they have ready work upon graduation as rural transformation specialists with Uganda Rural Development Programme and its Projects. ARU is also the first University to incorporate Traditional Wisdom Specialists as Professors without Papers in Higher Education.

Traditional Wisdom Specialists (TWS) are elders and respected members of an indigenous communities who serve as repositories of traditional knowledge. They transmit this knowledge to younger generations.

African Rural University embraces Tradition Wisdom Specialists and indigenous knowledge to create a new paradigm for Rural Transformation and Rural Education. This approach integrates traditional wisdom with modern academic disciplines and community fieldwork.

Traditional Wisdom Specialists work alongside academics to develop curriculum, conduct research, and engage with the community. They teach students practical skills and traditional practices that can be used to promote Climate Change Adaptation, Prosperous Rural Livelihood, and Environmental Management.

In his comment about the Award, the Vice Chancellor- Dr. Mwalimu Musheshe who is a visionary  commended UNESCO Chair for acknowledging ARU’s work, thought systems and thought processes.

ARU education model is 60% theory and 40% practical Curriculum where students live and work with communities in order to cause Rural Transformation in the African Context where people work towards shared visons, work towards their aspirations, care for self, others, and mother earth so to ensure peace, prosperity, health, happiness, and freedom for all. ARU Curriculum has three fundamental results under the following masteries;

Mastery of the principle of the creative process; making one’s way of life in the creative orientation in which the individual is consistently in touch with his/her Aspirations, Values, Vision, Current Reality and Structural tension.

ARU Students with the Creative Orientation during an Exhibition (File Photo)

Mastery of systems thinking; By looking at the interrelationship between primary and secondary choices, a larger picture emerges and the community appreciates it. Mastery of sustainable development; After the attainment of the vision, the question ‘what next’ leads to formulating a new vision and the cycle of structural tension is repeated. They are applied at the sub county level (political and technical), Village Level and Institutional Level.