Welcome message from the Acting Head of Department

Welcome to the Department of Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics), School of Vocational Studies, Kyambogo university.
It is commonly said that the family is the basic unit of society and we all know socialization begins at home and “charity begins at home”. Knowledge and skills of family life help to prepare individuals and families for the roles and responsibilities of family living. Human development, interpersonal relationships, and family living are always passed on from one generation to the succeeding ones. Knowledge and understanding of the important virtues cannot just be left to the traditional systems.
Societies have changed and become more complex and the informal learning about living in family life is inadequate. With the advancement in technology, and changing social and economic conditions, new ways to prepare individuals for their family roles and responsibilities have to be devised and this is best done in family life education.
On the other hand, there is need for individuals to acquire skill in consumerism in order to cope with the ever- changing society. Amidist the counterfeit products on the market, Consumer studies comes in handy to educate individuals on the best choices that will leave one a satisfied consumer of goods and services.
In the department of Family Life and Consumer studies, we produce competent graduates who are competent educators in the areas of food and nutrition, family studies, textiles and fashion design, interior design, resource management, human development, consumer information education & communication and event planning. Such skills and competences foster individual, families and communities to make decisions that impact positively on the quality of life of individuals and families in society, welfare, sustained relationship, resource management and economic improvement, catering and institutional feeding. Such well- trained individuals are key in transformation of society.
Graduates of our programmes are well skilled and many either employ themselves or are employable in Schools and vocational schools (both government and private) as teachers/Instructors at various levels, non-governmental sectors as consumer/household specialists, community development/social workers, research/extension workers, interior designers/decorators, business consultants, clothing and textile scientists/fashion designers and chefs.

About Us

The department of Family Life and Consumer studies (Home Economics) is one of the oldest departments at Kyambogo University dating way back in the early 1960s when the then Domestic Science college was moved from Nkokonjeru to Kyambogo on Banda hill and became Kyambogo Domestic science college. In 1964, it was then named “The Uganda college of Home Economics”. This college was later absorbed into Kyambogo T.T.C and consequently became part of the new National Teachers College in 1965. This followed an increase in the need for the training of women teachers in both quality and quantity. The Department was then known as Home Economics and has since been training Teachers (Diploma in Education) who have taught Home Economics in secondary schools. The Department continued to evolve as Kyambogo transited to the Institute of Teacher Eduction Kyambogo (ITEK) in 1987 to offer the Bachelor of Education in Home Economics. With the establishment of Kyambogo University the Department of Home Economics grew to offer more Bachelors’ degree; including the famous Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics in 2002. This programme made Kyambogo University the pioneer institution in training Nutritionist and Dietitians in Uganda. Also, several Diploma programmes were offered in the department. The Department was then named Human Nutrition and Home Economics under the Faculty of Vocational studies. This department continued to grow with more programmes and the more staff acquired higher degrees (PhDs) and other qualifications.

In the 2021 restructuring, the department of Human Nutrition and Home Economics gave birth to four departments (namely; Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics), Hotel and Institutional Catering, Cosmetology and Fashion (Clothing & Design) and Nutritional Sciences & Dietetics all under the School of Vocational studies.

We continue to advance Home Economics Education, Family life and Consumer studies by developing new and exciting programmes aimed at job creation for the transformation of society.

Our Vision: To be a Centre of Excellence in Academic, Professional training and Research in Family Life and Consumer studies for holistic and quality living.

Mission: To advance and promote knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which will enable individuals to become responsible and informed consumers of food, clothing, housing, equipment and furnishings and use resources in an optimal and sustainable manner for transformation of society.

Academic Programmes offered

The Department of Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics) currently is running four (4) academic programmes:

Apart from the two programmes described above, the department of family life offers service to the School of Education (Kyambogo University) in fulfilling its role in training the subject areas of the following programmes

Bachelor of Education (Home Economics) (B.Ed. HE)
Post- graduate diploma in Vocational Pedagogy (PGDVP)
Post- graduate diploma in education (Home Economics)

Partnerships and Collaborations

We are collaborating Oslo Metropolitan university in COIL teaching and learning and this will culminate into staff and student exchange.
Collaboration with scholars from National and International universities in research, research supervision and Publication.
Some of the universities include: Makerere University, University of Oslo, Norway; Institute of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway; Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA; Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK: Kenyatta University, Kenya; School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), in the Netherlands; Department of Molecular Cell Biology, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands; among others.

Staffing

The department is currently supported by three full time staff and a good number of part time staff.

Research in the department

The staff are engaged in research and research supervision of the graduate and undergraduate students
We also have personal research undertakings and Publications by the individual staff in our areas of interest and specialisation.

Contact us

Email: gmuhoozi@kyu.ac.ug
Tel. +256772487890; +256702487890
Website: www.kyu.ac.ug
Department of Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics)
School of Vocational Studies

Email: snambozo@kyu.ac.ug
Tel.+256771848655; +256752869848
Website: www.kyu.ac.ug
Department of Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics)
School of Vocational Studies

Email: aidalukoma2@yahoo.co.uk
Tel.+256782974293
Department of Family Life and Consumer Studies (Home Economics)
School of Vocational Studies