Dr Miiro Farooq Curriculum Vitae

Dr Miiro Farooq is a seasoned educationist, curriculum expert, and researcher with over 15 years of leadership experience in educational research, assessment reform andcurriculum innovation. He possesses strong competences in strategic management, financial oversight, leadership, human resource coordination and institutional research management,enabling him to effectively plan, supervise and implement large-scale education development initiatives. Throughtout his career, he has demonstrated professionalism, integrity, resilience, and strong communication skills while coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing complex institutional programs with efficiency and effectiveness.

In 2022, Dr Miiro served as Principal Research Investigator at the Islamic University in Uganda for the project Exploration and Validation of Social Emotional Learning Skills in Higher Education, which was competitively secured and funded by the Islamic Development Bank. In this role, he provided strategic research leadership, coordinated project implementation, supervised research teams and ensured effective financial and operational management of the project while maintaining high standards of accountability and confidentiality.

In 2023, he was appointed Research Fellow at Makerere University under the Center for Wisdom Pedagogy, where he later served as Coordinator of the Centre and Principal Research Investigator for its research and innovation initiatives from 2023 to 2025. In this Capacity, he led strategic research programs, supervised scholars, coordinated institutional partnerships and promoted teamwork in advancing pedagogical innovation and curriculum transformation in higher education institutions.

Through these initiatives, Dr Miiro successfully developed and secured a USD 30,000 capacity-building project funded by the Islamic Development Bank. The project facilitated an international training program aimed at strengthening thinking skills development and innovative teaching approaches among academic staff and education specialists from Makerere University, Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education and the National Curriculum Development Centre. The program was delivered during an international workshop hosted at the International Islamic University Malaysia, demonstrating his ability to manage international collaborations and deliver results within strict timelines.

• He has actively contributed to scholarly publishing through the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education, working closely with Maimuna Amina Nimulola, and has strongly advocated for the use of academic integrity systems such as Turnitin to minimize plagiarism among researchers and students.
• Dr Miiro is widely recognized for his strength in conceptualizing complex educational issues and developing high-level conceptual papers, a critical but often limited skill among many scholars in Africa.
• After critical reflecting on the education system, he recognized that the core challenges facing Uganda do not solely lie in management but rather in curriculum design, implementation and teacher preparation. This realization rEdirected his scholarly focus toward:

                                                Curriculum development and implementation

                                                 Teacher education

                                                 Wisdom Pedagogy

                                                 Social and Emotional Learning [SEL]

• He began his administrative career as an Administrative Assistant at the Faculty of Education and upon completion of his Master’s degree, rose to the position of Administrative Officer [General Duties] and Examinations Coordinator.
• During this period he worked tiressly to:

                            Digitize faculty operations, later contributing to their integration into an ERP system

                             Reform the curriculum structure by reducing overload in the term system to four core papers per subject domain

• In 2025, he proceeded to International Islamic University Malaysia to pursue a PhD in Education, which he successfully completed through rigorous coursework and research.
• Upon his return, he  played a pivotal role in:

                         Transforming the PhD in Education at IUIU into a more pratical and research-oriented program

                         Developing proposals that facilitated Malaysian academic collaboration, leading to the establishment of a PhD program through institutional partnerships

                         Designing a PhD fee structure in collaboration with university leadership to ensure sustainability

• His collaborations led to:

                 Enrolment and successful training of PhD and Master’s candidates, many of whom are now academic staff within the Faculty of Education

             Strengthening institutional capacity through staff development and postgradaute training

• He also:

                      Coordinated collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to support the development of the IUIU institutional masterplan

                      He worked as a coordinator between International Islamic University Malaysia and Islamic University in Uganda in securing a strategic plan funded by the Islamic Development Bank

                      Contributed to international funding linkages, including initiatives supporting PhD training through global partnerships

    Dr Miiro has been actively engaged in community outreach, including:

                      Mobilizing resources for educational materials, clothing and humanitarian support from Malaysia to Ugandan communities

                        Leading and participating in multiple social impact initiatives across the country

                        He has leveraged multiple platforms to secure scholarships for both students and staff of Islamic University in Uganda across diverse academic fields

                  Notably, a significant proportion of the younger academic staff [PhD holders aged 50 and below] at IUIU have, directly or indirectly, benefited from Dr Miiro’s mentorship, support and scholarship mobilization efforts.

• He is a leading proponent of Wisdom Pedagogy, and has conducted training for institutions such as:

                     Mountains of the Moon University

                     Ernest Cook University

                     Islamic University In Uganda

• He is currently finalizing a book titled:

             ” Issues in Education for Innovative Socio-Economic Transformation in Uganda: A Wake-up Call for Higher Education Institutions”, which critically examines the need for transformative reforms in higher education.

• Dr Miiro is also:

                   A consultant in education and curriculum reform

                   A lifelong learner, continuously engaging with senior academics and institutional leadership

Dr Miiro has contributed extensively to knowledge production with over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and more than 23 conferences presentations at national and international scholarly forums. In addition, through his innovative research and scholarly engagement, he has authored book chapters that have been published in over 50 academic books between 2018, 2020 and 2021, reflecting his commitment to advancing scholarly discourse and contributing to global knowledge on education, leadership and curriculum development.

He possesses extensive expertize in educational measurement, assessment design, moderation and validation of multiple-choice examinations, having collaborated with institutions such as the National Curriculum Development Centre, International Islamic University Malaysia and Makerere University. These experiences have strengthened his knowledge in handling examiation and assessment matters at the institutional level, while upholding high standards of professionalism, integrity and confidentiality.

Dr Miiro has also organized national and international research dissemination forums, coordinated academic conferences and mentored postgraduate researchers. His work reflects strong teamwork, time management, resilience and commitment to efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring that research outputs translate into practical solutions for improving education systems.

Through his scholarship, he has developed the concept of Wisdom Pedagogy, an innovate framework that integrates thinking skills, ethical development, and contextual learning to support curriculum reform and teacher. This approach is increasingly being embraced by institutions such as the National Curriculum Development Centre and Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education as a transformative strategy for educational improvement.

Currently, he is finalizing a scholarly book titled Issues in Education: The Ugandan Experience and A Wake Up Call for Higher Education Institutions to Redifine and Reposition Themselves in the VUCA World, which critically contemporary challenges and opportunities within Uganda’s education sector and the global knowledge economy.

Dr Miiro Farooq’s professional profile reflects a strong combination of strategic leadership, research innovation, financial accountability, assessment expertise, teamwork, integrity and effective communication, positioning him to lead impactful research and innovation initiatives that support national education, skills development and institutional transformation. 

Academic Qualifications