Why ‘die’ to go to the UK?
Oct 13, 2003
SIR— I wish to react to a letter in The New Vision of October 10 about a parent who was dismayed by the treatment his child was subjected to while attempting to get a student visa to the UK.
SIR— I wish to react to a letter in The New Vision of October 10 about a parent who was dismayed by the treatment his child was subjected to while attempting to get a student visa to the UK.
I see no reason why Ugandan parents exalt Britain, especially the British education system. Because Uganda is a former British colony, we are naturally inclined to believe in British products and services above others, even though they are not necessarily the best.
For example, there are other countries in Europe, with better education facilities and where education is free. Why should a Ugandan spend so much money, let alone humiliation, queueing for a visa just to attend a second-rate university in the UK. It is a fact that most Ugandans in the UK attend the smaller universities, not the likes of Cambridge or Oxford.
Many of the smaller British universities have been running adverts in our local press and some have held exhibitions in Kampala since they now know that they can tap a potential goldmine from the numerous Ugandans ‘dying’ to get that much-hyped British education.
Had most Ugandans bothered to look, they would by now have known, for example,
that Germany is a much more developed country than
the UK and generally has
a better education infrastructure and facilities like libraries, fast Internet links and labs, and a free education even
to foreigners.
Peter Ssetumba
Kampala
I see no reason why Ugandan parents exalt Britain, especially the British education system. Because Uganda is a former British colony, we are naturally inclined to believe in British products and services above others, even though they are not necessarily the best.
For example, there are other countries in Europe, with better education facilities and where education is free. Why should a Ugandan spend so much money, let alone humiliation, queueing for a visa just to attend a second-rate university in the UK. It is a fact that most Ugandans in the UK attend the smaller universities, not the likes of Cambridge or Oxford.
Many of the smaller British universities have been running adverts in our local press and some have held exhibitions in Kampala since they now know that they can tap a potential goldmine from the numerous Ugandans ‘dying’ to get that much-hyped British education.
Had most Ugandans bothered to look, they would by now have known, for example,
that Germany is a much more developed country than
the UK and generally has
a better education infrastructure and facilities like libraries, fast Internet links and labs, and a free education even
to foreigners.
Peter Ssetumba
Kampala