Kibubura Girls SSS pushes STEM agenda

OPINION

By Joan Kabayambi

The Government effort in promotion of science education is long overdue. However, the disproportionality of gender in science and technology is glaring. Business cannot continue as usual. The status quo must change.

There is some background to this. Uganda’s annual population growth is 3%, meaning 1,200,000 Ugandans are born every year. Ten per cent of women aged 20-24 get married by age 15 and 40% of women aged 20-24 marry by 18. Uganda is one of the countries with the youngest population in the world, with 77% under 25 years.

The stakes are pivoted against the girl child. Girls who have made it to secondary school should be encouraged to stay in education and take interest in sciences.

Kibubura Girls’ Senior Secondary School in Ibanda celebrates 40 years of existence on July 1, this year.

It is one of the best girls’ schools in western Uganda and it has taken position in planning for what the future should like in the next 60 years.

The old girls are not just celebrating this milestone for the sake of it, but are determined to change the status quo and promote more girls in science education through STEM.

STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These four fields share an emphasis on innovation, problem-solving and critical thinking.

The old girls of this great school would like the younger generation to be at the helm of innovation and invention in finding solutions to challenges affecting local communities and at the national level.

This can only be done by pioneering STEM right at the grassroots level, so that girls pick interest in sciences at a critical age group when key decisions are made.

Get them young to focus on the sciences as an important career discipline. Kibubura SSS does teach arts subjects, but on the 40th anniversary, old girls of the school and partners have embarked on a drive to encourage more girls to embrace science-related fields.

A critical mass of girls in sciences will inspire and foster change up to the national level. Sciences are not just about medicine, but engineering and technology. We need more girls taking interest in building Uganda’s roads and eliminating potholes.

On a general scale, girls tend to be more honest. Further building such critical soft skills together with the hard skills of STEM, ensures a brighter industrialised future for Uganda.

Confidence building for sciences starts in secondary school when the girls have a higher level of maturity and understanding compared to primary.

The old girls of Kibubura have several networks that will enable this dream come to reality.

President Yoweri Museveni is expected to be the chief guest and, to inaugurate the science complex building, which will be an important inspiration.

Uganda will only be able to jump from third world to middle income status if the youth, and specifically the girls, are part of the science world. Determination in the eyes of the girls shows how much they are optimistic about the future.

The girl child in sciences is the engine to power Uganda’s industrial growth. One female engineer inspires another and the presence of science clubs at the school shows that even with meagre resources, the spirit is willing to get things done with what is available.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The old girls, now respected women leaders in Uganda and globally, have taken that step holding hands of the younger generation.

The fire has already been ignited and cannot be put out. STEM introduction at the 40-year-old school ensures that inventors of appropriate technology to change agriculture from the hoe to machine become a reality. This will improve household income and eliminate poverty.

The writer is an old girl and the current chairperson of Kibubura Old Girls’ Association