Our education system is ineffective
<b>By Augustus Nuwagaba</b><br><br>The Ministry of Education and Sports is proposing to introduce mid-primary examinations to be done at primary four.
By Augustus Nuwagaba
The Ministry of Education and Sports is proposing to introduce mid-primary examinations to be done at primary four.
This could be a good attempt but it could serve more if the purpose of this examination is properly studied and well explained.
The problem of our education system in Uganda is not lack of examinations or need for more examinations, but the content of learning as well as the poor working conditions of teachers.
Pupils and students from primary through secondary to tertiary institutions are bombarded with materials, most of which are not useful at all, at least in terms of helping an individual to harness his/her environment for one’s benefit or for the benefit of society. Similarly, teachers continue to work in appalling conditions: poor remuneration, poor classroom space, lack of chairs/desks, general lack of scholastic materials and poor teacher student ratios.
Another problem is the disparity in the timely coverage of the syllabi between rural and urban schools. It is probable that some rural- based schools may not have covered the material required for the primary four examinations as compared to say, schools in Kampala.
The purpose of education is two-fold: it is a consumption good and an investment commodity. For any person to certify either of these objectives, one must not only have the capacity, zeal and knowledge of one’s surroundings, but also the ways and means of harnessing this knowledge and the environment to ensure a livelihood.
Therefore, one must not only be in possession of the knowledge but the knowledge must facilitate one’s earning capacity.
In Africa, the education systems apart from the general problems of poor institutional arrangements, face the enormous deficits regarding conducive-learning environment including physical space and lack of scholastic materials. The education curriculum at all levels from kindergarten to university is disoriented from reality. The teaching focuses on foreign culture, concepts and artifacts.
I remember in my ordinary level, we were taught the type of rocks in England and yet I am not even aware of the types of rocks in my village! This is the highest level of ‘mind corruption.’ It is high time policy makers and those who control the state focus on education systems that enhance attitudes and skills considered desirable for orienting people to appreciate and exploit their habitats.
An appreciation of the environment under which one operates motivates them to innovatively harness it.
In Uganda, the argument has been whether it is viable for government to sponsor more science students for university education than for arts.
The issue, however, is not that science professionals are in possession of greater developmental thinking than their Arts counterparts, but on whether persons have grasped skills and capacities to help them effectively compete in the labour market and to contribute towards development. This is where our education system falls short.
Efforts should be put in building skills than merely having thousands of students passing through the system without capacity to generate and sustain their own livelihoods. This is the only way the unemployment problem that has hit many African countries can be solved.
Policies must be clearly streamlined to entrench skills development from the lower levels of the education system. Let us concentrate on enriching skills development in primary, secondary and tertiary education rather than focusing on academic work and examinations! In poverty eradication, we urge governments to concentrate on skills-mix development (training people to be versatile through learning by doing).
Education is one major investment for most households and it must operate to fulfill the investment function. Households in Uganda have already been impoverished through sale of land and other assets in order to meet tuition fees of their children. The assumption is that the acquired education would enhance earning capacity hence replacement of the earlier traded off assets. However, this target has remained distant for many households in Uganda. It is therefore extremely debilitating that people remain unable to earn income amidst heavy sacrifices.
The writer is a poverty reduction consultant
The Ministry of Education and Sports is proposing to introduce mid-primary examinations to be done at primary four.
This could be a good attempt but it could serve more if the purpose of this examination is properly studied and well explained.
The problem of our education system in Uganda is not lack of examinations or need for more examinations, but the content of learning as well as the poor working conditions of teachers.
Pupils and students from primary through secondary to tertiary institutions are bombarded with materials, most of which are not useful at all, at least in terms of helping an individual to harness his/her environment for one’s benefit or for the benefit of society. Similarly, teachers continue to work in appalling conditions: poor remuneration, poor classroom space, lack of chairs/desks, general lack of scholastic materials and poor teacher student ratios.
Another problem is the disparity in the timely coverage of the syllabi between rural and urban schools. It is probable that some rural- based schools may not have covered the material required for the primary four examinations as compared to say, schools in Kampala.
The purpose of education is two-fold: it is a consumption good and an investment commodity. For any person to certify either of these objectives, one must not only have the capacity, zeal and knowledge of one’s surroundings, but also the ways and means of harnessing this knowledge and the environment to ensure a livelihood.
Therefore, one must not only be in possession of the knowledge but the knowledge must facilitate one’s earning capacity.
In Africa, the education systems apart from the general problems of poor institutional arrangements, face the enormous deficits regarding conducive-learning environment including physical space and lack of scholastic materials. The education curriculum at all levels from kindergarten to university is disoriented from reality. The teaching focuses on foreign culture, concepts and artifacts.
I remember in my ordinary level, we were taught the type of rocks in England and yet I am not even aware of the types of rocks in my village! This is the highest level of ‘mind corruption.’ It is high time policy makers and those who control the state focus on education systems that enhance attitudes and skills considered desirable for orienting people to appreciate and exploit their habitats.
An appreciation of the environment under which one operates motivates them to innovatively harness it.
In Uganda, the argument has been whether it is viable for government to sponsor more science students for university education than for arts.
The issue, however, is not that science professionals are in possession of greater developmental thinking than their Arts counterparts, but on whether persons have grasped skills and capacities to help them effectively compete in the labour market and to contribute towards development. This is where our education system falls short.
Efforts should be put in building skills than merely having thousands of students passing through the system without capacity to generate and sustain their own livelihoods. This is the only way the unemployment problem that has hit many African countries can be solved.
Policies must be clearly streamlined to entrench skills development from the lower levels of the education system. Let us concentrate on enriching skills development in primary, secondary and tertiary education rather than focusing on academic work and examinations! In poverty eradication, we urge governments to concentrate on skills-mix development (training people to be versatile through learning by doing).
Education is one major investment for most households and it must operate to fulfill the investment function. Households in Uganda have already been impoverished through sale of land and other assets in order to meet tuition fees of their children. The assumption is that the acquired education would enhance earning capacity hence replacement of the earlier traded off assets. However, this target has remained distant for many households in Uganda. It is therefore extremely debilitating that people remain unable to earn income amidst heavy sacrifices.
The writer is a poverty reduction consultant