Recommit to science education
Jan 03, 2008
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni in his New Year message reiterated the Government’s commitment to education. He noted that while enrollment had increased under Universal Primary Education (UPE) the dropout rate was unacceptably high.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni in his New Year message reiterated the Government’s commitment to education. He noted that while enrollment had increased under Universal Primary Education (UPE) the dropout rate was unacceptably high.
He repeated his pledge to promote the teaching of science and mooted the granting of incentives to private schools that teach sciences.
Development studies have shown that there is a correlation between a population’s literacy and development.
But there is an even higher correlation between the technological level of a country and its overall development.
To determine the economic potential of a country one measures the technology gap – the difference between world best practices and the current practice in the country in the application of technology.
The wider this deficit the less the country’s potential to develop in the short and medium term.
Technology allows the maximal exploitation of natural resources and human ability, so that with less and less effort, more and more is produced.
Applying this measure to Uganda today throws up a very depressing picture. It is therefore critical that science education, leading to research and development of new products and technologies, is promoted.
Beyond tertiary level science, the Government needs to step up its commitment to funding science faculties in public universities while extending incentives to private universities offering science courses.
In addition we need to ensure that the approved curriculum is a dynamic one that evolves with our needs and in step with international developments.
It will also be useful to promote management studies, which skills will coordinate the eventual exploitation of our new found technological capacity.
As the leader of the country Museveni is making all the right noises about the right things.
Now the technocrats need to take his wish list, use it as a basis to formulate strategy and execute a plan that will lift us into the 21st century.
He repeated his pledge to promote the teaching of science and mooted the granting of incentives to private schools that teach sciences.
Development studies have shown that there is a correlation between a population’s literacy and development.
But there is an even higher correlation between the technological level of a country and its overall development.
To determine the economic potential of a country one measures the technology gap – the difference between world best practices and the current practice in the country in the application of technology.
The wider this deficit the less the country’s potential to develop in the short and medium term.
Technology allows the maximal exploitation of natural resources and human ability, so that with less and less effort, more and more is produced.
Applying this measure to Uganda today throws up a very depressing picture. It is therefore critical that science education, leading to research and development of new products and technologies, is promoted.
Beyond tertiary level science, the Government needs to step up its commitment to funding science faculties in public universities while extending incentives to private universities offering science courses.
In addition we need to ensure that the approved curriculum is a dynamic one that evolves with our needs and in step with international developments.
It will also be useful to promote management studies, which skills will coordinate the eventual exploitation of our new found technological capacity.
As the leader of the country Museveni is making all the right noises about the right things.
Now the technocrats need to take his wish list, use it as a basis to formulate strategy and execute a plan that will lift us into the 21st century.