Science policy in schools has loopholes
Jan 02, 2008
THE Government’s policy to promote sciences subjects in schools has had various implications. A whopping 92% of government scholarships is for students offering science. This is unfair to the majority of Ugandans because most students take arts subjects.
Jenn Jagire
THE Government’s policy to promote sciences subjects in schools has had various implications. A whopping 92% of government scholarships is for students offering science. This is unfair to the majority of Ugandans because most students take arts subjects.
Therefore, it is not proper to promote sciences at the expense of arts when the final results are the same. Government scholarships should be distributed equally to arts and science students in in public universities because they complement each other.
We should thank the Government for the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme which has changed the faces of rural areas. However, many UPE graduates are enrolling into secondary schools which are not properly equipped to teach sciences. Over 95% of the schools in the rural areas are either ill-equipped or not equipped at all for the purpose. The schools lack laboratory facilities and they concentrate on arts subjects. Consequently, almost all the university graduates who go through such universities can only pursue arts degrees. Those who join university are a small proportion because the majority cannot afford to pay the tuition nor can they benefit from public resources because they did arts subjects.
The students from poor schools who qualify for admission to university are hard-working and bright because they read books day and night to obtain the requisite grades since their schools lack the good facilities even for arts subjects. It is a pity that such hardworking students cannot go to universities because of the unfair policy which favours those who do sciences and ignore the fact that people have different talents and preferences. People are created differently and there are those whose academic potential is only suitable for arts subjects. Should these be condemned to hell?
The policy will undermine efforts to provide free primary and secondary education because those in poor schools which teach only arts will not go further. Why wash clothes and put them on a dusty floor to dry. The Government should treat sciences and arts equally. Moreover, not all science graduates get jobs.
The writer is a student of Makerere University
THE Government’s policy to promote sciences subjects in schools has had various implications. A whopping 92% of government scholarships is for students offering science. This is unfair to the majority of Ugandans because most students take arts subjects.
Therefore, it is not proper to promote sciences at the expense of arts when the final results are the same. Government scholarships should be distributed equally to arts and science students in in public universities because they complement each other.
We should thank the Government for the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme which has changed the faces of rural areas. However, many UPE graduates are enrolling into secondary schools which are not properly equipped to teach sciences. Over 95% of the schools in the rural areas are either ill-equipped or not equipped at all for the purpose. The schools lack laboratory facilities and they concentrate on arts subjects. Consequently, almost all the university graduates who go through such universities can only pursue arts degrees. Those who join university are a small proportion because the majority cannot afford to pay the tuition nor can they benefit from public resources because they did arts subjects.
The students from poor schools who qualify for admission to university are hard-working and bright because they read books day and night to obtain the requisite grades since their schools lack the good facilities even for arts subjects. It is a pity that such hardworking students cannot go to universities because of the unfair policy which favours those who do sciences and ignore the fact that people have different talents and preferences. People are created differently and there are those whose academic potential is only suitable for arts subjects. Should these be condemned to hell?
The policy will undermine efforts to provide free primary and secondary education because those in poor schools which teach only arts will not go further. Why wash clothes and put them on a dusty floor to dry. The Government should treat sciences and arts equally. Moreover, not all science graduates get jobs.
The writer is a student of Makerere University