Teach vocational skills at primary level, says educationist

The Kiryadongo District Education Officer, Rev. Edward Kiirya, has called upon schools to enroll children for vocational skills while in the primary.

According to Kiirya, skills development at primary level will help nurture sustainable life support skills among learners at the early stages. 

He wants subjects like crafts, needlework, baking, simple electrical installation, tailoring, pottery, art, and design to be part of the primary school syllabus.

"Instead of pumping our children with concepts they will never use in life, it is better they start life skills at primary level, that way even if they drop out of school, they can be able to sustain themselves with the skills," said Rev. Kiirya.

He said this during a support skilling Uganda workshop organized by Enabel, a Belgium agency at Kigumba in Kiryadongo district to skill refugees and nationals. Under the training, at least 4000 youth have benefited from entrepreneurial and financial training.

Kiirya also called upon women to apply for vocational skills whenever they are available.

"We usually have vocational skills opportunities from the government, but women do not want to apply as opposed to men. When they apply, they go for the simple skills like bakery and cooking. Women should apply and go for those skills they labelled as manual skills. We understand the masculinity of the studies, but it is those skills that pay a lot," noted Kiirya.

Ibrahim Ogaram, the Enabel communications expert, noted that the support skilling Uganda programme has rescued the lives of future leaders from getting wasted. "Most of these students had become redundant and could have easily become criminals. Some of the youths we have trained have jobs or others have created their jobs," said Ogaram.

So far Enabel has spent 4.5m Euros (About sh19.5b) to cover refugee settlements and host communities in the four districts of Arua, Lira, Kiryandongo, and Adjumani.

It's part of a bigger Support Programme to the refugee settlements and host communities in northern Uganda funded under the European Union Trust Fund for Refugees in the horn of Africa.

In his address, Peter Dibele, the Kiryadongo resident District Commissioner, noted that skills should be considered for school dropouts and they should be taught in local languages.

"Many school dropouts want to join vocational skills, but they fear the English Language that is why they never apply. Most of the good carpenters are growing old so parents should encourage their children to join the vocational skills because it is the way to go," noted Dibele.