The importance of education to human development has been well documented.
Scholars such as Fägerlind, Saha, Griffin, Care and McGaw, have highlighted the catalytic roles of education in national and human capital developments.
Education is a means of self-development through learning, knowledge, skills, and habits conveyed across generations. The importance of education for the economic, social and moral development of nations cannot be under-estimated.
Education is an art of appreciating life. It`s purpose is to teach us values, develop stimulated intellect, understand tolerance for disagreeable belief systems, dig out opportunities to question what exists, and contribute to the growth of human society.
Here, we may not talk about only socio-cultural values, but a holistic development of an individual who is well placed to evaluate the dynamics of all components of human societies (social, cultural, economic, legal and what not) and give them a perspective without prejudice.
And it`s the ability to think, and apply the knowledge in the world and to know the value of life. It is not about learning life, because education itself is life and a key to finding great characters hidden in every individual. Education is therefore considered to be a powerful tool for growth throughout many sectors in Uganda.
In Uganda, the government has even labeled education as a key component for driving social growth, economic development, and transformation as well as helping to achieve a more united nation and democratic reforms.
In addition, Uganda’s vision 2040 which provides paths to becoming a more prosperous nation, highlights education as a crucial mechanism for economic growth by providing human capital. Many countries invest heavily in the education sector in an attempt to ensure human resource development for sustainable development.
However, the quality provided in many incidents is what should be of concern to the designers of the national curriculum. Education policy should go beyond emphasis on quantity (chasing literacy levels) of a particular nation, and focus on the quality of the product of this very process.
The government of Uganda just like other countries should consider education as a basic human right where participating in education is viewed as part of the solution to reducing poverty. Hence it should and OUGHT to dedicate its energy and resources to providing equitable access to quality and affordable education to all Ugandans, through its mission statement which is;
“To provide for, support, guide, coordinate, regulate and promote quality education and sports to all persons in Uganda for national integration, individual and national development”.
The issue of quality education is fast eluding us as we accommodate commercialization of the education sector through privately run education institutions with less supervision from the center and the corruption scourge.
The education we give to the young should transform them into responsible citizens, with values that go beyond self, but cares for what is around them and future generations, values systems that respects what is theirs as opposed to cherishing what is foreign, value systems that respects elders and maintains social cohesion.
Quality education goes beyond earning degrees; it is more than bookish knowledge and it means inculcating moral values, positive thinking, attitude of helping, attitude of giving to society and ethical values, these are kinds of education products that are only able to bring changes in society.
This kind of education cannot just be wished for, there must be a deliberate effort to achieve it, which may include but not limited, to proper alignment of government priorities regarding education, appropriate supervision and monitoring, making public schools more attractive than private school which emphasize profit maximization as opposed to quality, retraining and re-equipping all schools with modern learning facilities, construction of suitable school infrastructure for our learners, enhancing salaries for teachers and instructors and attracting the best brains into education profession.
What have we done instead as a country is to leave education in the hands of sharks who are not interested in education but profits, we have deliberately destroyed public schools that we inherited from “bad government”, and replaced them with private schools we have built with money stolen from public resources and put a big price tag on an education and completely denied current, and future generation a quality, equitable and affordable education.
The irony is that those supposed to supervise, coordinate and monitor quality in public schools; own private schools and cannot make public schools better than their own less they are put out of business. By doing so, we have denied citizens an alternative public school system, and forced everyone to look for a private school for quality. What happened to schools like Nakasero, Shimon, Nakivubo blue, Buganda road, Mwiri, Kabalega, Teso College, Kitante, Kololo, Old Kampala, Mbarara High School, Obote College, Laibi etc, where most of us studied from?
Where do we expect children of poor or average Ugandans to go get quality education from since many can`t afford international schools or those we have established?
For example, we locked down education institution in the country over covid-19 and millions of learners sent home and lost 2 years of education; unfortunately only those from average Ugandans missed school, as learners from affluent citizens continued with their education in international schools just like covid-19 was selective and these belong to government officials, their close allies/business partners.
When we eventually decided to reopen schools, we went to our corner and left schools to milk parents of every penny yet these same parents have been affected by the pandemic, parents were made to even cover privately acquired loans from school directors as part of school requirement, and there was no government to help.
The ministry of education officials are busy either chasing deals or fighting to catch the eye of the bosses instead of serving the nation. Citizens are now on their own thanks to over commercialization of education and irresponsive government officials.
UPE and USE schools are just for policy papers to justify ministry`s budgets. They ceased to be schools but buildings where children go to play and grow away from home. We were presented with two years to rebuild and renovate public schools but nothing was done, budgets were passed to provide learners with materials and radios to continue learning during the two years of lockdown this was not done, and I am sure that money was used to build new and renovate private schools and apartments around Kampala and beautiful country homes.
Quality education of future generations should be everyone’s concern and not a responsibility of the central government alone, but it should be our civic duty too, we must come out and open up candid debates on the type of education we desire for our children, regardless of our color shades.
And we must work together towards ensuring quality education that will produce quality human resources as an element of national power and sustainable development or we accumulate a big number of educated fools and zombies. Quality equitable and affordable education should be demanded as a right by the citizenry.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Paddy D. Kayondo is a parent and an educationist.