Education starts after graduation

It goes without saying that a good education system should be seen to address the needs of the society. But is the Ugandan education system seen to be doing this? I am sorry to say, no.

In Africa, and in Uganda to be particular, we cannot afford the luxury of studying for its sake. Many of us, in most cases, are brought up to expect employment after completion of education and then, to expect bliss in the future.

I have had the rare privilege of having a few friends and relations with a university education, many of whom passed with good grades from reputable higher institutions of learning and graduated in the much sought after disciplines. But, they have been hunting for every available opportunity for a job related to their disciplines to no avail.

May be, we shall advise them to keep looking for jobs. But some have been looking for jobs for the past two, four or even 10 years with little or no chance. Some of you may advise them to ‘be job creators’ as I have always heard in the many graduation parties I have attended. Some of the speakers advising never created the jobs they occupy, but are employed in public or private sector.

But that is not the point. The kind of education we give our children does not prepare the mind of the learners to be innovative and does not tap the imaginative skills of the learners that much. Right from primary to university level, we teach learners to master a set of facts and later reproduce them in an examination. Those with poor or low memories are technically eliminated from this cycle of examination. They are the ones who opt for the much neglected vocational courses. There seems to be a deliberate emphasis on theoretical subjects at the expense of the practical ones.

We have more teachers than there are schools because we do not have parametres to check whether there is still need for a huge number of teachers. Many teachers have put aside their skills and qualifications to do other things. Others are languishing in villages drinking alcohol from dawn to dusk.

Our current education model does not seem to meet the needs of our society any longer if after studying, one cannot put the knowledge and skills learnt to proper use. Unemployment is steadily rising and so shall the levels of crime.

We need to redesign our education system to put more priority on practical subjects such as brick laying and concrete practice, engineering, nursing, agriculture, welding, electrical installation, art and craft, tailoring, fashion and design, and catering, to mention but a few. We should also lay off the old labour force and replace it with a younger and vibrant people.

Peter Ustinov (1921-2004), a British actor, writer, producer, director and two-time Academy Award winner once posed a question in, Dear Me. 1977 saying, “After all, what is education but a process by which a person begins to learn how to learn?” So to those already educated in this education system, learn that education per se is not enough to get you through this life. A tertiary or university degree alone does not guarantee you a job or a good future. Think outside the box.