Why making Agriculture optional is stirring debate

Making Agriculture an optional subject has sparked a tough debate. The subject will be optional right from Senior One in the new O-Level curriculum. But there are two schools of thought that are emerging on the new development.

The first is that agriculture is a key contributor to the economy and therefore should have remained a compulsory subject up to Senior Three while the second is that not everyone has to engage in agriculture and therefore, it is those with the means that should learn and promote the skill.

Old versus new
Agriculture is still a compulsory subject studied from Senior Two to Three in the old curriculum which is currently operational from Senior Two to Four. At Senior Four, the subject becomes optional. Mode of assessment of the subject is based on two papers of theory and practicals.
However, in the new curriculum, Agriculture has been made an optional subject right from Senior One with stringent guidelines on practicals giving leeway for students and schools to either take it or leave it.

Agriculture was relegated to a skills based subject in the new curriculum and will be examined under the Directorate of Industrial Training to allow students acquire a competence certification from the Uganda Qualification Framework (UVQF) for the world of work.

The subject was made optional alongside ICT, Foreign Languages, Literature in English, Art and Design, Performing Arts, Technology and Design as well as Nutrition and Food Technology.

Chrisopher Muganga, the commissioner of the secondary curriculum at the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) explains why the subject was made optional.

He says much of the Agriculture content is in biology and the subject itself but the stronger reason he mentions is that the way agriculture is packaged, is through practice not theory and therefore it requires more of space, and implements.

He says schools that will take up Agriculture must have the resources to execute the practical aspect of the subject.

“We are also looking at the cost implication, if a school is going to have the rightful resources required for the subject or a certain topic, you must be ready to do it perfectly well but not haphazardly,” he says.

“If a child is leaving primary to secondary and is interested in agriculture, then, they should try schools where it can be done practically and that’s why we cannot force it to be everywhere.”

The mode of teaching the subject has also changed. After 2:30 pm, Muganga says students should be on school farms practicing agriculture not doing it as a subject in class. Students will be paired and have small plots for real demonstration and these will be assessed at each level. By the end of Senior Four, an agriculture student should be able to demonstrate and produce a finished product which is consumable on the market.

Will schools adjust?
In the past, schools had the means in terms of financial capacity and land to develop certain projects for students. Most traditional schools across the country have huge chunks of land for farming and other activities such as sports.

But times have since changed. It is normal to find a school on half an acre of land or even less, especially in urban areas. What matters today for an ideal school are classrooms and dormitories.

Enock Katende, an Agriculture teacher at St Stephen’s SS, Mukono, says the new requirements for the subject are ‘too demanding’.

Quoting a prototype book of Agriculture developed by NCDC, Katende explains that it demands that a school should have at least three acres of land where students will carry out agricultural activities and other projects.

Katende gives an example of animal production as a module to be learnt will require students by Senior Two and Three to have a big poultry unit or a goat rearing project or any other project relating to animal production. And at the end of Senior Four, students should have the ability to produce finished products from their projects such as butter, yoghurt or eggs.

“When you look at all these requirements set, it will be difficult to find a school which can fulfil them, It is only those traditional schools which have large chunks of land or schools which are still within places that can access land that will be able to take Agriculture as an optional subject,” he says.

Katende says the requirements need to be relaxed to make Agriculture a relevant subject.
School farms are no longer active according to Sr Gladys Kachope, the head teacher at Bweranyangi Girls SS, in Rukungiri District.

She says the students she has interacted with also regard farming as a backward thing to do. Kachope says according to the new demands, schools without land should find ways of improvising.

Micheal Ssali, a farmer and columnist in Seeds of Gold, a pullout on farming in the Daily Monitor says whereas it is true that most urban schools lack space; it is not enough to opt out of Agriculture.

He advises that urban schools can benefit from Agriculture by embracing practices that require small space such as zero grazing of animals, poultry and growing vegetables in sack mounds.

Paul Mwambu, the commissioner of crop inspection at the Ministry of Agriculture says school farms still lie idle due to lack of will from the school management.

Making a case for Agriculture
Agriculture plays a central role for Uganda’s economy and employment. Agricultural products (primary and processed) have accounted for more than 50 per cent of total exports over the last decade and the sector’s economic contribution extends well beyond the production sector into the wider food system, including related processing, manufacturing, and services.

The agricultural production share of overall employment even increased to 70 per cent in the period between 2006- 2016, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

It is against this background that some experts and academicians argue that the subject should be treated as a priority.

Sr Kachope she opines that every Ugandan student needs to study Agriculture because it is the backbone of the nation.

“Uganda is dependent on Agriculture and every student should know for instance how, when, and why food is grown. Some children think that food is grown in markets not gardens,” she says.

Sr Kachope explains that in Uganda, where there are no white-collar jobs, taking up Agriculture would be the best option and gives an example of Israel which is a desert country and it is only through improved Agricultural practices that has made the it one of the countries producing and exporting fruits.

OPINIONS
Mwambu at the Ministry of Agriculture says, it would be good if it was made compulsory up to Senior Four. He believes all schools can handle effective teaching of the subject, and what could be lacking is the will of the school leadership.
He says the Ministry has played its part by pushing for Agriculture to be included in the curriculum, and setting up demonstration gardens in schools as well as Agriculture clubs.

While Katende’s worries that there’s ripple negative effects for making the subject optional.
He says that more students are going to drop agriculture right away from Senior One and schools may not take up Agriculture because they cannot fulfill the demands.

Ssali says Agriculture is not just about food but also money. “If you cannot buy food, you should be able to grow it. I am a farmer and I can’t be part of the group that supports Agriculture to be optional. For instance, coffee is a precious crop and children should learn how to grow it when they are still in school. Agriculture is not about food, it’s also about money.

If you grow vanilla, cotton or coffee, these are cash crops that fetch farmers money,” he says. Muganga at NCDC believes not everyone can do Agriculture. “It is debatable that not everyone should do agriculture for a nation to depend on it. ”