Education: Lessons we must take from developed nations

Education lies at the foundation of socio-economic development. Listening to Finance minister Matia Kasaija delivering his Budget speech on June 13 under the theme: ‘Industrialisation for Job Creation and Shared Prosperity,’ my mind went back to things I learnt first-hand about the education systems in America and Japan.

I studied in a public university in America in the early 1990s for four years. It is how I came to know that public educational institutions in that country take the kind of approach that makes graduates “globally competitive” as Prof Venansius Baryamureeba put it in his comment, ‘Addressing unemployment: Is Uganda on the right track?’ in the Daily Monitor of July 9.

Indeed, I realised that public institutions provide far greater opportunities to learners than do private institutions. Even learners from poorer families can go through the best institutions, thanks to State and Federal financial aid they can access simply because they are Americans.America’s initial push linking education with industrialisation for job creation and shared prosperity – the theme of our budget – goes back to the Land-grant Universities Scheme. Under this scheme, a number of institutions of higher learning were established by the Morrill Act passed by the US Congress in 1862.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the law gave each state 30,000 acres of federal land for each member of Congress representing that state. The lands were sold and the funds were used to finance schools teaching “agriculture and the mechanic arts.”

The intention was clear: To meet the needs of a rapidly industrialising nation in terms of scientifically trained technicians and agriculturalists. Indeed, schools of higher learning came to be known as A&M (Agriculture and Mechanics) colleges offering programmes in agriculture, engineering, veterinary medicine and other technical subjects.

The best-known of these land-grant institutions included Cornell University in New York, Purdue University in Indiana, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin.

Interestingly, the racial question in America’s education system was also considered, especially under the second Morrill Act of 1890. Some 17 black colleges were established under the scheme. These included Florida A&M University, Tennessee State University, Alcorn State University in Mississippi and North Carolina A&M.

It should also interest us in Uganda that long before 1862, there was a strong political movement in America calling for the creation of agricultural colleges. I say this because of the existing disconnect between our education system on the one hand and economic planning on the other hand.

Reacting to the Budget proposals, Mr Gideon Badagawa, the executive director of Private Sector Foundation Uganda, was quoted in New Vision of June 14 as saying: “If the economy is growing at about 6 per cent, which is impressive, but we have 68 per cent of the population in the subsistence economy, then deliberate steps should be taken to correct the mismatch.”

One of the weakest points of our education system is limited or no collaboration between academia and industry. Government needs to rapidly come up with policies that can allow educational institutions to come up with cutting-edge technological innovations that can be put into practice by the manufacturing sector.

This is what American A&M colleges did. And it is what Makerere University, Kyambogo University and Busitema University should do. Revolutionising agro-processing, for example, should begin with breakthroughs in digital technology and ICT at these institutions.

Another very interesting thing I learnt from the Japanese education system when I visited Japan in 2003 was the heavy emphasis on the teaching of morals and ethics to schoolchildren. Children are taught what they should and should not do. They must learn to separate good from bad, right from wrong. It is that simple.

If you think this is not important consider this: Authorities in Bukedea District recently wailed that the immorality of schoolgirls in the area is getting out of hand. The girls have formed four scary groups: Team No Sleep, Team No Fear, Team No Stress and Team No Condom!

Dr Akwap is a senior lecturer at
Kumi University. [email protected]