Teach science as a business, Musenero urges institutions

The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Monica Musenero, has urged education institutions to teach science as a business model to develop the country.

While officiating at Bishop Stuart University week in Mbarara District last Friday, Dr Musenero said teaching science as a consumptive unit without incorporating it in business does not impact the country.

“To progress smoothly and have an impact on any science, including inventions and innovations, it should progress to a business enterprise. You can teach good science but if you don’t incorporate it into the business, it may lose sense,” she said.

The university was also marking 20 years.

Ms Musenero said exhibiting good scientific inventions and innovations without business sense will not attract communities to embrace it.

“Help us reshape the attitudes of young people not to position themselves only for jobs but to be job creators. Many of our innovators are not in schools because those who go there are comfortably waiting for jobs which also are not there,” she said.

The minister also blamed religious institutions for keeping people in poverty over preaching an incomplete gospel.

“The challenge I have with religious institutions is preaching an incomplete gospel that has kept people in poverty and suffering. Most of the time, religious institutions delegate their responsibilities to God instead of telling people to co create,” Dr Musenero said.

Ankole Diocese Bishop Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa, who is also the university Chancellor, said failure to back innovation with business cannot influence change in a community. 

“To transform communities, science and business have to work together. Institutions of learning should be aware of the business part of it and learn how to exploit it to be relevant to communities,” Bishop Mwesigwa said.

 “When I receive reports from my parishes on development projects, I interrogate them on how they will transform communities in terms of income because stopping only at being told or shown a good project without attaching it to the economic sense may not be of any help to communities,” he added.

Bishop Mwesigwa appealed to Dr Musenero to remind the President Museveni to clear his pledge of Shs7.3b that he made in 2011 for infrastructural development. So far, only Shs2.9b has been paid.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Mauda Kamatenesi, said the university, which started in 2002 with 200 students, has since grown to 5,000 students but their development has been affected by limited resources.

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