Uganda’s education policy review reform has no religious input

Allow me to make some contribution to the ongoing Education Policy Review Commission .

I have looked at the Joint CSO Issues Paper on Uganda’s Education Reforms and I decided to give my view. I believe many Ugandans might have the same view, only that they are not able to air them.

First and foremost the proposed reform has a lot of foreign ideas and inputs and it is certainly not completely Ugandan.

 Secondly, to succeed in any country through policy formulation, you have to go by the belief of the majority. In Uganda, the majority believes in God and over 85 percent are Christians. You cannot therefore go wrong if you have an educational policy which creates “fear of God”. I do not see this in the documents.

 In Uganda we have freedom of worship/religion but having this freedom without enabling environment in schools for the population to really know that God, will not create that ‘fear’. In fact people end up making religion a ‘business’ because they even don’t understand their relationship with God.

Section 2.3 child protection:  This section condemns corporal punishment, outlines Uganda’s experience on violence including sexual violence, child marriage, pregnancy and motherhood. 2.3..5.1. recommends a ‘Multisectoral  and interagency implementation strategy to enforce existing laws and policies to protect children against corporal punishment and other forms of abuse’.

Related to this is recommendation 3.3.1 ‘Review the sex education policy with the aim to ensure equitable access to SRHR, right information and life skills in order to address teenage pregnancies and child marriages’.

Proper teaching of religion collapsed when government took over religious schools. What we see today were never there: Children, (especially girls) are not safe at home, not safe at school and even at church! 

 We have noted how teenagers are getting pregnant on the watch of their parents. We have had several generations without proper teaching of religion. Religion must be taught and practiced.

Many people today, for instance, don’t pray on Sundays because investors who are non-Christians force them to work – creating a dilemma for Christians. In the long run these weaken faith and people become lukewarm Christians – which is the situation today.

In Uganda, many crimes happen behind the scenes even with prohibitive laws in place. Solutions to these crimes cannot be achieved through legislation.  Law enforcement cannot control desire: religious mindset through schools in the population must be developed.

Education policy must come out with a strong article on a mechanism for teaching catechism (in the case of Christians) in schools.  Secularism, sexual sin and atheism have affected the youth since the teaching of catechism in schools was abolished in preference to Christian Religious Education (CRE) which is a general knowledge about Christianity – there is more in Christianity.  Faith in the fear of God is lacking.

Religious bodies do not have time with children neither do the parents, who in fact, are even rookies in the subject.

To conclude, I would like to see Catechism (for Christians) taught in schools and if done well, it will create “fear of God” which fear will take care of all crimes because people want to go to heaven.

Uganda spends a lot of money and time on fighting crimes – I wish even half of that resource was used on proper religious education.  I strongly believe that without using faith as a weapon, crimes will never reduce.

I know politicians fear that when their subjects shift to God, they lose popularity (the reason for communism) hence they go for patriotism instead but patriotism and fear of God are two different things – fear of God gives respect to leaders.   

Dr Okoth Josue, concerned Christian and citizen

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