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Being a Ugandan and having studied in an European University, I've come to realize that Uganda we need to redesign the whole curriculum from Primary School to University.

We are pumped with unnecessary information from P.1 through S.6, the education system is theoretical, graduates of Universities can't create jobs, do independent research, they are far behind the dot com era, almost all of them are after Masters and PhDs which after completion still yied nothing.

The Educational system isn't producing creative minds of the order of Bill Gates, Nikola Tesla etc. From studying Math, SST, English and Science in primary school to a zillion of subjects in O-Level it's as if we are producing teachers.

Countries develop through technology, if you compare the universities we've, private ones inclusive, there are few universities of Technology, the only reasonable mechanical engineering department is at MUK producing graduates taught mostly theory, when are we gonna produce minds which are gonna get involved in Research and Development in Technology. Soroti Flying School now the East African School of Aviation is no where to be seen not even with a website. I can write a full thesis but folks what do you think?

Peregrine,

 Iam a teacher-tiica and tell you what??  I agree with you 100% that the Ugandan Education System needs to be overhauled so as to match with the international community and to be more relevant to the situation of Africa  as well.

The whole problem stems from the fact that we are celebrating 45 years of Independence from British Colonial Leaders and yet our judiciary, military and poloiitical systems and yes even more so the education system is still being modelled to that of Britain as if we are still in the Colonial Era of 1933. It was the P1-P6, then Junior1-2, then Siniya 1-4, and other tertiary colleged bup to 1966. Then came the new idea of P1-P7 and nomore Junior and that after P7 its S1-S4 and Haya as they callit - the S5-S6, then College or University Studies. But its true that even after and with the introduction of both the UPE and the USE, there is big problem of the Curriculum not fitting the relevancy of the matter to the every day situation and not equipping the student to graduate out of Primary or Secondary or University  - he graduates with little or no skills for job creating for the sustainace of his life. Its a shame that many of Uganda's University graduates are on the streets in Kampala and have not managed to get jobs as they all wait to go and work in offices and few are trained to make jobs on their own or let alone be able to adjust their degrees to be able to set up NGOs and move to the rural areas for development projects linked up with the rural people and with the posible donors. Can you imagin that these days a lot of money is coming in for project that are seriously focused on the issue of Rural development, environment or education of the needy? there is the need to be innovative as some pipo have done   ------ www.urdt.net   and  www.urdt.net/aru.html

There is need to be innovative and creative and do or go beyond the ordinary way of the Ministry of Education System of Education. May be that is why the private schools from nursery level  to primary and secondary and tertary institutions are doing better than the government schoools and thus attracting more foreing students rushing to Uganda for better education. the secret must be that the quality of education in a lot of these schools is better than that of the government set up schools and its also that they are offering more..... more of the skills than the Ministry of Education 's so many subject being im[posed on the students --- all in the name of a new highly politicised and NRMized education system . yes I aggree that some thing must be done

I will offer more contributions as we go along with other discussants. thanks Peregrine for this posting

what? Ugandan nuclear institute & ministry, when?

like never! it was a dream M7 had, and used to hype up the country, the same way this oil thing was being used until that bubble burst

there is a committee to oversee another committee which while decide which committee will be responsible for setting up a committee to do something, all of these will need break tea, samosas, mineral water, a large prado(to see the area), fuel money,allowances etc etc etc

 

Good question as to waht went wrong from having the best Uni in East africa at one point to almost nothing. The system at whatever elvel should build in practical and research work and move away from cramming lots of info into the pupils simply to enable them to pass an exam

Well currently the Uganda govt  just jumps onto any wagon, presently it's oil, if the govt knew that we've oil what was it's initiative in order to put up effective plans such that our graduates will benefit. With the discovery of oil, if we are gonna have refinery plants we shall need process, chemical, fluid engineers.

The foreign guys who are heading those projects are will come with their process/chemical/ fluid engineers and in turn gain from us. Makerere University by now would have been designing a chemical engineering degree under the faculty of Technology because in the future we are gonna need them.

P, it is sad that we haven't even managed to tap into solar power cooking, if go through my pics, there is a pic form Madagascar where they are cooking lunch under the sun quite literally. Please note the materials used whaic are all easily available in UG and a good answer to reducing deforestration.

Oh yea Vision i saw the solar oven, sincerely Africa is backward today it's us to blame, Countries with minerals and natural resources are some of the countries termed by UN as the least developed countries. If South Africa, Bostwana are ahead why can't we learn from them and we maximize what we've.

We've the potential of solar technology, Uganda is a country with plenty of sun i wonder what the Ministry of Energy does.

Hi

Professor Mamdani had a great paper detailing where MUK went from and moved from a university that aimed at producing competent graduates into one which aimed at maximizing money-intake.

In the desire to enable every Ugandan to obtain graduate education, the private sponsorship scheme was introduced but as in common in Africa, the money entering the university coffers proved too sweet, and soon enough, it was not about about the quality of education but the quantity of students that mattered. With the increased student/lecturer ratio, and the "big" money remaining the domain of the top administration, the students now faced lackluster teaching by lecturers who felt demoralized by  poor pay, poor resources etc. The best lecturers/professors have either left or only come in when their assistants(student lecturers) cannot make it. Most of the grants given to MUK never reach the students just as so many scholarships remain among the "bosses", its a sad situation  

Hi, first post.

 As a Ugandan who escaped the education system after A-level, I'd like to point out a few things....

The Ugandan system of Education is not Makerere, as the posts here might lead one to believe. If students' creativity and imagination are not developed both at home and at the lower levels of the educational system, Makerere will probably not help much. Most students spend only 3yrs there anyway. A drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. Less time than at O'level (4yrs) or Primary school (7yrs).
 

Our colonial mentality that disregards indigenous methods of learning doesn't do us any good.

I cringe when I remember the classes where the teacher stood up in class and dictated notes. The only skills I learned from it, were how to write fast, cram and paraphrase. Here I am, years later I hardly ever write but type most of the time, don't remember a thing I crammed but can easily paraphrase other people's work. What a waste! I had to escape that system. Talk to a psychology grad from Makerere and they will knock you out with the Euro-centric view. Ask they how psychology fits into Ugandan cultures and society and they will falter.

This is not to put down these institutions, they do have rigorous programs and certainly challenge their students, but the system in which they operate, has to change in order to produce fully developed and useful graduates.

What should we do?

Go back to our roots. We should integrate the best foreign learning methods with our own. I was lucky to start out at good private schools, before experiencing the other side at one of the best secondary schools in the nation. The future didn't look any better at Makerere so I left when I could. Look at Pedagogy of the oppressed, students should be engaged and taught interactively.

We should start early. Encourage kids to play hard, work hard, study hard, develop their creativity and let their imagination flourish.

13 subjects are not too much to handle at O'level. At that level most people don't know what they want to do when they grow up, so the wider the net they cast the better. That also goes to the notion that at A'level you know what you want to be when you grow up. Many don't and should be encouraged to try different subjects. Locking a student into science or arts early and then failing to provide avenues for them to change later is misguided. The system has to be flexible.

The notion that students cannot handle sports and books should also be abandoned. They can and should be encouraged to do so.
 

We should bring learning out of the classroom and into daily lives. Theories should be taught as theories and not the gospel truth. Students should be encouraged to come up with their own theories. They should be empowered to challenge the likes of Sir Isaac Newton and Keynes.

How does our elder's knowledge square up to the Scientific Method? With the wealth of biological life we have we should be at the forefront of biological knowledge.

It's the whole educational system (especially the primary and secondary levels) that is failing us and not just Makerere.

The Ugandan... means I can wear different hats. Today it's the educator.
 

Hi the Ugandan,

I myself escaped the system right after A-level, but i must tell ya everything stems from Makerere, the folks who design the primary, secondary curriculum most of them are former MUK graduates. Leaving that aside i agree with you just as i noted in the previous postings that introduction of practical and independent thinking courses in primary and secondary/ high school will be an added advantage.

I've followed closely the education systems of different countries, but allow me to note out the East Europe education system precisely the Czech educ system. After primary school having been exposed to practical lessons including programming, computer science, engineering sciences and humanities the kids either choose to go to specialised secondary schools or normal high schools.

The specialised secondary schools are 3-4 year schools specialising in different fields such as public health, nursing, medical related courses, industrial mechanics, electronics, computer science etc. After completion of the specialised secondary school a student can decide to go into the work force, or go ahead with university education in that particular field chosen. Imagine a kid starting for example programming in primary school go on and program for 3-4 years in a specialised programming secondary school, then head to university study software engineering up to a masters degree, either you like it or not that kid is gonna be too sharp and with alot of experience in programming.

The normal High schools are a bit the same as the Ugandan ones, but you study for about 4-6years then head to university, folks who go to normal high schools are the ones who are undecided and they just wanna try anything until they complete. The Czech system has worked absolutely well and they train graduates in all fields either they need them or not, in so doing creativity is enhanced graduates are able to set up their own businesses, companies etc. this also leads to the exportation of personnel to neighboring countries.

The Ug, you male very interesting points regarding the C sytem works pretty well and a version of it is applied in Austria. You are rght education does not start at Uni, Children need to be challenged to think for themselves at a very early age. Those of you who read the New Vision may have come across Maama Tendo's post regarding her children watching their father do some DIY and hw fascinated they were.  If you seek knowledge about any given topic you are unlikey to forget it and you will certainly from whatever you discover. I think the notion of spoon feeding students or lesson delivery where the teacher dictates note eyar on year with no room for students to go and find out for themselves fails students in the long run.

On a ligther note.. those who did not go through Ug colleges and Unis missed out on inter college parties. In my time we used to go from Nakawa, MUK, Kyambogo and end up at Kibuli in any given night!

From http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1022757_cool_cash_card_confusion

LOTTERY scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot - because players couldn't understand it.

The Cool Cash game - launched on Monday - was taken out of shops yesterday after some players failed to grasp whether or not they had won.

To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.

But the concept of comparing negative numbers proved too difficult for some Camelot received dozens of complaints on the first day from players who could not understand how, for example, -5 is higher than -6.

Tina Farrell, from Levenshulme, called Camelot after failing to win with several cards.

The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.

"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it.

"I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn't say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled."

A Camelot spokeswoman said the game was withdrawn after reports that some players had not understood the concept.

She said: "The instructions for playing the Cool Cash scratchcard are clear - and are printed on each individual card and in the game procedures available at each retailer. However, because of the potential for player confusion we have decided to withdraw the game."

More than 15m adults in Britain have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths

Almost three times as many UK adults (15.1m) have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths - than with poor literacy skills, according to the government's Skills for Life survey.

Peter Hall, of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, said: "The concept of minus numbers is something we would cover with 11 or 12 year olds, and we would expect them to have come across it before.

"The concept of smaller numbers is something that some people do seem to struggle with. Seven is clearly smaller than eight, so they focus on that and don't really see the minus sign. There is also a subtle difference in language between smaller - or lower - and colder. The number zero feels lower.

"There have always been some people who find numbers and basic mathematics difficult. Maybe in the past it was less noticeable because people could find jobs they could excel in without having qualifications in maths."

either the teacher was mean, or you weren't prepared,or she was just playing bad

similar scenario happened to my class, we was doing Additional Maths, and he tried to bring lugezigezi, we teamed up and disproved him based on his own notes, suffice to say, we had a wonderful time afterwards in his class; it was the price of many nights doing "winter"
 

Dislike of Mathematics and sciences starts right from childhood. It's really sad whereby someone can't differentiate between positive and negative numbers.

A lot of folks go for blood tests and they are told you are + or - and still get confused, but a person who completed primary school worldwide is able to tell that -8 is less than -6.

Joe Powell came from London to take a postgraduate course at a Ugandan university. Despite the power cuts and occasional riot, it's ideal

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/postgraduate/story/0,,2226342,00.html

Peregrine

Thank you for the link.  During my years getting a degree from Makerere was more prestigious than the other two universities in Kenya and Tanzania.  People from all over EU and Asia came to study at Makerere and they stayed after they graduated after seeing the beauty of the country.  The competion was stiff to get into Makerere.