Education-Uganda: Education System Should Promote Life Skills for End-User

Uganda - The annals of social development regarding a society are quite interesting to read. Sometimes you go in looking for something, only to learn something else. And so it was that this week's "group think" among a few concerned citizens on facebook saw some of us invade Makerere Library in search of archives to understand if indeed if we can measure the success and failings of health, only to get diverted to education. The key concern being, can we apply a qualitative and quantitative test to specific area sectors? Might we be able to make a fair assessment of ourselves and our contribution to Country? Interestingly, the internet again proved a far richer research tool.

As a nation, we have made great strides in education. In 1968, we had only 900,000 pupils in primary education, but we now have 7.4 million pupils. So applying a simple quantitative test would show progress in terms of the number of citizens getting an education.

The quality of education of course being affected by the ratio of teachers to students; increasing number of classrooms and ensuring classroom size conform to international standards. The investment into these areas, though visible, is markedly low in relation to population growth that it has caused some scenarios where one teacher has the duty to teach one hundred students.

Anyway, the figures notwithstanding, what caught our attention and had us glued, were the other indicators from World Bank data that measured people's spending habits. The figures indicated that progressively since 1968, Ugandans have been moving from a people that spend less than what they earn, to one that spends twice what they earn. The culture of savings has not been passed on in education and for rapid movement to a developed nation; we will have to work on our saving habits.

Without sounding too academic, education is failing to co-ordinate with other government departments to create a "group think" that develops the end product of the ideal citizen that they would like to come out of primary and secondary schooling. For example, Industry ministry should have an input and so should economists in finance who would like to see movement to first world.

If we start backwards going forward, then what we need to see as a nation; is a society that is full of entrepreneurs that are driving the economy and contributing considerably to the tax base to enable government provide better education standards for all. A society that does not know how to save can't help you build up sufficient funds to capitalize for development. In any case, how is it that a society that earns, is able to spend twice as much as they earn? Where is the money coming from?

That aside, failing to manage our population growth makes it even more difficult to draw realistic plans for education. Much as a large population is necessary to build internal market for industry, it all has to fall into a general strategic plan that is imparted to the citizens through education. The plan has to be an effective and productive one. Again the data showed that while we are educating more Ugandans, it is having no impact on lowering fertility rates, which would markedly improve the lives and productivity of households.

So, a trip to the library to rid ourselves of our ignorance left us feeling more ignorant than when we walked in. It was a humbling experience really; generations before us thought fixing the problem was easy, only for the solutions to appear like they cause bigger problems. Talk about the paradox of learning and living through the lessons!

Ms Mbabazi is a social critic.