Gawaya Tegulle
23 August 2008
opinion
Some very interesting decisions and 'innovations' have been coming out of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in recent years.
Space cannot allow too many examples, but let's go with just two. One, 'visitation days' are now defined, meaning that as a parent you cannot walk into a school and demand to see your child, just because you are missing her.
You are restricted to one visiting day a term.
Two, kids will be taking initial lessons in their local languages (as the language of instruction). I say interesting decisions, because they lack logical premise.
At a time when the world is going crazy, a parent worth his salt must not surrender the upbringing of his child to teachers alone. Kids need to interact with their parents now more than at any other time in our history. So when you curtail that interaction you are squarely jeopardising the welfare of the child.
No wonder so many kids are becoming homosexuals, getting pregnant in school, abusing drugs and stuff - the parent-child relationship has been killed by the stroke of a pen in the name of policy from MOE.
As for learning in vernacular, one has to consider the mistakes made by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere when he led Tanzania.
He may be congratulated for enshrining Swahili as a national language of Tanzania, but he made an error of strategy, taking Swahili too far as a language of instruction.
Now you can hardly find a Tanzanian who speaks decent English, something which inhibits their competitiveness on the global stage. That is why you have so many Tanzanians getting educated in Uganda, because their parents realise that if their kids are to compete on the global stage, Tanzania is not the place to begin.
I have many friends all over the world who rush to England and the United States during summer because they are trying to learn English, because they recognise English is the language of the world and they can never be complete without it, no matter how many other languages they speak.
So while everybody else is going global, Uganda is returning to the medieval era by trying to change the language of instruction. Where in the world will speaking Lusoga, Lunyoro or Lugisu give you an advantage? These are languages we can learn at home without too much trouble. I speak better Luganda than many Baganda, without even taking lessons in it. So what's the big deal?
Truth is, the MOE is happy to run this very sensitive sector in a kangaroo court fashion - they make up the rules as they move along.
This is the inevitable consequence of having leaders and managers who stay in responsibility for so long that they run out of ideas and end up indulging in comical and illogical strategies to appear relevant and 'still able'.
Many, nay, most of the suggestions to overhaul our education system that this column has advanced in the last eight weeks can hardly be implemented with the current political leadership of the country and the folks at the Ministry of Education.
Matching new ideas with old brains would be a straight case of pouring new wine into old skins. You have got to be really naïve to expect brand new ideas from a cabinet packed with folks in their sixties and seventies.
These are folks that have already lived their lives and have nothing to die for. It is not in their interest or in their fancy to see things being done in a new way. They are happy to enjoy their cabinet positions as a retirement benefit or de facto pension. Nothing more.
Changing the education system will mean new faces and new brains taking the lead - certainly not the current crop.
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You are not serious about a parent only being able to visit their child once a term! That is absolutely proposterous. My goodness that is cruel, parents are people who shape us, we need them as much as they need us and school alone cannot define a person's character, the parents should be involved, after all the children can get education from school but need to know they are loved and once a term and during school holidays is totally insufficient. I left Uganda as a child, and fortunately went to day school, my father was and still is an adored, loved, respected figure who has taught me an outlook on life that I could never gain from the classrooms. I am in my early forties now and think as highly of my dad now as I did when I was a child. Please, for the future of children's wellbeing, enable parents and children to interact. Once a month is insufficient even, once a fortnight can be what both parents and children look forward to and getting an ongoing awareness of the children's wellbeing, educational progress and happiness.