Uganda: Education needs new brains at the top

[Harold Schiffman]

Education needs new brains at the top
Gawaya Tegulle

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.
These series end here.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/opinions/Education_needs_new_brains_at_the_top_70246.shtml

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