MBARARA: President Yoweri Museveni has asked academic institutions to guide their learners to make wise careers choices by selecting science and technology-related subjects.
“I want to use this occasion to reiterate my call to the institutions of learning, to guide their students to make wise career choices, by selecting science and technology-related subjects,” Museveni.
“The demand for skilled manpower is increasing, as we scale up industrialisation in Uganda,” Museveni said in a speech delivered by the Vice President Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Alupo during the first Uganda Education and Career Expo at Ntare School in Mbarara today.
He informed students that right now the country has enough electricity, good roads, peace, and for that matter, government is prioritizing industrialisation to reduce the hemorrhage caused by the excessive importation of commodities that can competitively be produced in Uganda.
He stressed that when we import these items, we donate both money and jobs to foreigners leaving our own children unemployed.
The president, an old boy of Ntare school, explained to students that more industries in Uganda means more jobs for the population and taxes to the government to carry out development projects.
Museveni joined Ntare School in 1961, only after 5 years of the school’s existence. He was lucky to be among the first students, to attend a school that had not been established along the religious divide of Catholics versus Protestants.
He decried the unfortunate colonial education entrenchment based on religious sectarianism which was highly divisive.
The president highlighted that the religious frictions that poisoned the politics of Uganda, also affected the rest of society and the education sector was not spared.
He said the first schools in Uganda were built by the missionaries: Gayaza High School and Kings College Buddo were the first to be established by the Protestants; St. Mary’s College Kisubi by Catholic White Fathers; and Namilyango by the Mill Hill Mission from London.
Museveni explained that wherever there was a Catholic school, there was also a Protestant one of the same level nearby and these institutions were hostile to each other.
“Colonial and later post-colonial education did not set out to reach people to acquire productive skills. There was little or no vocationalisation of education and this lack of technical skills affected the development of a middle class in Uganda. A skilled middle class would have been job creators rather than job seekers,” he said.
Museveni said during the colonial days, no child was allowed to attend a school if it belonged to a denomination different from the one his or her parents subscribed to.
“This arrangement mostly affected the Muslim children. They were not able to receive education since both the Catholic and Protestant founded schools mostly refused to accept them; and no funding was available from outside to establish Muslim schools,” he said.
He said the colonial government did not participate in the establishment of formal education until 1952, when they started giving grants and facilitating the already established schools.
“They did not enter the education sector formally. The Muslims, therefore, as a result of lack of Muslim schools and neglect by the colonial government, were not able even to find clerical jobs, join the civil service, or even work as office messengers,” he said.
These Ugandans ended up in petty business, such as butchery, driving trucks and generally lagged behind other religious denominations, he said.
The president said Ntare School was unique, because of its nonsectarian stand. “This is the correct line, that is taught in the Bible”.
Museveni informed students that while at Ntare, he was an active member of the Scripture Union.
“I still vividly remember the story of the Good Samaritan, where the least likely person ends up being the one who helps someone in need. This is also the line of the NRM,” he said.
VP Alupo congratulated Ntare School for successfully organising the Uganda Education and Career Expo. She also commissioned a boys’ dormitory during the closure of the four day expo.
