Africa-Press – Uganda. The Uganda National Academy of Science (UNAS) has called on government and the private sector, to place science, technology, and the knowledge economy at the centre of the country’s education and development agenda.
They said these would address the learning crisis the country is currently experiencing, despite the impressive and sustained improvements in enrolment. According to UNAS, it remains unclear how much students are learning in the classroom since the learning crisis is multi-dimensional and extends from the primary level to post-secondary education. “Despite decades of efforts to improve outcomes in the education sector, patterns of teacher absenteeism, poor parental involvement, outdated examination methods, and highly siloed disciplinary teaching persist,” a statement from UNAS said. As a result, it said, a growing number of private-sector employers are expressing concerns that graduates from the region are not well-prepared to participate productively in the workforce. “It is important to recognize the inter-linkages of all levels of the education system. The quality of graduates exiting from post-secondary programs depends to a large degree on the type and quality of education they receive at lower levels,” the statement said. UNAS said if primary and secondary education does not inculcate a genuine curiosity and love of learning in students, then the higher education system is unlikely to successfully produce the calibre of graduates necessary to engage in the competitive global knowledge economy. They said governments, especially around the East Africa region should pursue a holistic education agenda that clearly acknowledges and addresses the linkages between primary and secondary levels of schooling and the quality of the tertiary education system. The statement said excessive teacher absenteeism in primary-level classrooms is a major issue in the region, driven both by social factors and by gaps in official policy. The statement says governments should fund research to track the root causes of authorized and unauthorized teacher absenteeism for more targeted, evidence-informed decisions in the future. “Governments should implement the use of more rigorous attendance registers to empirically determine the worst offenders of unauthorized absenteeism,” the statement read in part. It said, to create life-long learners for development, governments should seek to limit administrative and policy gaps that promote excessive authorized absences from the classroom, including but not limited to possible ICT solutions for salary disbursements. It further said Education and health ministries should work closely together, possibly through the creation or strengthening of inter-sectoral working groups, to improve access to health services on school premises in the short term. Previously, the private sector foundation has expressed concern over less productivity from highly qualified individuals, blaming it on the education system that doesn’t skill them to take on the responsibilities ahead. In an interview with New Vision, Gideon Badagawa said it is now the prerogative of individual employers to improve their employees’ competencies beyond their academic qualifications. “The education system is failing us miserably. However, because of that, human resources cannot be appraised on education qualification alone, but on a comprehensive performance assessment that combines resourcefulness, attitude and vigour of the candidate,” he said. UNAS on Thursday will have a webinar on the education system, themed Education Systems in Eastern Africa: Creating Life-Long Learners for Development.
