By Frank Kamuntu
Prof Lawrence Muganga has once again written to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, reminding him that Ugandans are still waiting for an overhaul of the current ‘meaningless’ education system, which has for long boosted the challenges affecting the country’s growth.
Responding to an article published by Swift Daily News revealing how Museveni is already frustrated by defiant head teachers who have continued charging school fees despite the government’s several warnings, Muganga says only the new education system can silence the whole battle. Article: ”Am Tired Of Singing This Song, Stop Charging School Fees Or Wait For Fire”-Museveni To Defiant H/trs
In the new education system, Muganga who is the Vice Chancellor of Victoria University Kampala, wants Museveni’s government to end boarding schools and eliminate national exams like Primary Leaving Education (PLE), and Uganda Certificate Education (UCE) because these help schools to extort poor parents by fronting grades scored to attract new students.
Below Is Muganga’s Full Message To Museveni
”Your Excellency President Yoweri KagutaMuseveni, As I read the@swift _dailynews article, I deeply feel your frustrations and pain. However, I am certain that within these challenges, there are solutions I have consistently advocated for, and I believe you have the power to implement them effectively. Allow me to share some of these ideas with you:
1) End Boarding Schools in Uganda:
This approach is financially sustainable. It is affordable for the government and helps parents too. More importantly, keeping students in their communities reduces the social problems they face in boarding schools. Boarding schools often expose students to bad influences, take them away from real-life experiences, and increase their stress. By keeping students in their communities, they can learn in healthier environments and have more practical, real-world learning experiences.
2) Eliminating National Exams for Primary 7 (PLE) and Senior 4 (UCE):
This revolutionary step would improve the quality of education in Uganda. National exams do not determine a person’s success in life. Instead, they create a divide between “good” and “bad” schools based on exam results. These exams also allow schools to charge high fees, promising good grades, but this mainly benefits a few people financially. In many countries in the Global North, such exams have been removed, and teachers now use continuous assessment, which is a better way to measure a student’s knowledge and skills.
By shifting from national exams to continuous assessment, Uganda would save significant resources, which could be reinvested in paying teachers better, building science labs, developing AI-focused learning centers, and expanding classroom facilities.
Your Excellency, you are already on the right path by advocating for free education at the primary and secondary levels. I fully agree with you, education should be accessible to every young person up to Senior 6. Education is a public good, and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that all children can benefit from it.
Mr. President, the solutions you seek are within reach, and I believe that the steps you are considering are the right ones. Let’s move forward, and I am confident that, in time, the benefits will be clear. Trust in these reforms, and I believe they will transform Uganda’s education system for the better.
For God and My Country. ”
