Quality Education should be a priority in Uganda

Government should prioritize Quality in Education Sector for the next 50years.

By Adellah Agaba

Malcolm X, the eloquent, inspirational and leading figure of American Civil Rights Movement once noted that, ‘education is the great equalizer.’ This cannot be more relevant to Uganda’s economy, which suffers from a stratified society with expansive class differences in socio-economic access, manifested in the huge disparities in human development indices. 

In 1997, the Government launched the Universal Primary Education (education for all); this was part of the many recommendations of the EPRC 1989 commitments within the Government White Paper 1992. Key of the objectives of the UPE Programme included making education equitable in order to eliminate the disparities and inequalities, establishing, providing and maintaining quality education as the basis for promoting the necessary human resource development and ensuring that education is affordable by the majority of Ugandans by providing initially, the minimum necessary facilities and resources, and progressively the optimal facilities, to enable every child to enter and remain in school until they complete the primary school education cycle.

Ten years later, the Universal Secondary Education policy came into effect in 2007, committing government to provide free secondary education up to completion of O-level. The policy was implemented in a phased manner beginning with senior one in 2007. These two programmes (UPE and USE) have fundamentally impacted on the equity and quality in both positive and negative ways.

Enrolment at primary level has been steadily growing since the introduction of Universal Primary Education in 1997 and Universal Secondary Education in 2007. In 1996, just before the introduction of UPE national total enrollment stood at approximately 3million and significantly rose to 5 million in one year and later to about 7.6 million by 2007. Total enrollment in primary education is currently estimated at 8.7 Million pupils. Secondary school enrollment has been following a similar trend hugely due to the introduction of USE in 2007. Registered enrollment in 2000 was 518,931 significantly rising to 842,683 by 2007 and currently stands at 1,570,000.

A number of efforts have been undertaken by government to enhance learning facilities to cope up with the increasing pupil and student intake in both primary and secondary levels. This has included increasing the number of classrooms, recruiting more teachers and bringing on board private secondary schools. However, there are low completion rates, high grade repetition and significant numbers of drop-outs. These facts seem to indicate either that the schools are not teaching students well or that the curriculum is irrelevant to their needs. In many cases, formal school curricula have been criticized for being unrelated to the conditions and demands of life in rural areas.

The current education policy focuses on expanding the functional capacity of education structures and reducing on the inequalities of access to education between sexes, geographical areas and social classes in Uganda. It advocates for redistribution of resources vis-à-vis reforming the education sector.

Government in the next 50years needs to strengthen the existing platforms for citizens’ involvement in the administration of education institutions especially at the lower levels including school management committees, parent-teachers association and boards of governors. Policy formulation should be consultative enough to allow for citizen/parents’ participation at all levels and implementation should be participatory to improve on quality in the education sector.

 If a country has poor education systems, then there will be a skills mismatch between what’s offered and what’s required in the labor market, or there will be no skills at all which hampers entrepreneurship and national development.

The author works with Uganda Debt Network

aagaba@udn.or.ug

Idle Ambulances a sign of reluctance in Health Care

“IDLE” AMBULANCES A SIGN OF RELUCTANCE IN HEALTH CARE

By Adellah Agaba

The Daily Monitor has recently launched a commendable initiative to uncover the misuse of ambulances in various government health facilities countrywide. Instead of the usual rebukes that usually accompany such media campaigns, the Government needs to fully support this particular one as it is geared towards improving the quality of service delivery.

It is not surprising that the exposition reveals an appalling state of the health service sector. It has been a long known secret that most of the government ambulances are either idle, broken down or being misused by government officials, as official transport vehicles. Often times, patients in critical need of ambulance service have been extorted of large sums of money because the health facilities lack fuel for the ambulances. In deed many of the health facilities have often run without medical consumables because of inadequate budgetary allocations to the health sector. 

The Government recently yielded to calls for an additional allocation to the health ministry, forking out sh49.54 billion for the sector. This money is to be financed through budget from other ministries. The key concern is that this additional budget is going to recruitment and remuneration of health workers – with sh6.5 billion already identified for the recruitment of 6,172 health workers.

While staff shortage has been one of the key bottlenecks facing the health sector – with many qualified health professionals preferring to opt high paying foreign jobs – an additional budgetary allocation to only staffing needs will not solve the endemic problems in the sector.

The Daily Monitor of March 11, 2012 published an agonizing article titled “Nakapiripirit patients use wheelbarrows as ambulances” that revealed the despair of a husband wheeling his pregnant wife to a health centre on a wheelbarrow. The woman did not make it, the only ambulance that used to serve the district broke down three years ago and government is yet to respond to the district’s request for another vehicle. Many other Ugandan women have died while giving birth often because of either professional negligence or inadequate medical equipment. The case of Mbale teacher Cecilia Nambozo – a Ugandan tax payer who bled to death 2011 during labour because she lacked sh300,000 for a caesarean section - is still fresh in our minds.

Of what importance is it to recruit more health workers when there are insufficient medical consumables like protective wears, or constant drug stock outs in the health centres? Will it be relevant to cut several ministries’ budgets when citizens cannot access health services due to transportation inconveniences – including lack of ambulances or poor road conditions?

The Ministry of Health needs to have sufficient data on the usage of ambulances by its various facilities. There is need for constant monitoring and supervision in the health centres to ensure that the ambulances are put to their proper use. In addition, Ugandan citizens have a collective responsibility in ensuring that public property is put to proper use, instead of looking on blindly and later heaping the blame on government.   

With all these budget cuts we expect to see a vibrant health sector with good services delivered to the stakeholders and ambulances which are working to save life not parked and idle when expectant mothers are dying after more health personnel have been recruited. It’s time to see value for money in the Health Sector.

The author works with Uganda Debt Network

aagaba@udn.or.ug

Lack of Political Will to Fight Corruption in Uganda

Cabinet reshuffle confirms lack of political will to fight corruption 

By Adellah Agaba

President Yoweri Museveni recently made a cabinet reshuffle which critics have argued underscored the Government’s lack of political will to fight corruption.  

The Cabinet lineup included three ministers still battling court cases over abuse of office and causing financial loss to the government, resulting from their roles in organizing the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala which allegedly cost the government over $150 million (over sh350 billion). 

Ministers Sam Kutesa (Foreign Affairs) and Mwesigwa Rukuntana (State for Labor) retained their positions, while John Nasasira was transferred from the apparently “less influential” post of Chief Whip to General Duties Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.  Some of these ministers were also accused of taking bribes from oil companies which they denied.

In 2004, President Museveni launched the National Strategy to Fight Corruption. The strategy provided a Plan of Action to guide interventions in the fight against graft, and culminated into the government declaring a Zero tolerance policy towards corruption, as part of the overall National Anti-Corruption Strategy. However, the direction that the ruling NRM government is taking seems to be in direct conflict with this “only on paper” strategy. The President continues to make appointments to reward patronage and loyalty, rather than merit. Individuals muddied by corruption, such as Alintuma Nsambu, continue to enjoy presidential approval as the NRM seems resigned to its inability to check the “progress” made by those ripping off government coffers.  

With the glaring reluctance to fight corruption, exhibited by the actions of the President, it was not surprising that some of these political players resurfaced in the new Cabinet even before they are acquitted by the courts of law. In any case, did the President not reappoint Kutesa to government after his censor by the 6^th Parliament for abuse of office?

The reappointments of ministers Kutesa, Nasasira and Rukutana have therefore laid bare any claims of President Museveni’s commitment to eliminate the terminal cancer of corruption in his government. Worse still, the appointments of Alintuma Nsambu (ambassador) and Kirunda Kivejinja (presidential ambassador) - despite both being regularly linked to corruption scandals - are testimony to the regime’s inability to prize merit over loyalty. 

According to Transparency International Annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of December 2011, Uganda’s score has remained dismally below 3.0 percent, suggesting that corruption is “prospering” and that not much impact has been registered in effectively fighting against the vice. The country is still ranked among the most corrupt countries, placed at number 143 out of 182. This is a worrying decline from the 127th ranking in 2010.

Despite some positive aspects of the legal and institutional framework, recent corruption cases and political developments in Uganda indicate a lack of political backing for the implementation of anti-corruption reforms. The government needs to urgently enforce the existing anti corruption laws.   

 The President needs to seize this moment and reaffirm his commitment to the fight against corruption by not reinstating ministers tainted with corruption scandals just like he did with former ministers Prof. Khiddu Makubuya, Saida Bbumba and Kabakumba Masiko. 

If the fight against corruption is to yield tangible results, there is need to mobilize citizens to demand for government action on corruption. Since fighting corruption requires concerted efforts and active participation of all stakeholders, citizens need to be sensitized about their constitutional and legal rights and entitlements if they are to demand for them from the state. However, the onus remains with the government of Uganda and the President in particular, to go beyond talking - and walk the talk. 

If corruption is not to exacerbate inequalities and weaken government service delivery, there is need for government to take decisive action irrespective of the personalities involved; and restore public faith and confidence in the “Zero tolerance to corruption” policy.

 The writer works with Uganda Debt Network

Youth Unemployment Vs Poor Education Sytem

Youth Unemployment as a result of poor Education Systems in Uganda

The term unemployment is not new to many Ugandans where youth unemployment was 23% by the year 2002 and estimated to be at a whopping 32.2% at the present and the extent of the problem has long been recognized as a serious gap in the country’s efforts to reduce poverty and idleness among the young people. The Ugandan labor force consists of persons aged 14 to 64 who are either employed (in paid employment, self-employed and unpaid family workers) or unemployed (without work and available for work). Currently the Uganda labour force is estimated to be 9.8 million for person aged 14-64 years, of which 53 per cent are female. About 85 per cent of the labor is in rural areas, a notable percentage of the labour force is illiterate (30 percent). Close to 77 per cent of the labour force has either no education or has attained primary education. In addition, about 75 per cent of the labour force is below 40 years. This indicates that majority of the individuals entering labour market have no adequate skills considering that the majority youth do not appreciate vocational working skill training.

The 2009/2010 Uganda National Household Survey revealed that the unemployment rate was at 4.2 percent in 2009/2010 compared to 1.9 percent in 2005/2006. The survey also showed that the general proportion of youth (International definition, 15-24 years) rose from 27 percent in 2005/2006 to 28% in 2009/2010. On the other hand, the proportion of the youth (national definition, 18-30 years) rose from 44 percent in 2005/2006 to 48 percent in 2009/2010. According to a 2008 World Bank Report, Uganda is among the countries with the youngest population and the highest youth unemployment rate of 83%.

The National Youth policy recognizes that the major causes of a high youth unemployment rate are lack of employable skills, access to reproductive resources like land and capital, overemphasis on experience, lack of apprenticeship schemes, negative attitudes by the youth towards work especially in agriculture and lack of a comprehensive employment policy to mention but a few. There is also a possibility that a large share of current high youth unemployment is “structural,” meaning that the problem is that those who are unemployed are not compatible with the jobs available. This would be, for instance, because their skills are inadequate, have deteriorated, or are not applicable to the industries, or that the unemployed simply do not live in the places where the jobs are suggesting a possible skill mismatch. The low quality of education leads to a general lack of skills causing increased youth unemployment in Uganda.  Free education programmes are often limited to primary and secondary educations which have been seen to be lacking in quality. High dropout rates worsen the situation further.

Further, under the policy, the salient issues experienced by the youth in the area of education and training include selectiveness of education and training institutions in favor of urban areas, lack of equity and accessibility to education and training facilities, lack of vocationalisation of education at all levels, inadequate education and training facilities and shortage of personnel with quality practical skills training. One of the principles underlying the National Youth policy is the promotion of the principle of equity in opportunities and in distribution of programmes, services and resources.

Section 6 (1) of the Employment Act provides that it shall be the duty of all parties including the Minister, labour officers and the industrial court to seek to promote equality of opportunity  with a view to eliminating any discrimination in employment. In relating this provision to employment and the youth in Uganda, the law presupposes that the youth are entitled to access employment opportunities in the same manner as senior citizens in the country.

In the next 50 years, there is need to have Job centres to coordinate demand and supply on the labour market: private sector enterprises can advertise vacancies, saving job-seekers time and money from going to the enterprises to ask for a job. To successfully establish job centres it is important to go beyond mere administration of vacancies. It should be noted that Only 50 per cent of African Poverty Reduction Strategies address youth Issue therefore close contact must be maintained with the private sector to continuously assess skills demands. The job centre also needs to advise young people on marketable skills. And it needs to stay in close contact with training institutions. Further, formal education is critical in determining the quality of labour market entrants therefore, improving access to education is imperative, especially because less-educated people have access to fewer jobs. Unemployment is partly the result of a mismatch between inadequate educational outcomes and skills demand. The education system must provide the skills profiles required by the labour market to enhance the employability of young people.

Universities and secondary schools should introduce a career guidance component in the programmes offered and Universities should establish Graduate Development Programmes that enhance the employability of their graduates by providing them with job preparation information, for example, work related life skills, computer literacy, Curriculum vitae preparation and interview readiness. The youth need to adopt courses at tertiary institutions which encourage creativity and develop curricula that are responsive to emerging global demands and trends.  All these steps would ensure that all students make informed decisions and prepare them for the existing job market.

The employment challenge confronting Uganda is significant, with a whopping 32.2% youth unemployment rate. What is required is a comprehensive short-term and long-term reform agenda that will ensure the education system is adequate to avoid mismatch of skills in the labour market.