Monday, February 10, 2025
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Monday, February 10, 2025
HomeStudentsCrumbling Education Body of Uganda:

Crumbling Education Body of Uganda:

Our education system has suffered a lot of hits during COVID-19. Many schools closed because of the financial crisis, faculty members lost their jobs, and students suffered mental agony as they and their teachers were not familiar with the online education system. Students dropped their education because of the view that the online teaching system is a wastage of time. Many students and teachers didn’t have the gadgets required for the online classes and some schools were not even able to develop an online system of education. These are some of the reasons that caused our educational system to breakdown. If we look deep into this matter, we will find out that these issues were not created overnight. The roots of these issues were prevailing in our education system for a long time, and no one had given and is still not willing to give sufficient attention to these issues. This article attempts to point out some of these issues and the solutions to them.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” —Albert Einstein.

Insufficient education budget:

One of the main issues of our education system is the lack of funds. The government and public sectors don’t have sufficient seats, resources, and faculty members to facilitate a high population of students. One of the main examples of this is the MDCAT exam. It is given by a lot of deserving students each year but they don’t earn a spot in the medical institutes because of the lack of seats. 

Corruption is also prevailing in the education system due to which some specific people get favors in admissions, results, certificates, and degrees. Teachers are also cruelly underpaid, which forces them into the world of corruption. The poor education system and lack of resources in the classrooms affects the learning of the students and deprives them of the modern skills and education which are getting necessary in the practical world. The private institutions, which are providing quality education, are unaffordable for a large body of students. These institutes are equipped with sufficient resources but the student body is comparatively small. Due to not receiving any government support, these institutions are also less willing to give scholarships to needy students. 

To solve this issue, the Government should increase the budget of the education sector, so that teachers can get a decent pay, and classrooms and resources in the institutions can be updated. Strict rules and policies should also be implemented to stop corruption in such institutions. Government should also collaborate with the private sector, as it is equipped with modern resources and capable faculty members so that those resources and facilities could be within the reach of more students. 

Lack of technology in the classrooms:

Whiteboards or blackboards with chalks or markers are being used in the classrooms. Wikipedia, PowerPoint, MS Word are some completely unfamiliar tools to a lot of schools, teachers, and students, especially in a classroom setting. The lack of knowledge regarding technology is the main reason for the failure of the online education system. Some of the elite educational institutes can afford these facilities so only their students manage to continue their studies in the Covid era. This lack of technology is also the main reason that most of the graduates of our country are unable to compete in the growing industrial market. Today’s market operates on IT and computers and thus requires labor who is experienced and knowledgeable in this field. Our educational institutions are incapable of providing such labor as of yet. This results in inequality between students of the private and public sectors. Also, this element is causing heavy damage to the growth of Pakistan. In many international projects, for instance, China-Pakistan economic corridor, Pakistan is not able to produce experts from its side because much of the Pakistani youth are not taught through advanced technology. 

Our government and educational institutes should look into this matter and should establish a capable IT sector and equip the classrooms with modern technology. Access to free internet, computer labs, and delivery of lectures through PowerPoint should become an integral part of our educational system. 

Outdated Syllabus:

Many of our youth are unemployed even after getting 16 to 18 years of education. After investing a lot of their energy, time, and money into their education, they are still dependent on others for their expenses. This is a shocking thing for our society, and the main reason for it is our outdated syllabus. The world is progressing, new things and trends are emerging and global perspectives are changing but our syllabus has yet to evolve. Just like the equipment in our classrooms, our syllabus is also not up to the mark. Our education system focuses on numbers and percentages and not on the skills of the students. Cramming is the only skill our students are learning. Hardworking individuals, even after completing their education, fail to acquire any place in the radical market. As a result, they remain unemployed or have to learn new skills just to receive a paying job. The freelance market is increasingly popular right now, but most of our youth are not qualified for such work. Their education or degree is not helping them acquire such skills which points out a major fault in our education system. 

 Our educational institutions should devise the lessons, assignments, and papers in such a way that can build soft skills as well as hard skills in the students. The government is providing extra courses for teaching such skills, for instance, E-Rozgar Program by the Punjab Government, but it will be more effective if such skills could be taught as a part of the main syllabus. Students should also struggle on their own to learn such skills which will be helpful to them in their practical life. Different courses or social media websites can teach them those skills that the outdated syllabus failed to do. 

Attitude of parents and teachers:

One of the main reasons that a student fails to grow or learn things is the toxic attitude of parents and teachers. Our society values medals, grades, and numbers in place of grooming, learning, and uniqueness of a student. Most of the parents prefer those educational institutes whose students are acquiring high positions in various national and international examinations. To acquire such results, schools encourage harsh punishments, a strict environment, and cramming in place of learning. This causes many of the students to dislike education and schools, and eventually drop out. The bright students mostly do achieve outstanding results but they mostly also fail to learn and grow as people. In many colleges, students are segregated based on their results which means the high achievers are being taught by the best teachers and are also provided with additional facilities such as being given extra classes while all the other students are neglected. This not only causes them to perform poorly in the exams but also causes humiliation and insecurity regarding themselves. Parental attitude is also largely determined by the grades their children are receiving.

We, as a society, have to focus on the growth and skills of our youth instead of running for educational achievements as it is causing severe mental trauma and depression in our students. The suicide rate of students is also increasing in Pakistan due to this attitude. Our institutes should put an end to their hierarchical system of super sections and should focus on the growth of every student. It is time to realize that the skills and uniqueness of an individual are more important than numbers and grades. If we change this attitude, reforms will automatically make their way into our education system. 

 These are some of the basic issues which should be addressed urgently. If we start with these issues, eventually our education system will improve. These issues should be acknowledged on both government and individual levels. On an individual level, changing the attitude, teaching, and learning styles, having the knowledge of IT can bring radical changes to the educational world. 

Change the perspectives, change the trends, step forward and change the society. 

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