I was reluctant to write about the graduation week at my university where I graduated with my undergraduate degree and post graduate diploma donkey’s years ago. When I remembered that each year produces a new crop of graduates adding on the already existing ones , I just dived into writing something for this year’s graduates.
Makerere university is the oldest university in East Africa. It celebrated its centenary in 2022. It was started by the colonial administrators in 1922 as a technical school: with 14 students training as carpenters, builders and mechanics . Over time, it grew to become one of the most prestigious universities in Africa. Since 1945, when it admitted its first women students, it changed its motto to: We build for the Future– aiming at becoming a centre of excellence whose graduates transform society in all its areas. Makerere’s rich history of 100 years is well documented on its website : https://100.mak.ac.ug
For a long time, it was the only university in Uganda but as I write now there are 11 Government universities and 11 private chartered ones. Makerere, the largest, has ably continued to produce accomplished academicians, professionals and researchers and leaders for Uganda, Africa and the world at large.
Like all Ugandans aged above forty, structures and institutions , Makerere university has weathered numerous challenges reflecting the years of civil strife of the 60s to the late 80s.
A Makerere Symposium on national development was held at the university in March 2023 to strategise ways on how Makerere university and other institutions of higher learning and the private sector can meaningfully contribute to the development of Uganda.
From the 29th January to the 2nd February 2024, Makerere university held its 74th Graduation Ceremony.
As par news.mak.ac.ug : A total of 12, 913 graduands received degrees and diplomas of Makerere Univ-
Of these , 11, 016 received bachelor’s degrees
1.585 with master: 888 Males and 699 females
132 PhD’s : 86 M and 46 Females
156 Post graduate Diplomas
24 undergraduate Diplomas
As a female activist, I could not help but cheer loudly that 53% of the graduates were females while 47% were males. The Affirmative action policy of 1990 which allows 1.5 points added to every application of a female student is bearing fruits.
As women, we have come a long way since the first 6 female students were admitted to Makerere college in 1945 with some opposition. Among them was Sarah N. Ntiro, who in 1954, became the first woman university graduate in East and Central Africa from the University of Oxford, England.
1955, Eunice Lubega Posnansky(1927-2003) graduated with a BA from Makerere College. She later went on to graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Oxford.
Hon. Joyce Mpanga ( January 1934-Nov 2023) graduated with a BA in 1957 and later went on to become the first female lecturer in the faculty of Education of Makerere College.
In 1959, Dr. Josephine Namboze ( 1930- ) became the first Ugandan female to graduate as a medical doctor from Makerere College. She went on to have a flourishing career as a professor in the school of public health. Her last posting was in the World Health Regional Office for Africa.
After our Independence in October 1962, several girls’ senior secondary schools introduced Science subjects at A-levels and since then the number of women graduates in science –based professions has increased. By the time I graduated as a medical doctor in March 1977, there were seven Ugandan females in our class among 110 Ugandan males.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda ‘s population growth rate was at 3.04 % in 2022,
among the high ones in the world and yet our institutions have not expanded fast enough to accommodate the big numbers.
Statistics from the National Planning Authority indicate that each year, about 700,000 graduate from the universities and other institutions of higher learning to compete for a mere 90,000 jobs in the job market. This leaves out more than 85% of them!
Uganda has one of the world’s highest youth populations: according to UBOS, 78% of the population are 15-24 years of age.
The youth unemployment rate to the share of the labour force is about 6.58%(2022)
Several factors combine to push the unemployment rate among the highest in the world. They include:
- Misplaced national priorities
- The archaic educational system which creates job seekers other than job creators.
- A mismatch of courses offered at tertiary institutions and actual skills on demand in the job market.
- The youth’s attitude to work- looking for instant gratification, not interested in farming or agribusiness.
- Some jobs were wiped out during the COVID -19 pandemic lockdown and others are disappearing due to the use of robots, Artificial intelligence and Online services.
- More males tend to get into regular jobs than the females- 53% females are unemployed. This pushes them into early marriages and early pregnancies.
- Generally, the youths especially those in the rural areas have neither skills nor resources like land or capital to venture into startups.
The government has taken some initiatives but they are taking a long time to be rolled out in the whole country.
We are living in the 21st century, driven by Digital technology- creating an ever changing environment. Technology affects how we live, how we do work, where we do things and who does the work.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.’’ – Charles Darwin
Our educational system has to be overhauled to impart knowledge, train students with soft skills, enable them to become critical thinkers, and to become creative and innovative. Students should be helped into identifying the different ways of seeing and doing things. Only then, can they begin to understand that a degree does not guarantee them a successful future. Today’s world has shrunk to a global village, is Solution- orientated and demands for collaboration across global communities to solve society’s most important and challenging issues like Climate change, deforestation, food security and maximising the use of clean, renewable energy by exploiting available Digital technology. Not forgetting that the technology itself is hugely dynamic. All systems have become dynamic: demanding change from parents, students, teachers and employers to continually make the systems vital, useful and relevant.
The need to develop an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong culture of research then plan and collaborate with like-minded people has never been more urgent.
“The world needs problem solvers.’’– Anonymous
Developing countries like mine, have a lot to learn from
Switzerland, Germany and Austria. These countries have had a Vocational Education and Training system since the late 60s with the aim of drawing strong emphasis on apprenticeship programmes and close collaboration between education institutions and industries. This shared responsibility of the state, industries and institutions is regulated by law and has resulted in a high rate of employability among graduates and development of the countries in general. Uganda’s education system should have been pruned into something functional yesterday. Establishing more publically –funded vocational schools enables students to learn the skills that are most in demand in the workforce- making it easy for the youth to slot into the job market. One factor has remained constant: 70% of Ugandan population live off the land in the rural areas so the focus on engaging the youths in agriculture and agribusiness cannot be overemphasised.
As Alvin Toffler (1928-2016) an American writer and business man rightly said, “The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.’’
Graduation day marks the beginning of the rest of your life. It is your life, believe in yourself and make the most of it. Congratulations to you all.
QUESTION:
Are you ready to keep skilling yourself for the jobs of the future?
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