The Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has criticised the government’s move to scrap technical subjects from the Ordinary Level syllabus that offer vocational training.
Kadaga was responding to the decision taken by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to drop 23 subjects from the national syllabus.
The Speaker particularly raised concern over the dropping of subjects like; Electricity, Power, Energy, Woodwork, Building and Construction and Metal Work. She said that these subjects would provide vocational training to a big number of the population that cannot go through the traditional education to attain white collar jobs.
She made the remarks while officiating at the launch of a tree planting project at Teso College Aloet, on Saturday 25th November, 2017.
“The decision to remove some these subjects is detrimental to us because we will miss out on certain skill-set which are very crucial for artisan work; not everyone can do a white collar job,” she said, adding that, “These subjects are good at equipping the population with skills that help create jobs.”
Kadaga commended Teso College Aloet for its initiative in taking part in the tree planting campaign.
“I am happy that you are planting trees because trees do not harm you but improve your life. Make it a habit to plant trees at every occasion,” she added.
The Speaker contributed Ushs3m towards the construction of a digitised library and the rehabilitation of the metal and wood workshop. The school intends to plant trees on 20 acres of land.
In separate events, the Speaker launched a fundraising run for Bukoya S. S. Library in Iganga and donated 3m to the cause. She also planted a tree and promised to follow up on a Bill for government to support schools with international students.
In Soroti, she visited Soroti Municipal Secondary School where students showcased robotics innovations. The Speaker was impressed with their inventions and promised to get the students access to international robotics innovations.
The Speaker officiated at the St. Katherine Girls’ Secondary School Re-union and launch of the old girls’ association, SKOGA, where she was named the patron.
At the reunion, the Speaker asked the girls to focus their energy on their studies.
“It is possible to leave this school and become somebody important, but it is disappointing that people stop in O-level; I left this school and went to Namasagali where I became the best in Uganda. You can also achieve that,” Kadaga said.
She rallied the old girls to use the association to improve the school infrastructure and contributed Ushs10 million towards the construction of a dormitory. Honourable Joy Ongom (Lira District) and Hon. Judith Alyek (Kole) who are both old students, contributed Ushs2 million each.
