Uganda's Ministry of Education and Sports about a year or two ago took a ‘drastic’ measure aimed at encouraging / promoting natural sciences education in Uganda. The government’s decision to increase the number of government-sponsored natural sciences students (with reduction of support to social sciences and humanities students) joining public universities triggered debate in various fora and still continues at a relatively lower 'tone'. It is my wish that this attempt by government should not degenerate into a mere increase in the number of Ugandans who go down in record as having been sponsored by government to study some form of natural science at undergraduate level in public universities in Uganda. I am sure the numbers will swell but as to whether the graduates will practice science (in Uganda) is another thing.
Discussions of the efforts taken by government need to be broadened beyond just numbers and more importantly beyond “fire is better than water” kind of debate that seems to put science on one side and humanities and social sciences on the other. Below are some of the additional issues I believe should be looked at when considering promotion of science education and practice in Uganda.
1. Motivation / remuneration of scientists.
As long as the average Ugandan-trained or Ugandan-based scientist will be paid “pea nuts” in Uganda, science education will not be attractive to our children. They would rather try law, banking, accounting, political science, and the likes. There are quite a number of first class scientists (engineers, medical doctors, veterinarians, industrial chemists, geologists, etc) who have opted out of natural science (into accounting, business, banking, politics, etc) for reasons purely related to remuneration (read survival). I personally consider them very wise individuals. That aside. How many prominent Ugandan scientists are living and participating in cutting edge science research and practice in Europe and America? To me, the biggest reason is that scientists are better remunerated in the west. The Ugandan scientist, being human with needs beyond professional satisfaction, will opt for better remuneration so as to take care of the physiological needs first before all else – a demonstration of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Quite a number of those who stick around maintain a lifestyle that they do not deserve besides not being enviable.
No wonder therefore that at this point in time when a science Professor living in Uganda is appointed to a lucrative administrative position in government or private institution, s/he will dash for the job at a breakneck speed. However, if the level of remuneration is improved and access to resources s/he needs for his/her science job, chances are higher that s/he will be very reluctant to leave the science arena. The heart is in science but survival is vital.
2. Realisation of the impact of science demands for patience.
Science is relatively slow and its impact can be felt after a relatively longer period of time than outcomes from other fields. The associated rewards are also slow and call for lots of patience on the part of the nation and that of the scientist him/herself. Unfortunately some sections of our society are impatient and do not know or rather accept the fact that for science research to yield an outcome, it goes through lots of stages of development, improvement and testing. There are scientists who never live to see the ultimate impact of their work! Sad but true. There is also an urgent need to distinguish between research and development issues in science and address them appropriately for impact to be realised.
3. Role models in science.
Role models are, to a great extent, ‘created’ by the media. For as long as the media ignores achievers and achievements in science, our children will not have any role model in science to inspire them – they would rather envy the lawyers handling the big political cases in court; the central bank governor; the prominent business owners; the parliamentarians (political ‘leaders’) and the likes who get good media coverage besides being well-remunerated. These are, no doubt, very important people but probably as important to the nation as a research scientist in the National Agriculture Research Organisation or Mbarara University of Science and Technology, for example. The question is, whose activities will the media follow? What headlines are ‘appropriate’ to the editors; what sells; what is politically correct? I believe that the role of the media is very vital in encouraging science education and science development in the country. The media should give science and scientists better publicity.
4. Political will and weight for support not interference.
Three issues here. Firstly, I propose that a desk be established in the president’s office (the disease, ‘Presidentialism’ is still with us) to handle science development and research (with ministerial powers and the necessary resources).
Secondly, a highly placed government official, preferably the President should be involved in announcing to the nation major scientific research and development outputs and do it with enthusiasm and pride. President Yoweri K. Museveni, in a move unprecedented in this country, recently (2005) established the first ever presidential science awards that recognised contributions of accomplished research scientists in Uganda. This is a positive development that should continue and be broadened. I am glad that one of the accomplished Ugandan scientists I nominated was among the 42 (pioneer group) recognised in the 2005/2006 awards.
Thirdly, an example of the negative role politics plays here is a situation where a politician promotes a science-related project perceived to be developmental to the community but bypasses the scientists or ignores their advice. Once such attempts fail, it gives negative publicity to science in that locality and puts the scientists several steps back in explaining how that particular science could help the community develop. Science can boost national development if all the stakeholders are involved in the process and the scientists’ opinion is respected.
5. Strategic training / work experience in the west.
One avenue Uganda (and indeed Africa) should explore is to acquire science skills from the developed world and bring them back home. This could be by way of training or encouraging science internships abroad whether in form of aid or by scholarships provided by the west. We could also market / loan out (contract) our labour to the west (for a specified short period of time). The government of Uganda ought to get actively involved in securing positions of assistantships and sabbaticals in western universities / research / development organizations and government departments. This way, we get our scientists exposed to and acquire skills in cutting edge science; they get into the global loop of scientists network, among others. By the way, there is a strong relationship between the big names in cutting edge science in Uganda today (especially in research) and foreign work experience and collaboration. We ought to learn from that. Such efforts are mutually beneficial.
6. Law enforcement against impostors (quacks).
In Uganda, there are quacks in every science discipline. Scientists therefore need support from law enforcers in wiping out quacks, not only to protect the professionals' 'bread' but also to protect the currently largely gullible Ugandans. Some Ugandans have lost and, I hate to say, continue to lose money (directly or indirectly) to these impostors. Controlling this vice could go a long way in motivating scientists to stick to their professions, earn better and subsequently encourage science education and development in the country.
I believe that these are some of the possible ways through which science education and development could be encouraged and developed in Uganda. Most of the suggestions are inward looking - every Ugandan must first develop the heart for promoting science before development partners provide the much needed complementary hand through strategic mutually beneficial partnerships.
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