Education and Practice Review

Education and Practice

Part One and Part two

In order to improve the quality of life for individuals, Education programs have been undertaken some of which include Universal Education for All and many other informal education systems in areas of health, HIV/AIDs, Livelihoods and Business Development. The responsibility to provide affordable, quality education for the youth in a country is upon the government.

While assessments and research have shown that education is inclined towards theory rather than practical work in many developing economies, efforts to change this trend is also lacking. The Education for All (EFA) report by UNESCO

Research by experts in child development have further revealed that practical stimulation in early childhood development significantly develops individual abilities for creativity and innovation of children (Christian Children’s Fund Community Based Approach to Early Childhood Development)

Development Initiatives Africa research has further shown that creative solutions can be implemented to harmonise the existing balance of graduate unemployed and also gradually create a more entrepreneurship graduate population. Some of the best Education institutions in the world such as Harvard and Westminster have focused on both the theoretical but more importantly the practical part of the education. (Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)/BBC) Finland with the best education system in the world according to OECD children begin education at the age of 7 years, teachers - parent relations are very strong and all teachers are educated to masters’ level.

Learn at school and Practice at home. Education would be much more relevant if the ground for practice is as wide as the ground for studying. While youth in Uganda spend almost 18 years on average in school the ground to practice and also be responsible with the challenges of adulthood is small. Therefore research in improving the learning and practice environment is imperative to curtail the challenge that the country is likely to face. This proposal shall further be discussed in the second part of education and family.

It will however be impossible to achieve a proper and successful education program if the cycle of education is not considered for review and scrutiny. The cycle that we are referring to include: Schools, homes, communities and policy makers.

Education at School (Primary, secondary, university, vacation instns, literature in libraries, teachers)

Education at Home (family Member’s Influence)

Education in Community (Employers, media, local authorities, Banks, churches, Artists)

Education by Government/ Leadershipip (Local leaders, ministers, cultural leaders, policy makers)

Schools:

Instructional Materials

According to EFA Monitoring report 2008 access to instructional materials and text books is still very low in sub Saharan Africa. The report shows that over half of the children in countries like Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania do not have access to books and 25% to 45% of teachers do not posses instructional books or guides for teaching.

Access to instructional materials is one part of the story however the most important part is the applicability of these materials. Instructional materials would be much more relevant if they have more of practical guides to facilitate learning. Gender and HIV/AIDs streamlining in instructional materials is underway and some countries such Uganda have succeeded in reaching out to communities on such issues.

Teachers

It is important to note that teachers in sub-Saharan Africa spend at least 30% the time with those students attending school; this therefore means that a lot of knowledge, practices and abilities are nurtured by the teachers in junior, advanced and university education.

The quality of teachers is therefore of relevance for one to produce quality students at all levels. The foundation stage where children have to learn basics in reading, writing, arithmetic and English is particularly important. According to EFA report the median percentage for trained teachers in sub-Saharan Africa is less than 80%, and yet some countries like Uganda, Mozambique have also gone ahead to lower the level of entry for primary teachers. This has been done to lower the gap of student – teacher ratio. In reality a skilled and well trained teacher can produce a better student.

Proposed Research Question?

1. What is the impact of family, community and government policy on unleashing the potential of youth in communities?
2. How can the Education sector streamline vocational theory and practice in conventional Education structures in Uganda?
3. Does the Education system have an impact on the creativity/innovativeness of a society or individuals that are benefiting from it?
4. What is the comparative advantage of Education systems of some Africa Countries?

Conclusion

Great emphasis has been put on attracting capital in form of foreign investment for developing economies. This therefore has created a phenomenon of training labour to work in these Enterprises. It is imperative to review the multiplier effect. More value would accrue to an economy if only its labour would translate their skills into capital (Human Capital). Countries that are profiting from this are countries such as China, India and Nigeria in Africa.
The Education sector in developing economies should put in perspective the global trends. Developed countries constantly review their education system to meet the current global challenges. Countries in several European and American countries are position their education system to the increasing demand for commodities and trade opportunities in china. Many schools and institutions are teaching Chinese languages and cultures to students. Other Global concerns such as international peace, Environmental concerns are being gradually streamlined in all scientific and social discipline in many developed economies. Therefore if Individual Entrepreneurship and innovation is one of Africa’s desired strategic directions and weakness now, then the education sector should be reviewed to meet this goal because the current education intake in Africa has increased.

Capital investment would be much more relevant if it were initiated by a skilled labour force, the burden of accountability would be upon the labour force as opposed to government hence reducing leakages through corruption/misappropriation.

However a skilled labour force with research and innovation abilities to initiate products is required for the above proposal to happen other factors constant. This can be achieved if the education system deliberately focuses on creating innovators/Entrepreneurs from the onset of education.

PART TWO

Community and Education

It is important to look at family as the basic function of society but also the smallest production unit in any society. Some countries and societies that have settled in foreign lands managed to exploit this potential beyond circumstances that surrounded them. Such include the Jewish communities in Europe and America, the Indian community in Africa and especially Uganda and the early settlers of America.

History in America has shown that the family unit was a fundamental production unit before the growth of major industries. The early settlers of America depended on the fathers for political, economic direction, and security, and young men were from an early age trained and skilled in arts of debate and use of instruments such as pianos etc. Women took on the role of inspiring country men; they taught etiquette and virtues and engaged in cottage production. Based on this background, families like the Rockefeller, Carnegie and new age families managed to build industrial empires.

Developing economies are still challenged with the teacher to student ratio where the latter is higher. With such a trend, the quality of education can not necessarily be guaranteed and is likely to continue for some more years. Therefore it would be strategic to mobilise the abilities of the community numbers by directly engaging them in the education sector. The ratio of parents that send children to school is by far larger than the number of teachers in any economy.

Upon this background several NGOs and Education interventions in some countries have been based on family structures. Leading theories in protection base the responsibility to protect and develop children on the strength of family as a priority.

Development Initiatives Africa (DIA) therefore proposes to explore the potential of family in participating in the education sector but most importantly in building a competitive and productive individual.

In our previous paper we explored some possibilities in streamlining vocational skills in the education sector. We would like to further this discussion paper on the possibilities of families’ contribution to skills development.

Multiple skills

The transfer of skills from guardians/parents to youths in communities is one of the ways in which a country can develop multi skilled youth in communities. Research has shown that most youth in Indian communities are able to undertake the tasks of their guardian or parents much as they may be skilled and employed in other sectors. This ability to transfer skills in family is fundamental for developing human capital. Upon that background Silicon Valley will continue shopping for brilliant minds from China and India because they have been able to capitalise in developing their IT human capital.

Curriculum Development

The development of school curriculum is an opportunity for directly involving communities in the education of their children. Some schools in Uganda take this as an important step, therefore call on parents and guardians to participate in curriculum discussions. The score in this practice is that the student is accountable to the teacher and guardian/ parent at home making a measure of progress easy to monitor.

Some countries have gone ahead and developed curriculum or guidelines for parents. This practice for instance in the State of Alberta, Canada has succeeded in fully engaging parents in the education system of their children. We therefore propose that the education sector mobilises the potential of parents by either developing guidelines for them or engaging the parent community, students and teachers occasionally in several activities.

Community involvement in curriculum development would also spread a wide understanding of the student capacities therefore parents would be in position to constantly engage youth in practical activities that are responsive to their education level.

Before we conclude this paper we propose some of the following questions that might require research

1. What is the influence of family in contributing to skills development in developing economies and how can this unit be developed to meet national Education strategies?
2. How can developing economies cope with the current white/collar education out put to ensure comparative advantage over other economies?
3. What are possible incentives to keep skilled staff in Africa?

Conclusion

In order to nurture talent and develop skills of the youths, conversion and daily activities that parents or communities engage in with their children would be better focused if only parents or guardian had an understanding of the school activities that the youth are engaged in. If communities had an understanding of their children’s potential, then alignment in terms of chores, curricular activities would be designed to boost the capacity of the children.

Some Education systems go ahead to design different teaching programmes for the best performing students in schools to maximise their full potential, though discussion on this practice is wide in the sphere of education.

. Written and compiled by Edgar Walter Byaruhanga Exec Director Development Initiatives Africa. DIA Recognizes Input from

George Bogere:

Makerere University Institute for Social Research

Philp Nabyama:

DIA Associate, Uganda

Development initiatives would like to inform you, that this commentary is based on secondary research. Questions posed for research in this commentary are beyond the scope of this paper and require technical expertise.

Discussion on funding Development initiatives in research can be done through request by email on developmentinitiativesafrica@gmail.com or edgarbyaruhanga@yahoo.com

Research Based on: A concise history of the United States of America by Paula Baker.
48 Laws of Power: Robert Greene
From third World to First World, Singapore; President Lee kuan Yew