Mastercard Foundation – Prime Time Communications

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch Secondary education could be the difference for African youth

#OutToLunch Secondary education could be the difference for African youth By Denis Jjuuko A young man, let us call him John, recently came to one of our businesses looking for work. He told me he stopped in senior four somewhere in Kisoro and had moved to Kampala to find work. He was an acquittance with some of our workers. He told me he could do security guarding so that he earns a regular salary or like young people always say “any job available.” He said he was earning a living today as a gardener but generally working as a freelancer hence the desire for a job that could give him regular predictable income. I didn’t have the kind of stability John was looking for but I told him he could come home and help us cut down a royal palm tree of which I could pay him a one-off fee. The tree had been planted near the perimeter wall fence and some of our neighbours were becoming uncomfortable whenever its giant leaves fell down. So he visited our home, inspecting the tree to be removed. He left a note at home of his bill. I had also promised him that I would keep my ear to the ground for any job opportunities. The promises for him to cut a tree at my home and helping him secure some job would soon become a nightmare for me. John would beep me about 20 to 30 times a day. I had almost decided because of his incessant beeps not to give him the work. He was irritating. But I also thought I should help him do this job maybe it can help him solve an immediate problem. So I called him to inform him that he could come and do the job on any day of his choice. At about 4.00am, my phone rang. Deep in sleep I wondered why would anyone be looking for me on a Monday morning. I am neither firefighter nor medical personnel. I don’t work in security either so why would anyone be looking for me at 4.00am, on a Monday morning? Half asleep, without even checking who was calling, I answered the phone. John was on the other end, to inform me that he would be coming to cut down the damn tree in the morning. I couldn’t believe it but I remained calm. I left his money at home and went about my work. John came with a few people and they cut down the giant tree. I then received a phone call that John and his team had not uprooted the trunk and they were asking to be paid. They put John on the phone and he said the “deal was to cut the tree, not to uproot the trunk” and therefore if I need the trunk uprooted, that would be at another cost. Palm trees are generally easy to uproot and don’t have those deep tap roots but now John had the upper hand. So I told my people at home to pay him and he goes. On a lazy Sunday morning, I can do the uprooting myself. John’s behaviour reminded me of a report from the Mastercard Foundation titled Secondary Education in Africa: Preparing Youth for the Future Work. If you are a regular reader of this column, you have certainly heard about it. I am only referencing it again because it talks about these issues, about people like John. He dropped out of school in senior four and he hasn’t been prepared whatsoever for the future of work. So John doesn’t know what time to call a client. He doesn’t know that to have repeat clients, you need to go an extra mile. Surely, we never talked about removing the trunk, I thought it was standard and I was wrong but it wasn’t a lot of work either he could have done easily than giving me payment ultimatums. Yet the highest level of education most African youth will ever attain is secondary education but like John, the education they are receiving doesn’t talk about work and how they will manage. John isn’t an isolated case. I receive many phone calls from young people who don’t even introduce themselves. Don’t even tell you where they work. You have to ask them who they are, which organisations they represent and all that. Sometimes, you have to greet them! Secondary education must help these youth with 21st century skills such as digital marketing, using emails as well as other communication skills. That way John would know when to call. African policy makers, therefore, need to create secondary education systems that give people like John some of the skills they need once they are out of school trying to survive in this unforgiving world. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com 8 Comments

October 24, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Getting pregnant girls back to school is the right call

#OutToLunch: Getting pregnant girls back to school is the right call By Denis Jjuuko Over the last two weeks, an estimated 4.5 million children who are supposed to be in school woke up to do something else, if at all. This represents 30% of school-going children who have abandoned school after the world’s longest shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic according to the National Planning Authority (NPA). A bleak future stares at these children and every effort should not be spared to have them back in school or at least to get some form of training that can empower them for a better future. Already, reports indicate that some of the thugs that were waylaying motorists at the Northern Bypass in Kampala were teenagers who have since abandoned school. The chance in Africa of landing a decent job is linked to education. The more education time one spends in school, the more chances of having a better job according to the Mastercard Foundation’s flagship Secondary Education in Africa Report. The report further reveals that of the 98 percent of young people who enroll at the primary level in sub-Saharan Africa, only nine per cent make it to tertiary education and only six percent graduate. This further shrinks the decent job opportunities for many of Africa’s young people. For Uganda’s adolescent girls who become pregnant, it is even worse. Two prominent religious leaders at the level of bishop in the Anglican faith have been shouting their voices hoarse insisting that they won’t allow pregnant and breastfeeding girls in their schools. The Anglican Church in Uganda is a major player in the education sector as an owner of thousands of schools across the country. Although their stance may be based on morality, Christian values call for forgiveness and rehabilitation. I believe the Church would be more enraged if all these girls had aborted. Since the Church is prolife, it is hypocritical to then deny these mothers an opportunity to study so that they can have a shot at a better life in future. At worse, they could have offered an alternative education platform where these mothers could study. I have been able to speak to some of these mothers before and many of these girls would prefer to go back to school. Giving them an opportunity to study is the right call. Facilitation of re-entry of adolescent mothers into schools is one way these girls can have a better future for themselves and their children. A better educated mother, studies show, is more likely to have healthier babies. Removal of policies that deter re-entry by these mothers as well as creating an environment that enables them to study is critical. Parents and guardians have a role to play here tooby meeting the costs of looking after these children and opposing options such as early marriages while pointing at the dangers of teen pregnancy and early marriages. Teachers should be equipped too on how to handle these young mothers and create an environment that eliminates the associated stigma. Although we hardly talk about the boys who impregnate these young girls, many also drop out of school as they are now expected to start looking after a family. Yet our primary and secondary education system isn’t fully programmed to provide the skills people need to find work. The highest level most people in Africa will ever attain is secondary education. We need to reform it so that by the time students finish secondary education, they have some skills that can enable them take on this world. Digital skills such as effective use of social media, emails and the internet, entrepreneurship, communication skills and business, vocational and technical (btvet) skills are some of the pathways that can help young people find meaningful jobs that can enable them live better lives. Of course, we must also encourage young people to focus on their studies first, and delay childbirth. They must understand the dangers to their bodies and education, and provide them with the information they need about their sexuality. We shouldn’t look at sexuality through immoral lenses; rather, as information young people need to make informed decisions. We must also dispense with a culture that looks at girls as sources of income in form of bride price as soon as they grow breasts. Parents and guardians must strive to get themselves out of poverty. The government must help them too by putting in place programmes that can genuinely uplift people out of poverty. djjuuko@gmail.com The writer is a communication and visibility consultant

January 31, 2022

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Make teaching sexy again

#OutToLunch: Make teaching sexy gain By Denis Jjuuko On a recent walk in the neighbourhood, my eyes locked with those of a hawker only that he looked very different from many of those I usually see. Medium built, walking with a little limp. His hair must have been darkened the previous day. He was wearing a long-sleeved cream shirt and a grey trouser that must have been part of a three-piece suit. His shirt was neatly tucked in. He must have been in his 50s. He looked like your former headmaster! In one hand, he was holding a handkerchief and the other a rack on which his merchandise were strewn. This perhaps explains his limping gait. The merchandise though – clothing pegs, under garments for ladies and such other things – must have been worth about Shs100,000. He calmly asked whether I could buy some pegs. Usually, Kampala’s hawkers are in their late teens or early 20s. He told me he used to a be a director of studies in some private school but due to the prolonged closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he had fallen on hard times. When I got home, I cursed for not getting his contact and I haven’t seen him since. Anyway, last Tuesday was World Teachers Day. I thought of my own parents who are now retired teachers and whether they wouldn’t have been like this hawker had Covid-19 struck during their time. A teacher, slightly before my parents’ generation, was one of the most respected professions. Teachers of the day managed to live relatively well in decent housing and supported their large families. Although there are some teachers who are well off today, the majority simply eke a living and are one disaster away from hawking. BBG: The Supereffective Fitness Program You Need to Know buy turinabol Easy Chicken Pot Pie Soup – Anytime Fitness Recent efforts by government seem to be directed at only those who can teach sciences. I think salaries of teachers should be increased regardless of what they teach. When legendary entrepreneur Steve Jobs created Apple — the personal computer and smartphone behemoth, he credited its success to a calligraphy lesson he had accidently attended. Through that lesson, he was able to create a different product that was unique in design (and performance of course). So arts are as important as sciences. Teaching must be made sexy again so that it can attract young smart people. Payment is important. If the hawker I met in my neighbourhood succeeds in his new venture, he won’t return to the classroom. If any of his family members were thinking of becoming teachers, they won’t be able to do so. The image of their old man having worked for many years ending up hawking bras will be ingrained in their memory for ages. And the image won’t be rosy. Of course, you can argue that this man didn’t save enough or spent his money on stuff that were not important but we all know that teachers are some of the least paid people today. And apart from bars, no sector has been locked down for such a prolonged period like education. Many teachers who are now vendors of vegetables and used clothing will never teach again. A friend has indefinitely closed his primary school in Najjeera and sold off some of the buildings which are now being turned into condominium apartments for sale. Another who had started a nursery school has also closed it having made such huge losses. I don’t know about the enrolment of university students into education courses but I believe they aren’t very many. Yet, a report titled Secondary Education in Africa released by the Mastercard Foundation last August indicates that Sub Saharan Africa needs in excess of 10 million teachers (for secondary education alone) by 2030. At the rate teachers are joining other professions including hawking, the number is most likely to go up. At one stage, teachers were recording passengers for boda bodas for Covid-19 contact tracing. Imagine a boda man employing a teacher! If we don’t deliberately make teaching sexy again, young people won’t be enrolling for the profession in the numbers we need to make significant impact. For the majority of Africa’s young people, the easiest pathway to sustainable jobs is through education. We can talk about entrepreneurship but the people who have attained some level of education are more likely to create sustainable businesses than those who haven’t. If we don’t have enough highly trained and motivated teachers, young people will leave school without any skills that can help them sustain jobs or businesses. The World Teachers Day gives us time to rethink the teaching profession if we are to solve the challenges of this century. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com *This article was originally published on World Teachers Day 2021.

October 18, 2021