Practical skills key on job creation

Prof. John .C. Ssekamwa a senior lecturer at the university explained that education teaching practical skills to students to be able create their own employment and reduce the unemployment threats was critical. Makerere University don has revealed that teaching of practical skills through schools would help in job creation.Prof. John .C. Ssekamwa a senior lecturer at the university explained that education teaching practical skills to students to be able create their own employment and reduce the unemployment threats was critical.“The issue of job creation by graduates from Uganda’s general education system is of great paramount concern in the Uganda society to curb unemployment,” he said.Prof. Ssekamwa made the revelation at  the second international conference on history education in Africa at Makerere University in Kampala recently.The conference on the theme ‘teaching and learning history in a changing Africa: possibilities and challenges in the 21st century was organized by the Association for History Education (AHE-Afrika).The conference stimulated discussions and reflected, and consolidated extant knowledge on the state of history education in Uganda and Africa.Prof. Ssekamwa noted that there is need for government to introduce a skilling programme for university graduates so that they can create their own jobs.

“This can bridge the wide gap that exists between what is demanded in the labour market and the skills training providers,” he added.In 2012, the government officially launched the Skilling Uganda programme at Jinja Vocational Training Institute to address all the challenges and gaps that were observed in the Ugandan education system.At the conference, prof. Johan Wassermann of university of Pretoria in South Africa called for the abolition of European history from African curricular.“We will not develop if the African are still learning European challenges. Africa should study its problems and forge ways of solving them,” he said.Dorothy Kyagaba, lecturer history education at Makerere University noted that Africans should only pick important cases from the foreign history that can push for its development.“We should pick cases that can help us with our current situation but not the whole package,” she said.

By Andrew Ssenyonga

Added 12th December 2017 12:40 PM 'New Vision' UgandaEdited by Amy Smith (NIAS)