Education | AID | Mrs. Museveni
KAMPALA – The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Museveni, has welcomed an offer made by Finn Church Aid (FCA) to have Finnish Education Technical Experts support the on-going work of the Education Policy Review Commission in Uganda.
According to Finn Church Aid’s arrangement, it will second two finish education experts; an Education Management Consultant recruited by FinCEED, who will work with the Commission from March up to the end of May 2023 and another Specialist recruited by the Teachers Without Borders Network- Finland who will begin in June up to the end of the year.
The First Lady, on Thursday (February 23), hosted the Finn Church Aid Global Advocacy team from Helsinki- Finland who are in Uganda, to among others, follow up on the proposed actions from the benchmarking visit made by some members of the Education Policy Review Commission to Finland in September last year.
The meeting was at State House Nakasero and it was also attended by representatives from the Education Policy Review Commission led by the Chairperson Hon. Amanya Mushega, and technical officers from the Education and Sports Ministry.
Mrs. Museveni acknowledged that Finland’s education system and success is recognized globally and so, there is much that Uganda can learn from them.
“We are very grateful for your selfless support and your willingness to hold hands with us on this journey to improve our education system”, she said.
She added that learning from Finland’s experience will possibly help the Education Policy Review Commission to be deliberate in its investigations of the several issues in the education and sports sector and enable it generate the best recommendations that will reposition Uganda’s education and sports system to meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century.
She requested Finn Church Aid to explore the possibility of partnering with Uganda in its skills development efforts by supporting the training of Instructors, who she said the country desperately needs for its Technical Institutes.
Mrs. Museveni thanked Finn Church Aid Uganda for organizing the benchmarking visit for the Education Policy Review Commission and for its continued partnership with the Education Sector in the implementation of various sector programmes, especially the Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities.
In a brief on the benchmarking visit to Finland, the Education Policy Review Commission Chairperson; Hon. Amanya Mushega, described the trip to have been extremely educative.
He pointed out that the teaching profession is highly reverend and that the minimum standard for a basic (primary school) teacher in Finland is a Degree, a Master Degree and in addition one must have a pedagogical subject.
Among the things they noted in Finland, is the central role of a teacher in the education system and the importance of early childhood care and education, which is compulsory for all children in Finland at the age of 6 years so that by the age they join basic education they are all balanced. They also observed that basic education is very important and is accompanied by learning and lifelong education and that a child can continue with basic education until the age of 14, 16 or even 18 years before breaking off for his specialization.
In the Finnish Education system there are no inspectors of schools, no sudden examinations to determine the children’s future and instead continuous assessment of students’ performance is what is done. Another thing is that children with special needs do not have separate schools but are assisted to study together with other able children.
Finn Church Aid Global Director for Stakeholder Relations; Suomi Katri Tuulikki, said education is at the heart of Finn Church Aid which currently works in 12 countries around the world.
In Africa it operates in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Uganda.
She explained that Finland became what it is now today because it invested in education.
She emphasized that as Uganda reviews its education policy, it should ensure that education is a lifelong experience and that there are no dead ends for the students.
She relayed appreciation from the President of Finland to Uganda for being the exemplary country it is in the Refugee Response.
She promised to convey the request about the training for instructors for Uganda’s technical institutes.
Pauliina Kemppainen, Finn Church Aid’s Senior Technical Advisor – Right to Quality Education, hoped that this support and collaboration with Uganda will add value to Uganda’s children through the Education Policy Review Commission.
Finn Church Aid – Uganda Country Director; Wycliffe Nsheka, reported that while in Uganda, the members of the Global Advocacy team who have been in country since 20th February, also visited Nyakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro District and Kyaka II Refugee Settlement in Kyegegwa District.
He said Finn Church Aid, founded in 1947, is specialized in long term development programmes and humanitarian operations.
In Uganda, Finn Church Aid is UNHCR’s implementing partner for Education and co-lead for Education Sector Working group together with the Ministry of Education and Sports and UNHCR coordinating the countrywide Education Response for refugees and host populations.
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