By Kellen Owente
It is not uncommon for one to complete university without an idea of where to find jobs. This is because many students do not get exposed to areas where opportunities exist while still in school.
But the upcoming New Vision Education Expo seeks to fix this. That is why the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA) – a body that brings together all students around the country – cannot wait to take part in this education expo.
“We are positive about this expo and ready to mobilise our students through our structures to participate in this expo,” the UNSA president, Yusuf Welunga, says. “We encourage all students across the country to participate in this expo. We stand to benefit from the expo more than the organisers,”
The expo will take place at the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Nakawa, Kampala, between January 27 and 29. The expo is designed to create connections between education and employment as reflected by its theme: Where education and the world of work meet.
Career opportunities
Welunga noted that this expo presents students with a big platform to learn about careers and receive knowledge from experts as well as build networks. As the UNSA president notes, every student and non-students will have something to take away from this expo designed to serve as a one-stop centre for everything education.
“We thank Vision Group for this thoughtful contribution to the development of the education sector,” Welunga says. “Teachers have told us about how hard it is to implement the lower secondary curriculum and we are hopeful this expo will be helpful to them,”
But as he noted, the content that will be supplied during the session designed for the teachers and parents to learn more about the curriculum will be useful to the students as well.
“The expo is a blessing to the learners and parents as well as teachers,” Welunga adds.
COVID-19 and curriculum
Uganda rolled out the skills-based curriculum for lower secondary in 2020. But its implementation was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a two-year school closure.
So, the pioneers of the curriculum are now in Senior Three instead of Four. But there are issues that remain unresolved about this curriculum, which this expo seeks to help address by bringing the policymakers and implementers as well as students and parents in one place.
“Many people are having problems understanding the competence-based curriculum,” the Vision Group special projects manager, Sidney Miria, said. “This is, therefore, an opportunity for both the parents and students to come and learn more from the eminent speakers and experts,”
It is also an opportunity for anyone working in the education industry to showcase their brands and obtain new knowledge, Miria says.
Racheal Sserwadda, the Uganda Christian University guild president, says she is looking forward to the expo and will mobilise students to take part in it. “This is a good idea. I hope it is a one-off event but an annual one. There have been expos targeting other issues, but an education-oriented expo means a lot for everyone,” she adds. “I hope it can discuss mental health because it is a big challenge in schools,”
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