By Kellen Owente
Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) has endorsed New Vision Education Expo, which starts this Friday.
Describing it as a timely intervention, Filbert Baguma, the UNATU general secretary, says now is the best time to discuss key issues in the education sector and share knowledge and experiences to improve the industry.
The expo, which will run from January 27 to 29 at the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Nakawa, Kampala, comes a year after schools reopened following a two-year COVID-19-triggered closure.
The fair will bring together all actors in the sector to share opportunities and knowledge to contribute to the recovery of the sector from the COVID-19 pandemic and make sense of the ongoing educational reforms.
The expo, whose theme is, where education and the world of employment meet, is also planned to link training and industry needs so institutions can provide the quality of labour needed in the market.
Baguma says the expo will offer all players in the sector an opportunity to assess the recovery efforts and lessons learnt from the pandemic to build a resilient education system.
“I am glad to know that the expo is attracting people from all walks of life to discuss education,” he adds. “This means a lot to us and the learners’ inclusion in interventions like this is pivotal because they are the biggest beneficiaries of these discussions,”
Shaping the future
The expo, Baguma explains will also be an opportunity for the actors in the sector to shape the future of the education industry by considering challenges and laying strategies to address them.
“The expo is an important space for stakeholders such as learners, teachers and parents to learn about the new educational trends,” Baguma says. “One of the current biggest trends in education is the digitisation of learning. It is important for the expo to discuss these issues,”
Sydney Miria, Vision Group’s head of special projects, says, the expo is part of the company’s interventions to help the sector recover from COVID-19-related shocks.
The expo, which has been organised as a one-stop shop for everything education, will involve an exhibition of the products and services in the education sector.
Training sessions
The fair will also involve training sessions, which will cover key areas focusing on all levels of education – kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary.
Some of the topics include the new lower secondary school curriculum and the opportunities it seeks to offer learners, parenting, early childhood development education, career guidance and counselling, vocational education and opportunities and university training.
“We are bringing together the experts and Ugandans to deal with important issues in the sector to benefit of all Ugandans,” Miria says.
Several individuals and companies including manufacturers and providers of educational products and services such as schools, banks, insurance companies, suppliers of school uniforms, and local and international universities, have signed up to participate in the expo.
“We are going to deliver value and convenience to all our stakeholders,” Nelson Mboijana, the Vision Group events sales manager, says. The entrance fee is sh10,000. This will give you access to the exhibition grounds and the training sessions.
