By John Masaba, Kellen Owente and Ibrahim Ruhweza
For three days,Baduru Aluma, the head teacher at Kei Seed Secondary School in Yumbe and the school’s director of studies, Diploma Abidrabo, showed up at the venue of the first New Vision Education in Nakawa, Kampala well before 9:00 am –the time the training workshops started.
Wearing black shoes, which were freshly polished and their shirts tucked in, Aluma and Abidrabo walked into a large tent set up on the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology grounds to host the training workshops.
Inside the tent, they sat next to each other, and once the facilitators opened the training workshops, Aluma and Abidrabo fished notebooks and pens out of their bags and took notes.
“We are here for an academic purpose and we have learnt more than we expected,” Aluma said. “I thought the workshops would also focus on the role of teachers, in for instance, parenting, but they went beyond that,”
At the end of each training workshop, Aluma and Abidrabo visited one exhibition stall after another, asking questions and taking telephone contacts of the exhibitors, who had various educational products on their stalls.
“I travelled with the director of studies so he can pick lots of career information in workshops and communicate it to learners,” Aluma added.
Aluma and Abidrabo are among over 5,000 people who attended the first New Vision Education expo, which ran between January 27 and 29. The fair, which brought together actors in the education sector into one place, include 80 companies that exhibited various educational services and products a week before the opening of the first school term this year.
Held under the theme – where education and the world of employment meet – the expo, which included training workshops, was also organised to bring together actors to share opportunities in the sector and contribute to its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a two-year school closure.
Its training workshops focused on parenting, career guidance and counselling, early childhood education, opportunities in vocational and university education, using ICT to drive development, the competence-based lower secondary curriculum and its associated opportunities. Aluma and Abidrabo attended all the training workshops.
Parents empowered
As the expo came to end on Sunday, people who attended the fair like Aluma and Abidrabo said the event was a success. Charity Abbo, a parent in Kireka in Wakiso district, said the expo was timely.
“I have been struggling a lot with parenting but this workshop has helped me a lot,” she added. “I think I will now be a better parent. I think we need to have this expo twice a year in order to get more benefits from it,”
Esther Komweru, a resident of Nabweru, a suburb in Kampala, said the expo exceeded her expectations. “I have learnt that to bring up a successful child, you have to be actively involved in their life,” she added. “I have learnt that you need to be a good role model for your children,”
Stephen Langa, the director of Family Life Network, a not-for-profit organisation, who led the training workshop on parenting, shared with parents the tips for supporting children as they transition from childhood to adulthood.
“If you don’t get involved in the lives of your children during their adolescence, you will lose them to drugs and other vices,” he added. He encouraged the parents to create time for each of their children so they can understand their individual strengths.
Ruth Ssenyonyi, who facilitated the workshop on career guidance and counselling, said the children need to be encouraged to make career choices independently. “If you tell your child, you want them to be a doctor, you have forgotten that that is their life, and not yours. Don’t force your career choices on your children,” she added.
Peace Busingye, the principal education officer in the department of career guidance and counselling at the education ministry, said she gained a lot of knowledge to support her work.
She added that she will use this knowledge to train parents and teachers on how to guide the children through career choice-making processes. “After attending the career guidance and counselling session, I feel empowered to do my job,”
Children registration
The exhibitors at the expo included government and private institutions involved in vocational training, universities, banks and insurance companies, ICT firms, dealers in scholastic materials and bookshops. The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) registered hundreds of children for National Identification Numbers (NINs) at the expo. Other exhibitors included dealers in children’s play materials, food and drinks, consultants from study abroad and international training institutions, small and medium-sized companies, and many others.
Throughout the three days, the expo venue is a hive of activity, as hundreds of people streamed into the venue of the fair to learn about the products provided by various manufacturers and service providers in the sector. Some parents bought at the expo scholastic and non-scholastic materials for their children.
Patrick Byakatonda, who facilitated the training workshop on vocational training opportunities, said choosing a career in a vocational field is a profitable investment worth making.
With Uganda now issuing internationally recognised vocational training certificates, he added that this field offers numerous opportunities for young people. Effective this year, students enrolled under the new curriculum will receive a level one vocational certificate after completing senior Three. The certificate, which will be awarded by DIT to Senior Three students after assessment, is equivalent to the Uganda Certificate of Education.
The people, who visited the State House Presidential Industrial Hubs stall, learnt of the regional centres, which have been set up to skill Ugandans. The first cohort of 2,600 trainees recently graduated from the regional centres with various vocational skills such as tailoring, hairdressing, carpentry and baking after six months of free training.
Scovia, Bashemeire, one of the hubs administrators, said a large number of the people who visited their stall did not know about the regional skilling centres as well as the programme.
“The expo has been a huge opportunity for us to get more people to understand our work and we hope to see more people getting trained at our centres,” she added. “It is a new programme that needs interventions like this expo to get information about it to as many people as possible,”
Dr Sabrina Kitaka, a senior pediatrician, who facilitated the workshop on early childhood development, urged mothers to breastfeed their children for at least their first six months to protect them from various illnesses, which could affect their growth and education.
Entrepreneurship
Dr Diana Ndagire, a senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at Makerere University Business School, who led the workshop on how to make your university degree count, said new entrepreneurs could emerge by addressing the challenges in communities.
“People are willing to pay you to address challenges in their communities and you need to start by doing that,” she added. “If you are going into business or have a business idea, make sure it is addressing a need or a challenge,”
Dr Irene Nakiyimba, the deputy principal at UICT, who facilitated the workshop on Information and Communications Technology, called for the introduction of ICT to learners at all levels of education. This, she said, would bridge the digital gap between Uganda and the developed world and create employment opportunities.
Facilitating the workshop on the revised lower secondary curriculum, Simon Peter Tukei, the assistant commissioner in charge of the instrumental materials at the ministry of education, said the new syllabus seeks to promote 21st-century skills and soft skills like communication, listening, and positive attitude, which are in demand.
Victoria Nakigozi, the headmistress at Baachi Junior School in Luwero district, said the expo helped increased knowledge about the curriculum among the people who attended it. “We need more similar engagements because learners and parents still do not appreciate this curriculum,” she added.
Klaire Komakech, the Vision Group business development manager, said all the exhibitors indicated interest to participate in the next expo. “The feedback is really positive and many are happy that they got a lot of visibility through publicity on Vision Group multimedia platforms,” she added.
Prossy Mbatudde, Develop Brains Uganda
We are very happy to have participated in the education expo because different teachers visited our tent and discovered how we have broken down content for learners in our learning materials. Many parents purchased materials for their children. We have met learners from various institutions.
Ruth Nakiwala, Deputy head teacher of St. Lawrence Schools and Colleges, Crown City Campus
We have used this expo to raise awareness about our schools among parents and learners. We have also registered students for the next academic year at the expo.
Alice Kushemera, Public Relations officer, Directorate of Industrial Training
We sensitised huge numbers of people about what we offer. We have explained to the youth the numerous opportunities in vocational education. Many were happy to learn that our certificates are internationally recognised. The expo brought together many people interested in education in one place.
Joel Turinawe, Sales executive at Vision Publishing Company
This expo has helped us promote our brand and sell products like books. We have achieved a lot at this expo in terms of business. We are optimistic that the next expo will even be better.
Sherinah Namubiru, Student at Seta High School
The expo was educative and packed with lots of fun. I learnt a lot from the career guidance workshop. I do not have to wait for my parents to tell me what career choice to make.
Elizabeth Ayunda, sales coordinator at Mobicast, a tech company
The expo was good and we hope the next one will be better. We have met new people and built networks.
Ritah Namisango Public Relations Officer, Makerere University
We have reached many of our clients at the expo. We have given them career guidance which we hope will help them make good career choices. Many of them have been interacting with the university through the website but were not getting instant answers. But the expo gave them an opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with us.
Brian Katamba, Education sector manager, Stanbic
The expo felt like a national event. There should be more interaction with partners to bring into the expo more actual clients like Uganda National Teachers Union because it is an organisation that leads teachers.
Martin Ashaba, Ndejje University
The expo was good but we could have got more clients. Our target is students and it is important to have an expo like this one when students are in school.
Francis Bwire, Uganda Institute of Information and Communication Technology
The expo has helped us reach more people. Many people now know about the courses we offer like digital literacy, cyber security, and networking.
Leave feedback about this