East African Gazette
Kyankwanzi
The Vice President Jessica Alupo has urged the teachers to play a pivotal role in shaping young people who go through their hands.
Alupo said they should remain with ethics because choosing the teaching profession was God’s calling
Alupo said Education has expanded tremendously in the last 37 Years of National Resistance Movement (NRM) administration.
She made the remarks during the opening of the teachers’ training at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi district 24 Jan 2024.
The Vice President Jessica Alupo being received by the National Leadership Institute officials
“By 1986, there were about 2 million children in primary schools and less than 130,000 students at secondary school level. With the introduction of Universal Primary Education, and eventually Universal Secondary Education, the numbers have increased to about 10 million for primary level and close to 1.5 million for secondary schools” Alupo said.
Alupo said secondary schools make teachers a very crucial cadre as far as the mentorship role is concerned. It is clear that young people spend more time at school than their homes or within the communities.
She said it is therefore very prudent that the government and President Yoweri Museveni in particular made a timely strategic intervention of initiating patriotic clubs in all secondary schools in order to inculcate norms and values of patriotism among the youths and students.
“If the task is inculcating the norms and values of patriotism, it demands that the teacher of necessity must be ideologically clear and must have internalized such norms and values, in order to be able to articulate and disseminate them to the young ones” she noted
She said “We need to have a clear answer to those important questions. In a nutshell ideology is about one’s understanding in a right way, of what happens in one’s environment/society”.
She alluded that in order to understand things, one must endeavor to acquire knowledge.
In short, ideological consciousness is one’s correct understanding of all phenomena. Being able to discern truth from many facts, some of them which could be falsehoods, she said
“As teachers, you must be the mentors of the young generation and ought to invest heavily in being broadly knowledgeable. This entails love for the country. It means, you ought to have a full grasp of facts and truths about our country Uganda” she said.
She said you can’t love Uganda without understanding the long history associated with it. As teachers we must take interest to enrich yourselves about such history. Understand problems of the past.
“The teacher would then be able to appreciate why it is important to embrace principles of National unity as opposed to sectarianism; patriotism actually is about rejecting segregation and loving all your fellow country- women/men whom you need to prosper better. You further appreciate that Africa needs unity/Pan-Africanism” she said.
She said by being knowledgeable, a teacher will be able to understand that in order to be a modern country, there must be social-metamorphosis, which ensures transformation from traditional society to modern society.
She said it is therefore important that teachers should make schools as all round centers for training young people about values of unity, work and transformation, not merely preparing children to pass exams. Passing exams, without fundamental values and the right attitude is putting the future of the country at a great risk.
“The other challenge teachers are faced with is the aspect of discipline of the young people. Given that you spend more time with the younger generation, discipline in society is the teacher’s responsibility. Discipline is a function of proper training. Therefore, pay attention to this aspect if Uganda’s democratic culture is to be nurtured” she said.
A cross section of teachers listens to the Vice President Jessica Alupo’s address at National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi
She added the love for the country also presupposes caring for Mother Nature. Issues of the environment can no longer be ignored.
She advised teachers to love and care about our environment and pasture because these are so vital for our survival, and it is criminal not to care about them.
She said as teachers I implore you to cherish your profession as a noble service and choose a teaching profession which is not about mere careerism but a calling to serve humanity, she revealed.
She told the teachers there is no price you can attach to the sacrifices teachers make; it should be your choice and patriotic for calling. If teachers are to deliver on this task of molding and mentoring the young, love the profession, and importantly love the children you teach.
Government is cognizant of the need to improve welfare of all its workers, but it is also important that every Ugandan develops a correct attitude towards wealth creation and financial discipline.
She said it is possible for a teacher to perform his/her roles of teaching, but also embrace wealth creation activities, and at the same time practice financial discipline of saving, investing and frugality.