Scrapping key subjects in vocational schools is a mistake

Arts teachers who have been demanding equal treatment with their science colleagues have been told that they will have to wait longer as their salary enhancement is not at the top of the government’s priority list right now. 

Yet there is more trouble brewing on both sides of the aisle as the Ministry of Education moves to implement the 2019 Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) policy which ushered in a competency-based curriculum for vocational institutions. Several science subjects including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology stand to be scrapped alongside English and other arts subjects including Entrepreneurship, History and Business studies.

Understandably, the move to scrap the subjects and lay off the teachers has caused alarm. One of the major concerns is that English, one of the affected subjects is not only used predominantly as a language of instruction, but it has also been the subject of complaints from some employers who found vocational school graduates wanting in terms of language expression.

The competency-based education proposed by the 2019 TVET policy, will be applied across various fields and institutions including but not limited to technical schools offering courses in architecture, civil and mechanical engineering, information and communication technology, commerce, and agriculture, among others. Looking at the cross-section of courses and qualifications offered by these vocational institutes, how is it fathomable that students will qualify with higher diplomas in engineering without a foundation in mathematics, physics, or chemistry?

The decision to get rid of the instructors for these courses appears to be rushed, with the consequence that it has even been opposed within the implementing institutions. There should be more study and harmonisation on this matter by the National Curriculum Development Centre, the Ministry of Education and the implementers of technical and vocational education as well as other stakeholders such as the Federation of Uganda Employers.

In its simplest terms, vocational education has been defined as the pursuit of knowledge that prepares students to apply their skills and create job opportunities. The idea is to cure the misfit between tertiary school education and the job market.

The Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training Act, 2008 provides for non-public, non-formal and formal enterprise-based private vocational education providers. It also caters for technical and specialised training institutes run by the public sector. If what we aim to produce from these schools are job-ready individuals, how can we aim to scrap the study of entrepreneurship or business economics from the curriculum? The approach should be to adapt, rather than scrap.