AINOMUGISHA EUDECIOUS: Cause of Unemployment in Uganda

Many people across the world particularly in our country Uganda know that for one to be employed in other words to have a job, one has to be with a qualification and probably must have studied to have a certain qualification for a certain job which on one hand is true and on the other hand may not be considering that for one to be qualified is not a must to have attended school in other words studied if we are to eliminate unemployment.

In this perspective, one has to bear in mind the two words which most probably have been taken to be the same and that is STUDYING and LEARNING but if well analysed, the two words are different. For instance, studying is the acquisition of knowledge and new ideas about a subject or course or something for example, studying medicine at the university where as learning is applying the knowledge we acquire during studying or applying one’s ability achieved from experiences for example children learn how to dig from their parents and apply their ability to dig by having their hands on.

Therefore, studying is passive and learning is active in a sense that learning involves all our Personality in other words it involves all the senses in that during learning there is one’s will to learn what he or she chooses where as during studying all the senses may not be involved in other words the whole personality is not involved because the students are not the determinants of what to be studied.

Therefore, with the brief Introduction, one may ask what have many institutions in Uganda considered? Could it be studying, Learning, or both? The answer remains to you and l. However, in my opinion, studying has been considered most in Uganda than learning in that many students focus on passing exams , attaining qualifications say certificates, diplomas, degrees, and probably PHDs and Doctorates and so on which is beautiful in the education sector. But a big question will be, having attained the above qualifications, can the holder do something in other words apply the knowledge obtained to do something on his or her own to fit with the daily life situations? that is unemployment.

This therefore, drives us to what probably might have caused unemployment in Uganda in that many Ugandans have studied and are still studying to pass exams and attain documental qualifications as has been mentioned above. But a question still goes, are these people having qualifications of experience? Have these people learnt and are able to apply what they have studied to earn a living in other words find employment or jobs in line with what they study?

And because learning which is the application of what has been studied is not being considered by many Ugandans, this has led to unemployment in all areas all over the country.

Therefore, my appeal is not only studying to pass exams or to attain degrees among others should be considered but also learning which will help the students to face the next stage probably after studying that is after attaining some documental qualifications. For instance, humans values, ethics, behaviors among others which mostly are acquired through learning have to be considered because many Ugandans have no jobs because of lack human formation that covers the above values and so on.

For instance students don’t want to be employers but employees because everyone is fighting hard to find an office job or a white color job in line with his documents but on the contrary currently not only documents are required but also skills in other words experience and all this is achieved through learning and probably hands on experiences which has become a barrier to many Ugandans.

Otherwise Uganda has alot of employment opportunities but the question is, have we Ugandans learnt or we have only studied?. For instance, it’s not enough for an engineer or a doctor to have degrees among others but also to have skills or experiences of an engineer or a doctor that if he or she is not employed by others then he can employ himself by applying what he studied which drives us to self employment that should be the target of every Ugandan in different areas of suitability. Thus eliminating unemployment in Uganda.

The author is Eudecious Ainomugisha,
Email: eudeciousainomugisha@gmail.com