Vice President Maj. Jessica Alupo has challenged teachers to use schools to nurture children under their care in other disciplines beneficial to their future well-being.
She says schools should not only be places for preparing young people for how to pass exams but also involve teaching them about the values of unity, work, and transformation.
“Passing exams, without fundamental values and the Right attitude, is putting the future of the country at a great risk,” the VP said while addressing head teachers attending a workshop at National Leadership Institute-Kyankwanzi.
Alupo who is also Katakwi district woman MP, reminded teachers that since they spend more time with the young generation, the aspect of discipline in society is their (Teachers) responsibility. She said discipline is a function of proper training.
The diligent Vice President, while guiding head teachers on their responsibilities beyond their professional duties further emphasized the importance of environmental protection as an expression of love for our country.
“Love for our country entails a commitment to safeguarding Mother Nature. Environmental issues can no longer be overlooked. As educators, let us instill a sense of love and care for the environment, including water bodies, mountains, soils, forests, pastures, and more. These elements are crucial for our survival, and neglecting them is unacceptable,” she advised.
The Second-In-Command of Uganda also urged all teachers to value their profession, describing it as a noble service. She emphasized that choosing a career in teaching should not be driven solely by personal ambition, but rather seen as a passionate and revolutionary calling to serve humanity.
“There is no price you can attach to the sacrifices teachers make; it should be your choice and patriotic calling. Therefore, if teachers are to deliver on this task of molding and mentoring the young, they must, first of all, love the profession, but most importantly must LOVE the children they teach” Alupo emphasized adding that for the young people to develop love and care, they must feel loved and cared for by their teachers, parents, and the government.
PATRIOTISM CLUBS TO NURTURE IDEOLOGICALLY CONSCIOUS MINDS IN SCHOOLS
The Vice president further noted that Statistics indicate that by 1986, when NRM came to power, there were about 2 million children in primary schools and less than 130,000 students at the secondary school level.
However, since the introduction of universal primary education, and eventually universal secondary education, the numbers have grown to close to 10 million for primary level and close to 1.5 million for secondary schools.
These large numbers of students in secondary schools make teachers a crucial cadre in terms of the mentorship role. Students spend more time at school than they do at home or within the communities.
“The issue, therefore, is to ensure that you the teachers are equal to this noble task. If the task is inculcating the norms and values of patriotism, then it demands that the teacher of necessity must be ideologically clear and must have internalized such norms and values, to be able to articulate and disseminate them to the young ones” she advised.
The forever peaceful VP guided teachers on the real meaning of being ideologically conscious.
“The question then is, what does it take to be ideologically conscious? What does ideology entail? We need to have clear answers to those important questions. In a nutshell, ideology is about “one understanding in a correct way, of what happens in one’s environment/society”.
It’s about your correct interpretation of things that happen, Not simply guessing” she explained amid wild cheers from the head teachers.
Alupo advised teachers to invest in studying, learning, and reading to be able to acquire more 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. So, Teachers, who must be the mentors of the young generation, ought to invest heavily in being broadly knowledgeable” she said.
The lady from Katakwi added that the case of patriotism, which she said entails love for the country, calls upon teachers to have a full grasp of facts and truths about their country Uganda.
She, however, noted that one cannot love Uganda without understanding the long history associated with it including the fact that Uganda and Africa happen to be the origin of mankind.
She challenged teachers to take an interest in enriching themselves with such history. Alupo said when they do this, they will understand the problems of the past; who caused them, and how the country has been able to transition from such problems to the current situation.
“The teacher would then be able to appreciate why it is important to embrace principles of National unity as opposed to sectarianism. Patriotism is about rejecting segregation and loving all your fellow countrywomen/men whom you need to prosper better” she lectured, adding that through patriotism, a teacher further appreciates that Africa needs unity/Pan-Africanism.
The Vice President added that by being knowledgeable, a teacher will be able to understand that to be a modern country, there must be social metamorphosis which ensures transformation from traditional to modern society.
TEACHERS ON WEALTH CREATION
Alupo said that whereas the government is very much aware of the need to improve the welfare of all its workers, it is also important that every Ugandan develops a correct attitude towards wealth creation and financial discipline.
“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” she guided.
