Experts call for uptake of emerging technologies to Address gaps in Education sector 

By Our Reporter 

Kampala –Jim Mugunga, the executive director, Public Private Partnerships Unit at the Ministry of Finance Planning & Economic Development has urged government to embrace partnerships with the private sector to address gaps in the education sector in the country.

He was speaking during a panel discussion held at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics headquarters (Ubos) on Monday 18th November 2024while commemorating the Africa Statistics Day.

Mugunga further stated that the private sector in the country has a lot of capacity to work in partnership with the government to ensure the fast-tracking and delivery of several projects in the country, key among which is education for the economic growth of the country.

“Your job is not to invest in acquiring gadgets for data collection but to interpret and use the data. And that is where the private sector can come in through public-private partnerships,” he said concerning the time Ubos spent procuring census materials like the Capis, reflector jackets among others.

He conclusively said that his department is always available to connect government with private players both locally and internationally, who are willing to invest in delivering tools needed for the education sector.

Dr. Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the executive director of UWEZO Uganda, who represented non-governmental organizations at the function said that government needs to work hand in hand with civil society organizations. She cited that government rarely relies on data generated by the NGOs to implement developmental projects, a thing that she says hurts them to the core, since they invest in the process.

Mr. Ssozi Vincent, and Assistant Commissioner Statistics Monitoring and Evaluation in his submission during the panel discussion said that the uptake of the Education Information System (EMIS)is still low by schools since currently there is no legal framework to enforce.

He also noted that one of the requirements for learners who are below the age of eighteen is to use their parents NIN numbers while being enrolled on the EMIS platform.

Dr Byamugisha Albert, the chairman Board of Governors at the Ubos in his address said that statistics should inform decision-making processes in both the government and the private sector and called for sensible regulation of data between the government and independent data especially from the private sector.

Dr. Moses M Sichei, the chief, social policy at UNICEF Uganda said that that improvement of the education sector is at the center of their plans, working in partnership with the government.

He also underscored the importance of statistics in proper planning for the education sector and rallied all stakeholders to work together as opposed to working in silos.

Prof. Dr. Samuel Lubonga from the Education Service Commission (ESC)reiterated the need for deployment of Artificial Intelligence to address some of the gaps in the education sector where he cited the EMIS that still deploys data entrants to feed data into the system which he says a lot of time is wasted in the process.

According to the 2024 Census, education attainment for person aged 10 and above, the literacy rate stands at seventy four percent (74%) with males at 77% and females 72%.

Furthermore, the education mismatch of the population (14-64 years) shows that only 46.6% of the population match the employment requirements

The 2024 Africa Statistics week is running under the theme: Supporting Education by Modernising Production of Fit for Purpose Statistics,” with various activities ongoing at the Bureau.