On Thursday 18th October, Future First Global hosted a workshop and networking event titled “Is Education Enough?” at Tribe Kampala co-working space in Uganda.
The event brought together over 30 stakeholders working in the Education and Youth sectors and provoked discussion about the many factors, outside of formal education, that contribute to a young person’s ability to achieve their potential. One of the participants was MasterCard Foundation Scholar, Joshua Eyaru, and below he provides his perspective on the session.
I have committed myself to working with young people from schools in rural communities. Having gone to a rural school myself, the students I work with expect to learn a lot from me. But sometimes I find myself empty and feeling like I have nothing to offer. That’s why when I saw that Future First Global were hosting a workshop called “Is Education Enough?”, I knew that I had to attend so that I could learn and feel ready to inspire these students again.
I have always questioned the kind of curriculum schools are using to prepare students for their careers. I see a lot of gaps in it, but I have no idea what should be taught instead. At the event I was able to gain new insights about what needs to be done to address the gaps in education. It was a refreshing session that equipped me with more ideas to advance the work I do, all based on experiences of a wider range of people working in the sector.
In some ways, the workshop was validating some of the issues I was already addressing in my mind and that gave me the energy to move forward. It was clear during the workshop that parents, government, teachers, community and social groups all influence young people’s success.
After listening to other participants during a brainstorming session, I finally realized that we were all talking about issues that affect young people in schools and communities. This gave me the courage to share my point of view, I felt that students need access to apprenticeship opportunities to develop both practical skills and the confidence to face the market whether in employment or business.
Being in the space of technology in an educational context, I also briefly shared how technology needs to be embraced by young people in order for them to stay relevant in future careers that have been penetrated by technology.
After the workshop, the group moved to a rooftop bar for an organised networking session. We were all provided with guestlists and name badges to help us find who we wanted to speak to and the first drink being on the house helped encourage everybody to stay too!
During the networking session, I was able to meet different stakeholders in the education space and share with them information about the work I do in rural schools. Among them was Kristine Sullivan who is the Country Director of Elevate. They have been doing a lot of research around education in Central Uganda and with the extensive engagement we had, I believe the organisation will consider expanding their reach to rural areas in the future too.
After this event, I felt the need to involve many stakeholders in ensuring the success of my computer science projects in rural schools. I believe it’s time to bring alumni of these schools onboard to promote tech to young people at an early stage, so that will be the next phase of my project.