Col Emmy Katabazi, the Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), who was the first General Secretary of the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), has called upon the student leaders to engage in productive education and embrace mindset change rather than education for enslavement.
Col Katabazi made the remarks while delivering his keynote address to student leaders during the Female Student Leaders’ Conference as they were celebrating the Day of the Girl Child, organized by UNSA at the Wakiso Comprehensive Institute of Health Science in Wakiso district on Friday, October 11, 2024, under the theme Her Voice, Her Vision, Her Leadership Shared for a Better Tomorrow.
He called for adoption of relevant education and not to enslave them, saying that the education was affected by colonialism, which the government is working on to change through the new curriculum.
“Is the education we are teaching for liberation or for enslavement? Don’t pursue education of excellence in terms of marks, but use the knowledge you have acquired to apply it practically,” Col Katabazi asked.
The Deputy Director General advocated for mindset change and asked student leaders to understand the dynamics of Uganda as a country. He added that as a political entity, Uganda was colonized and has gone through a turbulent time.
The Colonel urged the students’ leaders to advocate for patriotism and nation-building. He also cautioned them against getting taken up by social media and non-developmental issues like going on streets to riot but love and work towards developing their country, Uganda, because they are the current leaders.
“We have a beautiful country that people should not play around with, and God decided that we be born here,” he said.
The Deputy Director General noted that UNSA was formed after being motivated by the students that liberated the country and caused fundamental change.
“When we formed UNSA, we studied the situation across the world, not Uganda alone. Uganda is singled out by history,” Col Katabazi noted.
He cautioned participants against early pregnancies and early marriages, urging them to concentrate on their education, front prayer, hard work, and discipline, which he termed PHD.
Col Katabazi reminded the student leaders that in previous years before 1986, 30% of children in Uganda couldn’t access Primary One, and out of the remaining 70%, most of them would drop out of school in Primary Four while the girls would not go beyond Primary Five, adding that at the time, only 0.01% would manage to join university. He said that currently, there is UPE and USE, and there are over 40 universities availed, for students to attain education, which has increased the number of children attending school and their level of education.
The conference was attended by student leaders from Kings College Buddo, Kisubi High School, St. Johns Wakiso, Kololo High School, Marvell Secondary School, and coordinators of different districts, among others.
