By Gilbert Akampa Kakurugu,
MBARARA
Today UNATU has hosted teachers in South western Uganda who have been empowered with knowledge and skills for self sustainability and enterpreneurship skills for the betterment of the education system and their families.
These teachers are the UNATU regional and branch leaders from the south western districts, municipalities and Mbarara city.
During this two days workshop organized by UNATU at Adit Mall in Mbarara city, the General Secretary for UNATU Mr. Baguma Philbert Bates implored teachers to embrace the fight agaist the mushrooming bad acts of homosexuality in Ugandan schools especially secondary schools and boarding primary schools.
Baguma condemns such un Godly acts and warned teachers that they would rather die poor than involving themselves in such acts for money. Baguma also advised parents to start sex educating their children before joining secondary education since it’s where most cases of LGBTQ are reported.
Baguma further asked the female teachers not to use the empowerment skills attained off the meeting to suffocate their male counterparts but rather support them to pave way for stronger families.
Opening the two day meeting, the Mbarara city Education Officer Salongo Francis Tumwebaze Benon expressed worries over the imbalance that has been created in education system where government has focused much on girl child educatuon forgetting the boy child.
Tumwebaze noted that there should be male emancipation since for the last thirty years the NRM government had advocated for gender equality that has seen many ladies rise to bigger offices creating an educated female generation and uneducated male generation.
Tumwebaze said he is worried in a few years the educated females will suffer feeding un educated men, saying we shall be seeing men in trousers and shirts.
Tumwebaze also encouraged female teachers to stop the PHD(Pull her down syndrome) by supporting their fellow women in leadership and also live by example to encourage other fellow women to join leadership positions.
During the same workshop, female teachers were skilled on how to make disposable sanitary pads and encouraged them not to sit with the skills and knowledge acquired but share it with other teachers and the girl child since menstrual health is one of the major causes of school drop outs.
This session was lead by Hariet Senkayi who told the participants that leadership becomes good if a vision is turned into a reality and that leaders are those who empower others but not about controlling and directing others.