Makerere University students in discussion
The views I share here are in no way different from the song I have sung whenever and wherever I have found an opportunity.
And I think that’s a song we need to sing to each other until we create a massive chorus that’s too big to ignore. In this part of the world, there are a lot of degrees. Every parent would like a degree at home. It is one of the measures of parental success in Uganda.
Thus, when a parent tells a friend, “My daughter is in college,” they are essentially announcing their success. That’s another way of saying, “We’ve made it too.” It’s a class statement. For those of humble backgrounds, it is a license to speak in higher discourses.
When we throw a big graduation party where we celebrate where we could have started our lives, we celebrate a status breakthrough. Everyone needs to hear that Luboyera’s son also got a degree. Speeches are made, one after the other, thanking their child for making them proud – some graduates announce that they are the first in their clan or village to wear the gown – a status symbol.
That’s why photos are hung in living rooms, in such sizes and angles that whoever enters the house cannot miss them. The opportunities to get a degree are also another story. We all have the right to celebrate and rejoice. Dance yourself limp with accomplishment.
Legs are getting better. But let me add a little more detail to the meaning of our degrees. Our first question when considering what to do with our degrees should be: WHAT IS EDUCATION?
Of course, that is not an end in itself. Whatever form it takes, it is meant to help us live meaningful lives. Its purpose is to sharpen our thinking about the world we live in, its possibilities, problems and wonders; to help us live happier lives individually and with each other; and to improve our judgment.
In short, all education worth its name is meant to make us better and more useful people. Regardless of the degree you’re pursuing, these are the most important things your education should help you understand before acquiring other specialized skills.
A person who earns a degree to use it to exploit others is not truly educated. A person who uses his degree as a license to attack others is not educated.
A person who wants to be worshiped just because he has a degree is not really educated. A person who is so interested in the titles that come with a degree, but does not want to use the degree to improve society, is not really educated. I will present a small justification for my argument.
Getting a third world education to degree level often requires a lot of sacrifice. I understand that some of us may come from affluent backgrounds that may not allow us to understand this, but there is so much suffering and lack in our community.
We got our degrees with tremendous sacrifice. We are among the few who reach these levels. It is a privilege, but also a challenge. It is our responsibility to prove to others that education affects the recipients. When they look at us; how we live, how we judge, how we reason, how we dream, how we lead, how we plan and implement decisions, they should want to go to school.
When society sacrifices to send us to school, to get degrees over prestige, it also invests in us to make a better world. Yes, they want us to succeed in our personal lives, but it would also mean a lot to them if we used our education to make a positive difference in the world.
Coming back to them with a lot of English and accents is not proof that they want to strengthen our education. Our English language is meaningless to society if it cannot move it to a better level.
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere once said that a person who gets an education in Africa is like a man from a starving village who is given a little food and gets the energy to go get food for the rest from other villages. It is possible for such a man to set off, find food, eat his fill, and never return to his people.
That’s what some of us do when we get our degrees. Our stomach becomes our only motivator, and we only think about improving our own lives – even at the expense of others. We detach ourselves from our communities and begin to carry ourselves as special people who deserve much more than anyone else.
We abandon our villages as we set up mansions in the cities. We leave our people in the villages in the cycles of disease, ignorance and poverty. The worst part is that we even shamelessly participate in stealing from them! When we don’t steal because we’re comfortable, we watch others steal what is meant to benefit everyone.
We declare our neutrality in the face of gross injustice against the poor members of our society who hoped for us to be our voice. We find every reason to justify our silence and indifference. Does our degree mean something other than above. May they mean hope for our society!
May they mean innovative solutions to the problems that plague our people! Don’t let that degree end with a certificate or a title! Let’s see your degree in your works! Inspire more people to study! May we never hear that you have been caught among thieves stealing from the country!
Don’t be that alumni that the university is ashamed to be in contact with! This is how we truly celebrate you and honor your degree.
The author is a philosophy teacher.