TAKEAWAYS

• Nalubega wants Senior Five and Six scrapped.
• She wants learners’ talents identified and nurtured earlier.
• She says education should better reflect modern careers and skills.

Veteran musician Chance Nalubega has joined growing calls for a review of Uganda’s education curriculum, arguing that the current system spends too much time on subjects that may not prepare learners for their future careers.

Speaking in a television interview, Nalubega questioned why Uganda cannot adopt some approaches used in Western countries, where children’s interests and talents are identified and nurtured at an early age.

She argued that many learners spend a significant portion of their formative years in classrooms studying subjects that may have little connection to the careers or skills they eventually pursue.

“There is no reason someone should spend half of their life in school and have their creative years taken away.”

Nalubega said the education system should place greater emphasis on identifying individual talents while children are still young, allowing them to develop skills that could help them become productive in adulthood.

She proposed scrapping Senior Five and Senior Six, arguing that greater emphasis should instead be placed on Senior Four, by which stage she believes many learners have already developed an understanding of their interests and potential career paths.

“The more they grow, the more their creativity is washed down.”

However, Nalubega clarified that her proposal does not involve scrapping university education. Instead, she wants reforms concentrated in the lower levels of education, with fewer years spent studying subjects she considers irrelevant to modern life.

Her comments add to a wider national debate about whether Uganda’s education system is adequately preparing young people for a rapidly changing economy, particularly in areas such as technology, entrepreneurship, creative industries and vocational skills.

Nalubega believes a more flexible system could give learners greater opportunities to discover their strengths early and turn those talents into sustainable careers.