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IMPLEMENTATION OF A PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE APPLIED SCIENCE EDUCATION AMONG WOMEN IN UGANDA

Abstract

The economic, education, and health problems facing Uganda are immense. The average life span is around 42 years of age. Health clinics, potable [drinkable] water and electricity are not readily available for most citizens in rural areas. Many of the public schools and universities lack the facilities to adequately support education in the physical and biological sciences. The literacy rate needs to be improved to promote better understanding of health matters.

In the summer of 2004 three electrical engineering faculty members from Pennsylvania colleges went on a study tour of western Uganda in response to an invitation from community leaders in the Bunyoro-Kitara region.

The goal of the visit was to assess needs and challenges in science education. The team visited 12 secondary schools, three elementary schools and two universities. The team was surprised and encouraged by the number of Ugandan women students at each level committed to a career in science. The team had extensive discussions with parents, community leaders, science teachers, head teachers and female students and collected data to try to quantify the reasons for the intense interest. The team also observed students in the classes and toured science laboratories and school facilities. Follow up visits and dialogues lead to the development of a partnership among parents, community leaders, church leaders, educational leaders and the visiting engineering faculty team. Strategies have been developed and are being implemented that address the challenges of recruiting Ugandan women into the fields of science and technology as well as developing a support system to ensure their success.

At the college level we have characterized the five core areas of molecular biology.

Introduction

Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a country in East Africa, bordered on the east by Kenya, the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania.

In some sections of Uganda (northern and near Sudan) there was, until recently, fighting going on between the government forces and the Lord’s Resistance Army. In general most of the country has political stability.

The capital, Kampala, with a population of 1,208,854 (2002), is located in the south. It is a modern city and a center of business activity. Kampala has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS for Uganda. Makerere University, situated in Kampala, has 30,000 undergraduate students and 3,000 graduate students. It offers courses in many areas: business, law, education, sciences,

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Duda, F., & Greninger, N., & Idowu, P., & Lauffer, D. (2007, June), Implementation Of A Partnership To Improve Applied Science Education Among Women In Uganda Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2891