Beginning the last month of the year is the time to start writing down the action plans for the year to come. On December 1st 2015 we set out as a school to visit a highly mechanized farm in Masindi that is run by one of our own parents. Our expectations were fully satisfied as soon as we got off the bus. This is a majorly rice farm with some maize grown at times. Our host Pastor Kakande told us that the name of the farm was ” Get Out of Poverty(GOP)”. He was quick to give us a new definition of Agriculture as the “Growing calculation of the planting of crops and rearing of animals”. He emphasized the need to continuously calculate through the whole process of farming if one is to make profit. This is where i find the role of teachers very handy because this systematic way of calculation can be best taught while at school. The note taking required by the farmer,the figures to be recorded,the analysis to be made,the communication to be done to the rest of the farmers,the sketches to be drawn about what you notice every day,the research to be carried out and all the practices required of the farmer are skills to be developed within our classrooms. The challenge is that we the teachers have not practiced Entrepreneurship and are not well versed with the knowledge we need to pass on. It is against this background that as Gayaza High School we have embarked on this journey of equipping the teachers with the right knowledge and skills and we are learning together with the students within this empowerment programme for fast tracking the change. Our visits to various farmers targets learning from their experience and this follows a theory of change-” THE EMPOWERMENT SPIRAL”- which postulates that learning can be facilitated if someone experiences the end point and fully understands where you would like them to go before they start on the learning journey.
Our host noted that Farmers’ co-operative unions would be the best option for development and we need to encourage teamwork and group dynamics in schools. This growth would be enhanced if the Youth within our schools are encouraged to do group businesses such that they can learn how to work together and trust each other when doing businesses. It is always the end point at sharing profits that creates stampede and many business partners fall apart and these challenges can be out grown in school if we mirror all levels of business as part of our curriculum. We are hopeful that as schools we shall embark on this journey of “Youth and Teacher Entrepreneurship” for a better education for our country.
We thank our host for giving us this learning space and hope many more youth and teachers can access such opportunities.