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As we promised
Even under normal conditions, UPC's educational policies may make the
tensions once again a salient feature of Uganda's politics. All education in
Uganda was initially in the hands of the two missions, and although the
protectorate government eventually played an increasingly important role through
financial grants-in-aid and curricular reform, practically all elementary
schools and a good many high schools were still under mission control at the
time of independence. It is largely through the school system, however, that
national sentiments are inculcated, and to national leaders it seemed obvious
that the more Uganda's schools concentrated on turning out good Catholics and
good Anglicans and good Muslims, "good" precisely because they saw them selves
as basically different from hose believing in other religions, the less they
would be turning out good Ugandans. Shortly after the elections the
Minister of Education, Dr Luyimbazi-Zake, broached publicly the possibility of
secularization by pointing out that the process had in fact been begun a decade
earlier, when Sir Andrew Cohen was a governor. The reaction to this idea was
strong and negative, as anticipated, but the Anglicans stood to loose much less
than the Catholics, since they in fact gave much less religious instructions in
their schools, and as they came to realize this their opposition to the program
weakened. About a year letter, in August 1963, the government considered it
possible to begin a gradual secularization of the schools. Although strong
Catholics were almost all opposed, as were some strong Anglicans, the response
was a good deal more muted than some had thought it would be,And the program
having fared relatively well has been continued. It has not ceased to be in
dispute, however, and infact the Catholic church's antagonism has probably
increased, as well it might, since each step forward from the government's point
of view is yet another step backwards from the church's. Thus in May 1966
the hierarchy issued possibly its strongest statement so far in defence of
religious instructions in Schools and implied that Catholics might have to
resist the government actively should Dr. Zaake attempt to enforce a suggestion
he had made a few weeks earlier, to the effect that such instructions be
discontinued entirely.
To be continued
How did the Political elites affect this
relationship? (Do you know?)
The
Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
