Interest your children in agricultural skills, bishop tells parents

ANKOLE - Parents in Ankole diocese have been urged to take their children to institutions that teach skills.

Ankole Diocese Bishop Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa says parents are spending a lot of money to pay for degrees when their children can't get jobs.

“Why not get a certificate from here and also add on later on practical competencies whereby you can create jobs and can easily find a job," he stated.

He gave an example of a student in Canada who told him the money he gets in one week is more than what a doctor in Uganda gets in a month and he urged people that children who go to Europe and those who have skills are the ones who will survive.

Those without skills related to agriculture and other hands-on-related development suffer terribly.  He said as a diocese they are going to invest time in publicising the importance of skilling.

He thanked the Government for supporting farm institutes but urged heads of these institutes to take advantage of the leaders they have in their areas to lobby for more funding, telling them that the government has a lot of money to support them.

Bishop Mwesigwa made the comments while addressing parents and students at Rwampara Farm Institute on March 6, 2025.  

According to the Rev. Can. Agasha Muhwezi, who is the diocese education secretary, Rwampara Farm Institute offers a certificate in agriculture production with a total of 402 students.

Agasha urged parents and students in Rwampara and other parts of the region to stop the habit of shunning vocational education informing them that in the Uganda of today vocational education is science and it is a shortcut for those who want to go to university and do sciences and become job makers.

John Agaba, the chairperson board of Rwampara Farm Institute, said graduates who complete agriculture courses are assured of capital, which is land and that they only need to change their mindset. Institute principal Naboth Nuwamanya called for more funding.