BANK OF UGANDA
Remarks by Dr. Louis Kasekende,
Deputy Governor, Bank of Uganda,
As Guest of Honour
At the 24th Graduation Ceremony of Uganda Martyrs
University (UMU) Nkozi
November 8, 2018
Nkozi Main Campus
The Chancellor, Most Rev. John Baptist Odama, Chairman of the
Uganda Episcopal Conference
The Patron of UMU Nkozi, Most Rev. Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga,
Archbishop of Kampala
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. John C. Maviiri
The Council, Management and Staff of UMU Nkozi
Distinguished invited guests
The Student Leadership
Dear Graduands and your Parents and Guardians
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
I am delighted to be part of this twenty-fourth graduation ceremony,
and more so when this august institution is commemorating its
silver jubilee.
Along with the rest of the country, I would like to congratulate the
fraternity of Uganda Martyrs University (UMU) Nkozi for the 25
years of dedicated service in the education sector. Special tribute is
owed to those who had the vision to establish UMU Nkozi and
nurture it through its infancy to become one of the best institutions
of higher education in Uganda today.
I congratulate the graduands for their successful completion of their
studies and also thank the parents and guardians for their sacrifice
to support the students, throughout their school life. Investment in
building our country's human capacity is the most valuable
contribution which parents and guardians can make to the future
of our nation. Everyone that has cared for our graduands deserves
a thunderous round of applause.
My remarks today will highlight the dynamic environment in
Uganda and what that entails for our education system and the
competitiveness of our graduates.
First, the competitiveness of our graduates in the labour market
depends on multiple qualities. Obviously the specific knowledge
that graduates have acquired in their degree courses is a major
attraction for prospective employers. But beyond this, most
employers in Uganda, just as in other countries around the world,
will be attracted by graduates' attitude to work, integrity, writing
skill, ability to work cooperatively within the team and such
attributes like good time management. Unfortunately, this non-
academic area is not adequately addressed within our school
system, yet it contributes significantly to who succeeds in the work
place. These attributes are important whether one is employed by a
company or institution or is running their own enterprise.
More effort should be devoted by our institutions of higher learning
to ensuring that graduates acquire these competencies.
The theme for the silver jubilee commemoration is "Celebrating 25
years of Excellence in the Footsteps of the Uganda Martyrs". One of
the lessons we can draw from the life of the Uganda martyrs is the
value of believing and adhering to what you consider the truth and
the right way and sticking to this principle, no matter the cost. This
is even more instructive for you who are fortunate to be educated in
a faith-based institution like UMU Nkozi where values such as
honesty and integrity are so important.
My second issue is that of the changing global economy in which
our graduands will be starting their careers. We are now in an era
that has been labeled by such entities like the World Economic
Forum as the "Fourth industrial revolution", characterized by
artificial intelligence and the advent of robots. In a nutshell, this
fourth industrial revolution means that human effort in a growing
number of processes is being complemented and, in some cases,
replaced, by computing power and robots. For example, drones are
delivering blood units to hospitals and parcels in far distant places
where previously human beings would have been needed to do the
job. You will have heard of the driver-less vehicles or even the
virtual assistants deployed in customer service centres.
This digital revolution has implications for the form of training we
give our students and the type of jobs that will be applicable.
One of the implications of this fourth industrial revolution is that
the speed of change is very high in the business world, and this
means that the skills required of employees can rapidly change.
Also, low skill white collar jobs are being eliminated by automation.
The rapid change in skills needs and plausible loss of jobs to
automation means that competition for available employment
opportunities will be more intense. For instance, a large number of
services which were known as non-tradable have become tradable
because of technology, and this has implications for protection of
jobs which hitherto faced competition only within one geographical
jurisdiction. Graduands therefore must be keen to take advantage
of the various development programs and financing schemes
instituted by the Government of Uganda to create their own jobs.
Another consequence of the fourth industrial revolution is that
learning new skills may become a permanent and indispensable
feature of a successful career. The importance of continuous
learning was put succinctly by Alvin Toffler, "The illiterate of the
21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those
who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn".
This also has profound implications for the role of tertiary
institutions. Traditionally these institutions have focused most of
their efforts at educating people who have yet to begin their careers,
but in the future, the provision of training for students who have
already advanced in their careers but need to upgrade their skills
may become an important requirement of the higher educational
system.
Second, it is also paramount that our education system encourages
critical thinking by students, based on rigorous analysis and
respect for the facts.
My third point relates to the use of technology and its impact on the
way we live. We are in an era where data on individuals and
businesses is being created through use of services such as
internet. As such, data is being collected by statutory means, by
application owners and third parties like marketing agencies. While
this technological advancement is easing the way of life and
facilitating efficiency in business or service operations, it entails
risks like hacking, cyber-crime such as forgery of an individual's
profile or online activities with the intent to malign them. This
therefore calls for the need to strengthen cyber laws and other
regulatory aspects like data ownership to protect the users of
services.
For the academia, we need a formula for finding the right balance
between fostering innovations, guaranteeing freedoms, holding
people responsible for any excesses and protecting privacy.
Finally, I wish all the graduands success in the life ahead. I urge
you to follow your passion, stay focused, work hard and in every
situation seek wisdom from God almighty. To the university
administration, congratulations once again for the twenty-five years
of distinguished service! The challenge to remain relevant over the
next quarter century lies squarely on how you adapt to meet the
changing demands of industry and society.
I thank you for listening.