Achieving equity and gender equality in Uganda’s tertiary education and development

Abstract

Grounded in feminist epistemology, the study focused on the concepts of location, social position, gender and Affirmative Action to assess the social phenomenon of inequality in the distribution of public university educational opportunities in 4 regions and 112 districts of Uganda. The study used district level data of a student population of 101,504 admitted to five public universities from 2009-2017, to construct the ‘Fair Share Index’ (FSI) as a measure of higher educational inequality. Based on the FSI, the Fair Share Equity Framework of analysis was created, developed, applied and used extensively in the study, to incorporate ‘equity’ as a ‘third’ dimension in the assessment of higher educational distribution in Uganda. The Education Equity Index (EEI) was computed for each of four regions and 112 districts of the country. The EEI was defined as the difference between the Fair Share Index (FSI) or population quota and the actual proportion of the student population allocated to a region or district of the country. The index measures the ‘Fair Share Gap’ in the distribution of higher educational opportunities from one region and district of the country to another, based on the changing configurations of population quota and the actual student population allocated over the years. It shows the extent of the gains or losses incurred in the distribution of public university education by a district over time, and the extent of inequality in access to public university educational opportunities as a resource in regions and districts of the country. The Fair Share framework defines, conceptualises, measures and incorporates the discourse of equity as a dimension of educational distribution in ways not previously reported. By so doing, the author addresses the puzzling complexities of the social phenomenon of inequality in higher education and in development, in ways not previously reported. The new methodology is based on the feminist Standpoint theorythe notion that the social phenomenon of inequality is socially, historically and culturally situated and that its investigation and analysis must be placed in the context of the location of the social phenomenon itself. On that basis, the Fair Share Equity Framework does not simply offer a perspective; it provides a rigorous and an innovative methodology, which simplifies investigation of the social phenomenon. In the entire study, the researcher endeavored to systematically illustrate the theoretical and empirical paradigms of the Fair Share Framework as a new contribution to knowledge and an important effort towards the greater goal for equity and gender equality in higher education. The study found that social location and gender were the main factors in Uganda’s public university educational inequality. Ninety-point-five (90.5) percent of the total student population was found in the top 20 per cent of districts of Uganda. Seven (7) out of every 10 students selected for undergraduate programmes were from three (3) districts; Up to 82 per cent qualified from schools located in five districts; and a single private high school accounted for as many students as the number that came from a total of 733 public schools. While half the population of women in public university education was in one out of ten colleges, eight of out of every ten were in two colleges. In the rest of eight public university colleges, men outnumbered women by a ratio of 8:2. Owing to the district factor, the high school factor and Affirmative Action, gender remains the main factor in Uganda’s public university educational inequality. The representation of women tended to be lower in fields where jobs have considerable national appeal but it was higher in fields where prospects, status and potential for future income, power and access to resources are considerably lower within the historical, social and cultural context of Uganda. Access and distribution criteria mainly favored students from the top districts and high schools in the country. Although Affirmative Action opened doors for more women in higher education, the doors that were opened were not necessarily for historically excluded. The programme tended to benefit primarily the most fortunate, failing to reach the most marginalised, the excluded and the hard to reach on grounds that it was implemented for competitive reasons. In the distribution policies, systems and practices, emphasis was laid on the supply side rather than demand. In spite of the introduction of a district quota-based policy in 2005, the distribution system did not work for students from underprivileged schools in remote districts of Uganda. The majority of women and men who lagged behind originated from remote and disadvantaged districts. There was a significant binary divide. While the men occupied one section of the colleges, women were in the other section of the colleges. The benefit of Affirmative Action programme was limited to a specific category of women, from specific districts and a few top secondary schools in the country. Women faced considerable barriers, particularly in science education, due to the lack of effective policies to address college-based inequalities related to intake, and the transition from high school to higher levels of education. In recent times, considerable emphasis has been laid on studies that assess the social phenomena of inequality from an income and wealth distribution or inputs and output dimensions. Building its foundation from the feminist theories of knowledge, the framework stands out, for its emerging perspectives on the concepts that constitute the notion of equity. It explores new discourses and provides a theoretical framework that can be deployed in fields of development to deconstruct the conundrum and address the complexities of inequality. It presents a rigorous and systematic approach; contributes to the theoretical and empirical relevance of the feminist Standpoint epistemology and to a scientific vision in the study of inequality in all fields of development. When Uganda moved to universal primary schooling system, policy makers appear not to have anticipated the implications of this move for the country’s secondary and higher education system. The higher education distribution system has thus continued to aspire to its original elite model. This is not because it is insensitive and irresponsible, but because it is not structurally ready to accommodate the upcoming burden of mass and universal primary and secondary schooling. This malaise has distorted the notion of equity and equality in the distribution system, shifting the developments in Uganda’s higher educational distribution system rapidly in an opposite direction. The distribution of public university education in Uganda has thus become less of a central government function and more of a private affair, signaling a much deeper crisis – the degree to which admission policies, systems and practices may structurally deter the national equity, equality and empowerment agenda. This study dealt with the structural issues that influence equity and gender dynamics in the distribution of public university education in Uganda. It offers recommendations that address the failure of the national merit system in underprivileged schools in remote districts of Uganda. As presented, the Fair Share Equity Framework is my own construct and innovation. It was inspired by 20 years of experience in development, working with seven major International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs), as well as with local civil society groups and communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. I was concerned with what appeared to be the sheer absence of methodologies that attempt to advance the application and use of the concept of ‘equity’ and ‘Fair Share’ in public policy; and in the investigation of the growing forms of geographical inequality; particularly in regions and districts of countries such as Uganda, where access to development resources such as higher educational opportunities is significantly hampered by the lack of space due to the limited state’s capacity for long term planning and inadequate tax-based models for financing of educational infrastructure. The study defines what constitutes ‘equity’ as a ‘dimension’ of educational distribution. It illustrates a clear gap between the government’s attempts to increase access to secondary education and the status of access to higher education. Its show the pitfalls in the governance framework currently guiding the higher education system, which primarily benefits students from a few districts in the country. This perpetuates a system that rewards only the privileged. The Fair Share methodology shows how the feminist Standpoint theory provides for the use of the feminist concept of social location in education; and in the understanding of how inequality in the distribution of higher education can be naturalised and legitimised in everyday life. It ascertains the nature of districts for which the distribution policy and system is most effective and the category of districts that lag behind. Its thesis is the notion that inequality in access to higher education cannot be corrected, without the synchrony between government’s efforts in ensuring access to primary and secondary education and an open strategy to achieve equity in higher education across the entire country. A case is made, that in order to address the social phenomenon of inequality in the distribution of higher education in regions and districts of Uganda, the proportion of all members from each district, who have the minimum level of preparation to participate in higher education should be determined by a Fair Share Index. The Fair Share Index provides a rigorous perspective on the discourse of equity; a perspective, which simplifies investigation and contributes to the scientific vision of the feminist Standpoint empiricism.