Title: Beyond Skills Training: Addressing the Systemic Pathologies in Uganda's Education System for Genuine Work Readiness
Authors: Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Ahumuza Audrey
Volume: 9
Issue: 11
Pages: 352-360
Publication Date: 2025/11/28
Abstract:
Background: Despite expanding educational access and implementing numerous skills training interventions, Uganda continues experiencing severe graduate unemployment and persistent employer complaints about work readiness, suggesting that the challenge extends beyond skills gaps to fundamental systemic pathologies within the education system itself. Objective: This study critically examined the systemic pathologies within Uganda's education system that undermined genuine work readiness and developed a comprehensive framework for transformative reform addressing root causes rather than symptoms. Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed across five Ugandan regions between January and August 2024. The quantitative component recruited 586 participants (320 recent graduates, 180 employers, 86 education administrators) through stratified random sampling to achieve 80% statistical power at 5% significance level. Results: Overall work readiness scored 57.9/100 (SD=13.1), with all systemic pathology indicators below acceptable thresholds: curriculum relevance (M=2.4/5), pedagogical quality (M=2.5/5), infrastructure adequacy (M=2.3/5), industry linkages (M=2.1/5), and governance effectiveness (M=2.5/5). Multiple regression analysis revealed that systemic factors explained 61.4% of work readiness variance (Rē=0.614, p<0.001), with industry linkages as the strongest predictor (?=0.35, p<0.001), followed by pedagogical quality (?=0.27, p<0.001) and curriculum relevance (?=0.26, p<0.001). Conclusion: Uganda's graduate unemployment crisis fundamentally represented a systemic educational quality crisis rather than oversupply or simple skills mismatch. Systemic pathologies formed an interconnected ecosystem where infrastructure deficits and governance failures cascaded through pedagogical quality, curriculum implementation, and industry engagement to compromise work readiness.