God Will Help Me' of Hopes and Uncertainties, Tactics and Futures Among Kampalan A-Level Students
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ISSN 1653-2244 INSTITUTIONEN FÖR KULTURANTROPOLOGI OCH ETNOLOGI DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY 'God will help me' Of hopes and uncertainties, tactics and futures among Kampalan A-level students By Rosalie Anne Post 2016 MASTERUPPSATSER I KULTURANTROPOLOGI Nr 60 Abstract This thesis investigates how A-level students (aged 17-26) in and around Kampala, Uganda, manage uncertainties in their present lives and futures. There are large discrepancies between international and national discourses on education, the students’ ambitious hopes and dreams, and the realities they witness. The research’s main source of data are 63 semi-structured interviews with high school students of various socio-economic backgrounds in four different schools. The thesis provides an analysis of the tactical agency the students display while negotiating with discourses, networks and steep competition. The main argument of the thesis is that uncertainty can be a productive force, and tactical agency necessary to navigate an African urban space at present. Keywords: education, future, African youth, urban, tactics, agency, uncertainty. 2 Contents: Acknowledgements 5 Figure 1: Map of where the schools are located, in and around Kampala 6 List of terms and abbreviations 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 8 Relevance: African urbanity, Uganda and education discourses 10 Theoretical point of departure: Strategies, tactics, 'waithood' and uncertainties 13 Overview of chapters 18 Chapter 2: Methodology 20 Interviews 20 Participant observation 22 Multi-sited ethnography and sampling 24 Entering the field 25 Limitations 27 Ethics and doing research with minors 28 The researcher 29 Chapter 3: A History and Overview of the Education System in Uganda 32 A History of education in Uganda 32 The 1990s and 2000s 35 Private schools versus public schools 38 Inequalities 39 Chapter 4: 'Hot Knowledge' and Aspirations 42 Educational aspirations 42 Hot knowledge 43 Gayaza Highschool 44 Makerere College 49 Kansanga Senior Secondary School 53 Cornerstone Leadership Academy for Girls 60 Educational aspirations, hot knowledge and uncertainty 62 3 Chapter 5: Agency and Expectations 64 Agency and responsibility 64 Family expectations 66 Nationality, ethnicity and migration 69 Schedules, stress and pressure 72 What courses one takes and how important that is 73 Religion 75 Extracurricular activities 77 Leadership, role models and gender 79 Identity formation, youth and agency 81 Chapter 6: The Future Plans 84 The National School Anthem (Marching Song) 84 The psychology of hope among youths 85 Hopes for professions and jobs 87 A small note on successfulness 89 Dreams of love 90 Wishes to travel 94 One university viewed from nearly opposite perspectives 95 Activism 97 Perseverance 99 Uncertainty and tactical agency 100 Conclusion 103 References 106 Addendum 1: Interview guide 113 Addendum 2: Tables of interviews 114 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Charlotta Widmark, my supervisor, for believing in me and keeping me to my word. Her critical thoughts and encouragement were essential in the researching and writing process. Mats Utas had my back until the very end. Sten Hagberg gave me the opportunity to learn more about academics, Africa and people skills. Sverker Finnström helped me find courage again after life won from anthropology for a while. Eren Zink provided valuable contacts, and Anna Baral commented on drafts. In Uganda, I was helped and protected in every step of the way by a number of wonderful people. Mrs. and mr. Kiganda and Sanyu gave me a place to live, food to eat and help with anything and everything. They constantly looked out for me and I owe them large amounts of gratitude for everything they did for and with me. It was the warmest welcome I ever could have dreamed of. Sanyu and Peter also took me out on the weekends, showed me the most beautiful island I have ever seen, and introduced me to all their great friends. Mrs. Mulumba kindly rented an apartment in her house out to me where I got to feel incredibly safe. Professor Khamalwa listened to my ideas, steered them when needed, and showed me the value of my research in subtle ways. Charles took me to his old school, his work, and to the best pizzeria in town. I also owe gratitude to the research node Den Goda Staden, who provided me with funding for the fieldwork. Without the grant, I could not have made the research proposal a reality. The Anthropology Department at Uppsala University provided travel and health insurance. My friends and my family encouraged and supported me tremendously throughout the last two and a half years. Thanks in particular to Lars Bädeker, Justine Smithuis and Sofia Sörner for commenting on drafts. Many others could or should be mentioned here, but will be thanked in person. Lastly, special thanks goes to Henk Verheij, a wonderful human being who passed away this year before his time. He is and will be dearly missed by many, and by me; his encouragement, in life and in academics, which always gave me a little bit of extra confidence even when I did not call for six months, I will never forget. 5 Figure 1: Map of where the schools are located, in and around Kampala 6 List of terms and abbreviations A-levels Secondary school class 5 and 6, age 17-18 Baganda The people who traditionally live in more or less the Central Region of Uganda, where Kampala is located Buganda The kingdom of the Baganda Cornerstone LA Cornerstone Leadership Academy for Girls (there is also one for boys, but in this thesis, the abbreviation is used solely to refer to the one for girls) EFA Education for All, a policy advocated for globally by the World Bank Gayaza Gayaza Highschool Headgirl/headboy A term commonly used in Ugandan schools, to mean a class president Kabaka The traditional king of the Baganda people and the Buganda kingdom. Today the kabaka is more of a spiritual leader, as the role is now largely ceremonial Kansanga SSS Kansanga Senior Secondary School Makerere College This is a high school, located next to Makerere University. This is clearly stated in the text, but added here because the term 'college' can have a different meaning to non-local readers Makerere University The biggest university in Kampala as well as Uganda. One of a handful of universities in the country that are public. O-levels Secondary school class 1-4, age 12-16 SAT The American 'Scholarly Aptitude/Assessment Test' Senior One, Two, etc. The name of the classes in O-levels and A-levels. This research took place among students in Senior Six, meaning the last class of A-levels UACE Ugandan Advanced Certificate of Education, the national test at the end of A-levels UN United Nations UPE Universal Primary Education USE Universal Secondary Education WB World Bank 7 Chapter 1: Introduction This thesis is about high school students in and around Kampala, Uganda. One of those students is Rachael. She is in some ways representative of the group of students this research is about, in other ways she is a little different. She is the kind of student that I expected to encounter in my field; she thinks far ahead, and actively builds up a CV through the use of social media and any other opportunity she can find. Rachael is 17 years old. On the day I met her, in the beginning of March 2014, I had come to her school, Makerere College, for the second day in a row to interview students. I was allowed to sit in an empty classroom and talk to the students one by one, and a lady who worked as an administrator assigned one student after the other to me. Rachael, like the others, came in looking a little shy and unsure about what was expected of her. But while some other students remained shy and soft spoken throughout the interview, it took Rachael only a moment until she started speaking up. Two minutes into the interview, she said this: First of all I am passionate about media, social media, mass media, you name it. Another thing that I am passionate about is aviation. Not necessarily flying the plane, but I'd like to deal with things to do with flight operations or rather management. So I see myself going in for a course in Flight Operations as well as communications, because my big dream is to become a public relations officer in the aviation field. And that is something that the Ugandan society does not deem possible because they do not really have so many people in the aviation industry, or young people like us who want to be a part of the aviation industry because everyone wants to be a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer, they want to be a specific ehh… what should I call it, they want to have a specific occupations. So, I wouldn't lie to you that I really want a particular thing because I am a person that, should I say I'm … multitalented, so at times it gets hard for me to decide where exactly I belong, do I belong to the performing arts, do I belong to a field that, lets say diplomatic studies… Throughout the rest of the interview, she explained passionately how hard she was working to, as she put it, succeed in life. She talked about becoming Miss Mappa last year, a school award for the student who excels in music, drumming, dancing, and acting. She talked about being a public speaker and a member of the debate club. She talked about that the school tried to make her take Economics as a course, but she refused and took Food and Nutrition instead, and now was learning how to bake, which she found a good back-up skill to have in case her academic aspirations in other fields would not work out.