By Watchdog Uganda | Opinions Desk
Source: The Kenya Times
KAMPALA — Uganda is not lagging behind because its young people lack drive or capability, but because those in authority routinely view new ideas with suspicion instead of finding practical ways to make them work, businessman and youth advocate Nyanzi Martin Luther has argued.
In a compelling opinion piece, Nyanzi noted that the nation’s progress remains constrained by a governance culture that defaults to risk aversion rather than proactive risk management.
“Uganda is not behind because its children are incapable or because its young entrepreneurs are lazy,” Nyanzi wrote. “We are behind because too often, those who make the rules look at a new idea with suspicion before asking how it can be made to work.”
The Debate Over Mobile Devices in Schools
Pointing to the ongoing national debate surrounding mobile phones in learning institutions, Nyanzi noted that while concerns over online distraction, cyberbullying, gambling, and exposure to inappropriate content are valid, identifying risks should mark the start of a policy discussion—not its end.
He outlined several actionable policy alternatives, including:
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Secure Storage: Installing locked lockers or designated holding areas during lesson hours.
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Network Safeguards: Implementing filtered school Wi-Fi networks with restricted access windows.
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Guided Usage: Incorporating teacher-led digital learning alongside formal digital literacy education.
“Why should the answer to every digital problem be to take the device away?” Nyanzi questioned. “We cannot tell students that technology is the future while treating the technology they already possess as an enemy.”
Drawing a comparison, Nyanzi cited France’s digital regulator, Arcom, which mandates robust age-verification systems for adult platforms to protect minors online. While Uganda need not replicate the French model identically, he argued the core philosophy applies: regulators should target specific digital harms rather than resorting to blanket bans on hardware.
Infrastructure Gaps and Policy Priorities
Nyanzi further highlighted systemic infrastructure hurdles facing the education sector. He pointed to data from a Digital Readiness Assessment of Secondary Schools in Uganda (2025–2026), which evaluated over 3,200 secondary schools nationwide. The assessment revealed that only about 20 percent of secondary schools meet ICT-ready standards, while approximately 39 percent remain entirely unplugged—lacking access to electricity, internet connectivity, or basic computing hardware.
These structural deficits align with ongoing concerns raised in Parliament regarding the slow rollout of computer laboratories and reliable connectivity across rural schools.
“Perhaps the national debate should not only be about whether a student should carry a phone,” Nyanzi stated. “Perhaps we should be asking a bigger question: What kind of education system are we preparing for the economy our children will enter?”
Supporting Early-Stage Entrepreneurs
The same institutional skepticism, Nyanzi argued, stifles young entrepreneurs trying to scale startups in competitive markets. Emerging businesses are often subjected to regulatory scrutiny calibrated for long-established corporations—an unfair standard that deters private-sector risk-taking.
“A company that is six months old cannot reasonably be expected to have the institutional strength of one that has been around for thirty years,” he noted. “Yet our public conversation sometimes treats the difference as evidence that young people are incapable.”
While maintaining that early-stage ventures must respect statutory regulations, honor employment obligations, and meet professional standards, he emphasized that policymakers must learn to distinguish between operational failure and early-stage maturation.
Moving From Fear to Intelligent Regulation
Calling on lawmakers and public administrators to reframe their approach, Nyanzi urged leaders to shift away from asking purely “What could go wrong?” and begin asking “How can we make this work safely?”
That shift, he contended, marks the precise boundary between arbitrary restriction and intelligent regulation.
“Good policy does not pretend that risks do not exist. It identifies the risks, measures them, and builds systems to manage them,” Nyanzi wrote. “Anyone can point at a phone and say it is dangerous. Leadership begins with the harder question: How do we make it work?”
He concluded that Uganda’s future will neither be secured by shutting out modern technology nor by permitting an unregulated free-for-all. Instead, the path forward requires structured responsibility, forward-looking regulation, and institutional trust in the younger generation.
“Uganda’s lag is not destiny,” Nyanzi said. “But if negativity continues to be our default response to innovation, we will keep creating the very backwardness we complain about. We can choose differently.”
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