The optimism which independent governments in the South held for the role of educational systems to contribute enormously towards the transformation of their societies has seriously been questioned and contradicted by the realities of education and development. Irrelevant curricula, unemployment, rural-urban influx, crowding in the classrooms and school-based inequalities have remained as some of the most distinctive features of the educational scene today. Although misguided policies on the part of leadership have certainly contributed to this malaise and despair over the educational system, it is not a sufficient explanation since it leaves out the interplay between the underlying national and global forces which have shaped development efforts in directions that further marginalize the poor majorities. Consequently, to understand fully the educational development in South contexts, there is need to closely examine the relationships between micro realities of curriculum, pedagogy and organizational or institutional structure of educational programs and the macro realities of cultural, political and economic development. In particular, it is crucial to critically analyze the paradigmatic emphasis of specific educational programs and relate them to wider development paradigms and contexts.
This study sought to understand the theory and practice of one specific educational program at Makerere University in Uganda, namely the program responsible for the training of graduates in agricultural science. Through qualitative research methods, the study investigated the extent to which the modernization vis-a-vis the critical paradigm influences and shapes the world views of students and instructors in the agricultural science program as well as how governmental bureaucrats view the needs of the poor majorities. The data gathered through interviews and sampled documents suggest that the modernization paradigm was overwhelming in shaping the agricultural science program for rural and national development. Clearly, the program is closely structured upon the struggle to catch up with the North in terms of agricultural development and industrialization. It favors the continuation of the training based on colonial and neo-colonial ethos rather than any radical break towards meeting the basic needs of the masses.
The USAID-sponsored Manpower for Agricultural development (MFAD) is seen to promote research approaches and techniques for social validation which are fundamentally inimical to the emergence of a liberatory discourse. Issues and problems which help address the root causes of marginalization of the poor majorities and which challenge the dominance of global capital are not addressed in research output of MFAD graduates. There is also virtually no willingness or capacity of Makerere University scholars to critique mainstream views of rural and national development in ways that may jeopardize such external funding.
In sum, this study supports the conclusion that graduates of the agricultural science program at Makerere University are likely to continue to uphold policies of national development which will reproduce national and global injustices in Uganda. As technocrats well trained in the modernization paradigm, these graduates will probably not challenge the economic and political structures in the capitalist order which perpetuate inequality in order to bring about empowerment and emancipatory change. Alternatively, if the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at Makerere University is to serve a potentially vital role in serving the needs of sustainable and equitable development, then some major transformations will be necessary in its vision of curriculum, pedagogy, research and community linkage. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
