Abstract. We discuss the strategies and importance of introducing space science in Uganda. As a new university focusing on science and technology, we propose that Mbarara University is ideally situated to spearhead the introduction of space science in Uganda. It is our expectation that this will have a spin-off effect on other higher institutions of learning, and that consequently space science will become fully incorporated into the national teaching curriculum for all schools in Uganda. Based on the fact that the Government has a deliberate policy of popularizing science and technology to accelerate national economic development, the introduction of space science in the school system is expected to enhance the Government's efforts in this direction. We have charted the way forward for space science in Uganda and outlined the conceptual framework, illustrating the spin-off effect into the education system.

Sommaire. Nous discutons les stratégies pour introduire la science spatiale en Ouganda et nous montrons l'importance d'une telle action. L'Université de Mbarara est une nouvelle université tournée vers la science et la technologie; nous suggérons qu'elle est ainsi un lieu idéal pour impulser l'introduction de la science spatiale en Ouganda. Nous nous attendons à une retombée favorable auprès des autres institutions d'enseignement et par conséquence à la pleine introduction de la science spatiale dans le curriculum d'enseignement national de toutes les écoles d'Ouganda. Comme le Gouvernement a une politique délibérée de populariser la science et la technologie pour accélérer le développement économique national, l'introduction de la science spatiale dans le système scolaire devrait décupler les efforts du Gouvernement dans cette direction. Nous traçons le chemin vers la science spatiale en Ouganda et résumons comment peut se faire une retombée sur le système éducatif.

Uganda is one of the countries lying within the East African region and is located between longitudes 30-35º east of Greenwich. The equator passes through Uganda; the country stretches from 4º north to 1.5º south of the equator. The country is bordered by Sudan in the north, Kenya in the east, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west, and Tanzania and Rwanda in the south. Uganda covers a total area of about 242 554 square kilometers and the entire country lies about 1 000m above sea level, generally sloping from south to north. The shaded area in Figure 1 shows the location of Uganda on the African continent.

Over the years, the Government of Uganda has embarked on expansion of the country's industrial base, mechanization of agriculture and the development of improved and draught-resistant varieties of crops and seeds in order to realise sustainable economic development. However, the availability of a skilled, dedicated and well-motivated human resource base is essential for such a program to be implemented effectively. It has therefore been the Government's deliberate policy to popularize and develop science and technology, as it provides the necessary knowledge and skills needed to produce the professional and technical expertise required.

Unfortunately, not many students opt for science subject combinations at high school. This is a result of many factors, including the lack of motivation in students to do science subjects arising from, among other things, the scarcity of qualified and competent science teachers in schools. Moreover, the relevant scientific expertise and the technologies required for economic development are nurtured from science-oriented persons. As a result, over the past decade, the Government has implemented structural changes in some existing institutions and created new science-oriented schools and universities in an effort to popularize and further develop the culture of science and technology in the country. Listed below are some of the many approaches.

Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) was established by an act of Parliament in 1989. Among other objectives, it was created to address the acute shortage of science teachers and medical personnel in the country and to further develop the culture of science and technology country-wide. Over the years, numerous students have graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with Education, specializing in either physics or mathematics (Table 1). Biology and chemistry options were introduced in 1997. It will not be long before Uganda starts witnessing the production of trained science teachers in all the natural sciences. The faculty of science with education is also under obligation to start a programme of training teachers of computer science for secondary schools and to start other new programmes that are supportive to the country's development agenda.

Rural schools which used to suffer from a scarcity of professionally trained graduate science teachers are beginning to get relief. It is our sincere hope that the next generation of graduate science teachers from Mbarara University will include teachers of astronomy if this current opportunity, where promotion of science and technology is at the top of the Government's national agenda, is used for introducing space science in our university's teaching curriculum. This will constitute the beginning of the human resource capacity building process, hence setting the cornerstone for development of space science in the country.

Another example of the Government's commitment is the transformation plan for changing Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo into a University of Technology with effect from October 2001. Kyambogo University emerges out of a merger of the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK), the Uganda National Institute for Special Education (UNISE) and Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK). Another national university meant to train experts in agriculture will open in northern Uganda as well. This brings the number of national universities in the country from one to four. In a recent speech read for him by the Minister for Higher Education, Mrs. Betty Akech, President Museveni said:

"...the Government is committed to establishing the universities to enhance its policy of supplying human resources to all levels of education.."

Earlier, the President promised to raise government scholarships in Makerere University from the current 2000 to 4000 students a year and proposed a district quota system for admission, as opposed to the current system where the 2000 brightest students benefit from state sponsorship irrespective of where they come from. These government sponsorship beneficiaries will be selected for courses with a heavy content of science subjects^[2].

In another development, Makerere University authorities have decided that most of the $1m (Uganda Shillings 1.8 billion) Carnegie Corporation scholarships it received last year will benefit female science students^[2]. The Acting Academic Registrar, Sebastian Ngobi, specifically emphasized that about 70% of the scholarships will cater for sciences^{[2]. There is immense support from most stake holders to popularize and develop science and technology to boost economic development. This is therefore an ideal opportunity to introduce a subject that will further enhance motivation, harness curiosity and imaginations of the young and hence attract them to study science subjects and technology with all their enthusiasm.}

These and many other structural, administrative and organizational transformations in some institutions, and the Government's new education policy plans, are all geared to popularize and develop science and technology for national economic and human resource development. Whereas the above strategies are commendable and strategically functional in the broader sense of development, it is important to recognise the power of space science in stimulating interest in students towards sciences subjects in general.

Before discussing how the strategies outlined above will help introduce space science in schools, it is instructive to appreciate the advantages of space science in the development of a scientific culture in society. In the first place, space science is unique in itself and presents an attractive recipe for motivating young minds towards science subjects. It is therefore important for several reasons.

Astrophysics is a frontier science in the first place. Unlike other natural sciences, it takes the universe for its laboratory, in which physical laws and theories are applied, tested and refined at temperatures, pressures and scales unobtainable in terrestrial laboratories^[3] . It is quite exciting to deal with such monstrous quantities which are of physical reality! Astrophysics is not only amazing in terms of scales of quantities, but it also makes students appreciate the interpretations of mathematical representations of the physical world appropriately.

Many Ugandan students merely memorize most physics course units but astrophysics breaks them out of this rote learning by forcing them to think independently. It is an attractive science not only because it stretches the imagination but because it is highly interdisciplinary. It involves many aspects of physics and other subjects. Due to this interdisciplinary nature, students are trained to solve problems which give them a broader view of science^[4]; a factor vital for the creation of a scientific culture in society.

Space science does not only dwell on the study of celestial bodies (as has been the general misconception of society), but involves interesting disciplines of practical value such as remote sensing, geodesy, satellite communications, satellite meteorology, global climate studies, space and atmospheric sciences, etc. It is quite important to make people appreciate the general and inclusive nature of space science as opposed to the misconception that it is alien, narrow and exclusively beneficial to the space-faring nations and super powers.

Astronomy deals with our place in time and space and with our cosmic roots (the origin of our star, our planet, the elements in our bodies, life), and reveals a universe which is vast, varied and beautiful. It also puts our planet into perspective and makes us realize that if we continue over-populating it, we put all earthly life forms in danger ^[1]. Therefore, it is fundamentally important that space science be introduced in all levels of education in order to create awareness about our home in the universe.

Space science is the ultimate inter-disciplinary subject. It harnesses curiosity, imagination and a sense of shared exploration and discovery. It attracts young people to science and technology and can increase awareness, understanding and appreciation of these disciplines^[1] .

Astronomy has influenced our history and culture, through its practical applications, and its philosophical and religious implications. This is reflected in calendars, mythology and a variety of art forms. It has practical applications to navigation, time keeping, calendars, climate and other external influences on our environment^[1].

Most interestingly, astronomy can be done as a hobby, compared to other science subjects, which not many people would wish to pursue and seriously enjoy as a hobby. Amateur astronomers who enjoy the subject as a hobby at times contribute scientifically useful observations in astronomy, something uncommon with other sciences!

Uganda does not have a rich and well-documented historical legacy of indigenous concepts in astronomy, however, the different tribal groups have meanings attached to spatio-temporal positions of celestial objects. Of special interest are the positions of the sun and moon, and the rising times of planets and some stars. These events, which are mainly useful for predicting the onset of rainy seasons, time approximations, etc., have all remained undocumented.

Time is now ripe for us collectively to make the most of the limited human resource capacity available to improve the state of scientific literacy and to document our cultural folk tales in astronomy before they are totally forgotten or lost. It is important that we should initiate a collaborative network with countries and institutions which have well developed space science programmes and that we should become fully involved in space science research.

Taking a strategic advantage of the enabling environment during which the development of science and technology is at the top of the national agenda, the introduction of space science in the teaching curriculum in Mbarara University is expected to kick-start the evolution of astronomy in Uganda. This will then go a long way in conveying scientific knowledge with a peculiarity that makes it attractive to basic school level students, thus motivating the young minds to take interest in science subjects, which is consistent with the government's effort in popularizing sciences for economic development.

To address the currently inadequate human resource capacity, the initial goal should be to build the intermediate resource personnel by training and graduating science teachers with a strong bias in astronomy. Mbarara University provides an excellent institutional facility to that effect. The faculty of science with education was established in 1995 to address the acute shortage of science teachers country-wide. Once astrono-my is introduced in the university, teachers sufficiently knowledgeable about astronomy will graduate from the university, and this will constitute the initial and intermediate human resource base.

At this level, the graduate teachers are trained to handle national teacher colleges, secondary schools and, in extreme cases of scarcity, teacher training colleges as shown in the conceptual framework in Figure 2.

Some of these graduate teachers may continue pursuing MSc and PhD studies in space science. This will provide the set-off mark for the creation of senior staff members in the universities and other higher institutions of learning.

With more and more teachers produced, and with students qualifying with higher degrees in space science, sensitisation of Government and other stake holders through seminars, workshops, media coverage about the ultimate inclusion of space science in the national curriculum, the creation of a national institute for space research will be strongly advocated. The research institute will, among other objectives, organize public awareness campaigns on space science, provide advisory services on space matters to the Government and society, initiate innovative research projects and develop local research capabilities. It is then that the importance of space science in shaping a scientific culture in society will be appreciated.

In the first place, I wish to express my sincere thanks to Mbarara University administration for having granted me study leave during which this paper was written and to commend the University authorities for their undying enthusiasm for space science to be introduced in the university.

I am indebted to the organizers of the UNESCO Pilot African Academic Exchange Programme, for having given me the chance to participate in this programme, and for the financial and material support that partly facilitated this work. I am very grateful!

This paper was written at the South African Astronomical Observatory. I am sincerely grateful to the staff of the observatory for the support, hospitality, time and encouragement they offered in preparing this work.

Finally, I thank all those who helped me in one way or another and whom I have not mentioned by name, for their contributions and good will towards this piece of work.

1. New Vision: Makerere to admit on District Quotas. Saturday May 19, 2001.
2. Stobie R.S., 1995, "Prospects for astronomical development in South Africa", Astrophysics and Space Science/i>, 230, 9-15. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
3. Wentzel D. G., (1998), Astrophysics for University Physics Courses.

   

   WGSSA
   December 2001