Abstract:
This paper showcases the need for indigenizing modern education to reflect on the local context so that
the graduates fit within their environments. The paper argues that indigenous knowledge production
stands to offer practical values, attitudes and direction for our learning institutions’ career training
agenda. The study employed a qualitative approach using an exploratory survey design, and it was
conducted in central Uganda, drawing from 106 students’ experiences at different education transitional
levels. Using purposive sampling, final year students were selected from various levels of education:
30 from lower secondary level, another 30 from higher/advanced level, and 46 from university final
years. The findings reveal that the elitist education curriculum continues to present serious problems
and challenges to students and subsequent graduates. The findings further indicate a general myth that
everything indigenous is presumed inferior. For this reason, most students aspire for university degrees
regardless of whether that would be finally fulfilling. It is stressed that students who drop out along the
career pathways are usually considered to be academic misfits. However, more findings showed that the
majority of students only read to pass the exams. Owing to this, the study calls for the integration of
sociocultural knowledge and context-specific approaches in the education curriculum to be responsive
to the demands of the fast-changing world. This will enable students to graduate with environmentally
relevant expertise to meet personal and national development goals. The findings offer a basis and an
insight for education reformers in the new direction of contextualizing education.
