THE desire for a promotion and a decent pay cheque is presenting a big challenge. Many adults seek education advancement amid their hectic schedules and family obligations. But does it always pay off?
My name is Sherinah Mawanda. I am a teacher at St. Joseph’s Secondary School Kakindu in Mityana. In 1998, I decided to join Makerere University for a degree in education, on top of my teaching and marital obligations.
It is one of the most challenging decisions I have ever made in my life. I decided to go back to upgrade just two years into my marriage. I am glad my husband was supportive or else I would not have managed.
But the consent from my husband was not all I needed. There were other hurdles to jump.
I needed permission from my head teacher. I had heard many stories about head teachers standing in the way of their teachers when it came to going for further studies. This is, perhaps because they know it is hard for a teacher to study and at the same time concentrate on her teaching.
I was lucky the head teacher gave me a leeway and on top of giving me financial support. This enabled me to pay my tuition fee.
He was very positive when I told him about my proposal. He promised to contribute a certain percentage to my tuition until I completed the course. With that hurdle out of my way came the task of research viz-a-viz my duty Rota. At the school, I was the senior woman (I am still one). I also had to make a lesson plan that fitted in well with my academic schedule and set and mark exams at the end of each school term.
We were expected to report at university a week before our school term ended. This meant by this time, I had to have marked the school exams and done my course work for presentation at university.
In all this I had a family to take care of. My husband was home every weekend and I had to be there. My two-year-old daughter too needed my attention. At one point I almost gave up my course because I could see my marriage was at stake.
With advice from friends and relatives, I persevered. But this was only for a while. My daughter started falling sick because I was never at home and her dad was there only on weekends. This increased stress on me. I decided to take her to my mother in Kansanga so she could get proper care.
When, in 2003, I finally graduated with no retake, I felt like a heavy load had been taken off my head.
Now I am safe at my job and my salary brings a smile on my face, but one thing I will not dare do is go back for a master’s degree, even if I were given a scholarship.
What I went through opened my eyes about life. You cannot have everything; if you focus too much on academics, your marriage is likely to suffer and vice-versa.
