Social workers remain essential because the issues they address—poverty, unemployment, gender-based violence, child neglect, mental health challenges, and community breakdown—are still widespread.
My name is Kiweewa Joel Julius. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Social Administration (SWSA) from Muteesa I Royal University, and I am employed today because of the very course many people are quick to dismiss online.
I was the first in my family to pursue SWSA. Ironically, some relatives who chose what are often considered “prestigious” paths—such as science and law—are still searching for jobs, while I am steadily building my career. This reality challenges the common but shallow narrative that arts courses are useless.
Uganda’s unemployment crisis is not caused by SWSA, Literature, Arts, or Humanities. The real issue lies in a system where opportunities are too often influenced by connections, corruption, and luck before merit is given a chance. While a few individuals succeed on merit, many qualified graduates remain locked out of employment regardless of what they studied.
There is also a contradiction in the message from some leaders who urge students to abandon arts courses. At the same time, the country continues to grapple with systemic challenges, including reliance on external financing, even as the call to prioritize science grows louder.
Instead of blaming students for their academic choices, attention should shift to fixing the systems that create unemployment in the first place. Social workers remain essential because the issues they address—poverty, unemployment, gender-based violence, child neglect, mental health challenges, and community breakdown—are still widespread.
The problem is not arts students. The problem is a system that does not consistently reward merit, and leadership that speaks about socio-economic transformation but often falls short in practice.
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