Musician Moses Ssali commonly known as Bebe Cool has expressed his disappointment with the government after it refused to grant his son and other young football players, special permission to sit their final S.4 examinations.
Bebe Cool who is an ardent supporter of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) said that he is not happy with the way Ministry of Education and Sports has handled the issue of young talented football players who missed their final Senior Four exams while representing Uganda at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) U-20 tournament.
The Hippos came second after a defeat from Ghana in the tournament that took place in Mauritania at the weekend.
Bebe Cool’s son Alpha Thierry Ssali is among those who missed UCE exams since by the time the papers commenced, they were already at the tournament.
Through his social media platforms, Bebe Cool said government would have organised special exams for the players so that their parents do not have to pay an extra year of fees.
”Really big disappointment with the Uganda government and the Ministry of Education and Sports in particular on how they have handled the issue of missing Senior Four (S4) final exams by the young talented football players who have been/are on continental duty with the U-20 and U-17 Uganda national teams,”he wrote.
He said it is unfortunate that this government has never had plans to support each and every educated person by giving them a job after their tertiary education.
“Parents struggle to pay school fees for these kids. The kids’ dreams are to be professional players, to represent their country and win for their clubs, thus making their nation proud. How could you have thought they could choose exams over representing their flag?”he queried.
Bebe Cool said football in Uganda collects so many youths mainly those who can’t go to school and also many who drop out.
“I would have expected government to by now have found a way to work with these young people and find a way to support their education programmes without interfering with their blossoming sporting careers,”he said.
He suggested that the Ministry of Education meets up with the parents to forge a way forward for their children who missed the exams.
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