Functional Education as the Avenue for Poverty Alleviation in Uganda’s Muslim Community

Abstract

This Chapter focuses on functional education as the avenue for alleviating poverty and social inequalities afflicting Uganda’s Muslim Community (UMC). The 2014 Uganda Population census shows that 39% of Ugandans are Roman Catholic, 32% Anglican, 11% Pentecostal Christian, 14% Muslim, and 5% traditionists. Religion is a key factor in Uganda’s social, economic, and political spheres; however, Muslims, as a religious minority in a Christian-majority country, are a relatively marginalized and excluded community for whom poverty is a grim reality. Uganda’s national poverty rate declined from 1992 to 2020, but the country remains one of the poorest in the world. The Covid-19 crisis reversed decades of progress in poverty reduction. Using the structural vs. cultural framework of social inequity, I synthesized the constellation of forces and how they reinforce each other to widen the socioeconomic gap in UMC. I used a literature review design to gather, critique, and summarize literature. I conclude by the role of functional education in spanning the social-economic gap between the Muslim minority and the rest of the population.