Overview of Education in Uganda Uganda has seen major progress within education over the past decade, and Universal Primary Education (UPE) is a key strategic policy priority in Uganda. The policy was introduced in 1997 since which enrollment into primary schools has tripled, with a doubling in the same period of trained teachers. During the same time frame the number of classrooms nearly doubled, as did the number of books for the four main curriculum subjects. As a result of these investments, the pupil-teacher ratio decreased from 60:1 to 48:1 in 2006. Currently there are 17,562 primary schools in Uganda with 7,196,922 pupils, and an almost equal number of boys and girls. This equal access is however not mirrored in terms of completion of primary education seeing 56% of boys (3,599,992) compared to 51% of girls (3,596,930) completing UPE, averaging at a completion rate of 54% overall for the country (Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports, 2010). A major challenge is the continuing high pupil dropout rate which can be attributed to levels of poverty, poor health and the long distances many children have to walk to school. The quality of education offered in primary schools also remains a challenge. As the Primary Education in Uganda report notes: ‘Teaching methods are old- fashioned and books are not always used effectively’ (De Kemp and Eilor, 2008 p.17). The quality of teaching is a theme raised by both the Minister and district education officials in the interviews for by researchers and these points have been commented on in other literature on education in Uganda. For example, the Primary Education in Uganda report notes that examination and test results, whilst improving, are far from satisfactory. Too many children leave school without having mastered basic literacy and numeracy. There reports which notes that a major challenge is the high teacher and pupil absenteeism, as well as the high dropout rate. It further notes that on average ‘27% of the children are not in school’ (Ibid). A key issue identified by Kasirye (2009) is the importance of qualified teachers and the impact this has on the quality of teaching within the classroom in Uganda. This study also notes that having something to sit on is important for pupils’ performance, an example of the poor learning environment that existed in many rural schools. The lack of progress on this was noted in comparison to increased resources for teachers’ professional development. The Masindi district within Uganda supports 60 primary schools and the evidence gathered for by researchers reinforces these themes. Schools are operating in environments where poverty is high, resources are very limited, and salaries for teachers are low. Schools are not performing as well as the District would like. The quality of leadership and management in the schools is varied. The pupil-teacher ratio is still very high. There is a major issue regarding teacher motivation that is related to a lack of ongoing support. The District education officer for Masindi noted that there were also not enough school inspectors, with only two inspectors to cover all of the primary schools plus secondary and private schools as well. It was recognised by all stakeholders involved with education in Masindi district that most schools suffered from a lack of good quality buildings, with sanitation and latrines particularly being a major problem. A lack of permanent access to electricity is also an ongoing problem. Most schools also still had high pupil to teacher ratios. From interviews with education officials, teachers and parents, schools tended to have very limited resources, and whatever books and charts they had tended to be out of date. Pupils’ level of motivation was low. Many want to dodge coming to school’ (said) One teacher from Rwempisi School, (who also) noted: “We conducted a survey to identify why pupils do not come to school daily. It was found failure to provide scholastic materials and lack of a midday meal at school, child labour are responsible for poor daily school attendance”. However, these negative points need to be countered by the recognition by many teachers of improvements in recent years, increased government and NGO grants and a commitment from headteachers and the local community to support improvement of the quality of teaching. There is widespread support from all sectors for Universal Primary Education and the researchers showed commitment from many parents and community groups to school improvement Whilst Kibale and Kampala are districts in which Prince Joseph Foundation have had considerable impact, the broader educational challenges faced in the areas are similar to other districts in Uganda. In the District’s report on measuring progress in Kamwenge, Prince Joseph Foundation noted similar points regarding quality of teaching, resources in the classroom and the nature of the buildings. For example, only 37% of schools met the latrine needs.
Posted on: Wed, 22 May 2013 09:15:12 +0000
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