Over the years, there has been debate over how many children actually drop out of learning, over a school cycle. So, SAMUEL KAMUGISHA sat down to study the enrolment figures at the education ministry and came to a startling conclusion.

Over five million Ugandan children of school-going age have dropped out of primary school before P7 in the past 20 years. This is according to an analysis of figures from assessment body Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) and Education and Sports Sector Annual Performance Reports (ESSAPRs).

The Uneb figures of these unaccounted-for pupils span 20 years of the school calendar and 15 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) sittings between 1995 and 2015 – final examinations from 2001 to 2015. On the other hand, the analysis of ESSAPR figures captures eight school cycles in 15 calendar years.

According to the Uneb figures, in just two decades, about 12.2 million pupils started primary one but only 6.95 million (57.2 per cent) completed their primary schooling cycles – over 5.2 million (42.8 per cent) dropped out. This means that at least 43 out of every 100 (or four out of every 10) pupils, who started school, dropped out before completing P7.

Thus in the 15 years (eight primary school cycles) over 4.9 million school children (about 42.6 per cent) of the 11.5 million who started school dropped out.

Table showing primary school dropout rates by gender over 15 school cycles

WHAT THE FIGURES MEAN

According to the 2014 population census figures, Uganda’s population stands at just over 34 million. This means that over 15 per cent of the country’s population size comprises primary school dropouts – young men and women who have not attained a Primary School Certificate. This is equivalent to the total population size of Kampala, Wakiso, Kibaale and Arua districts – Uganda’s most populous districts.

On average, between 1995 and 2009, of the over 810,000 pupils who started school each year, close to 350,000 did not complete the school year cycle. For each of the 20 years analysed (which make up 15 school cycles), just over 250,000 left school each year, on average. The pupils dropping out of school each year is equivalent to about a half the population of Kabale, Uganda’s ninth most densely populated district.

MORE GIRLS OUT OF SCHOOL

The dropout rate is more worrying for girls than boys. Of the 6,243,532 female pupils who went through the 15 primary school cycles (P1-P7), only 3,347,348 (53.6 per cent) completed primary seven, while 2,896,184 (46.4 per cent) dropped out. The number of female dropouts is equivalent to the total population size of Arua, Kasese, Mubende and Mukono districts of Uganda.

The dropout rate for girl learners was just above the general average dropout rate of 42.8 per cent. For seven school cycles, just over a half of the number of female pupils who started primary school did not complete.

These learning cycle years were: 1996-2002 (59 per cent); 1997-2003 (53 per cent); 1999-2005 (53 per cent); 2000-2006(58 per cent); 2001-2007(56 per cent); 2002-2008 (53 per cent); 2003-2009 (52 per cent).

For three more cycles, the dropout rate was above the average of 42.8 per cent but not above 50 per cent:  1995-2001 (45.1 per cent); 1998-2004 (46 per cent); 2004-2010 (49 per cent).

However, between 2005 and 2014, the dropout rates for females reduced slightly, then steadily, from 37 per cent (about 149,000 dropouts) in the 2005-11 cycle; to 34 per cent (over 138,000 dropouts) in 2006-12; to 33 per cent (about 136,800 female pupils) in 2007-13; to 28 per cent (over 113,000) between 2008-14.

The steady reduction in the dropout rates was however interrupted by a retention reversal in the 2009-15 cycle with the dropout rate rising to 36.7 per cent (about 178,000 dropouts).

MALE DROPOUT RATE

Although more girls dropped out of school before primary school completion, the situation was not any rosy for their male colleagues.

Some 44.2 per cent of the learners who had left school before sitting PLE were boys. Just like the rate of female dropouts, the rate for male dropouts is also higher than the average rate of 42.8 per cent over the 15 primary school cycles – a reminder that the issue of school dropout rates is not necessarily a gender issue: male pupils equally need attention.

For the 2001-07 school cycle, half of the number of male students who started primary one, dropped out before P7. By the end of the 2007 calendar year, some 217903 boys (50 per cent) of the 435806 who started Primary one in 2001 had left school.

For four other cycles, the dropout rate for males was just above the average rate of 42.8 per cent: about 46 per cent (186,515 male pupils) in the 1999-2005 cycle; 45 per cent (175,216) in the 2000-2006 cycle; 49 per cent (227,488 boys) in the 2002-2008 cycle; 45per cent (202,741) in the 2003-2009 cycle; and 44 per cent (196,048) in the 2004-2010 cycle. Although above the average dropout rate, there was a slight reduction in the dropout rates for the three latter cycles (2002-2008, 2003-2009, and 2004-2010). 

The dropout rate fell even more further in the following school cycles to 35 per cent (140,686 dropouts) in the 2005-11 cycle to 32 per cent for both 2006-12 and 2007-13 cycles and 28 per cent (114,349 dropouts) in 2008-14 cycle.

WORST YEAR CYCLES

Overall, the 2001-2007 cycle was the worst year for boys with over a half of those who started primary one dropping out before completing primary seven. On the other hand, the 1996-2002 cycle saw the highest rate of girl dropouts out of all the 15 cycles at 59 per cent.

The highest number of pupils leaving school before completion was registered in the 2002-2008 cycle. Almost half a million learners dropped out.

UNEVEN EXPLANATION

In the past, education ministry officials have been wont to explain away the discrepancies through the process of repetition. However, the ESSAPR report now indicates that very few pupils actually repeat their classes – an average of 10,000 per year.

ESSAPR reports for eight school cycles indicate that in just fifteen years, 6.6 million of the 11.5 million (57 per cent) who started school had repeated more than one class. This means that about six out of every 10 pupils are likely to repeat at least one class level before either finishing primary school or dropping out.

The education ministry expects learners to start primary one at age six and complete primary seven at age 13. Asked about the discrepancy, the current acting director for Basic Education, Dr Robinson Nsumba Lyazi, confessed he had not studied the enrolment numbers but agreed that it was cause for concern.

“We need to determine how many children are falling out of the system and find a solution for this quickly,” he said.

However, Dr Christian Kakuba, a lecturer in Population Studies at Makerere University, who has studied the matter, argued that it was a serious problem that needs urgent remedy.

“It is unacceptable to be losing so many learners, who have the potential to improve this country,” Dr Kakuba said. “Something must be done urgently.

Angella Nabwowe of the Initiative for Social and Education Rights agreed.

“The study makes for a very sobering situation … sometimes you wonder what happened to the people you went to school with, and to think they fell by the wayside is hard to take,” she said.

kamsam21@gmail.com

Following the release of last year’s A-level results, St Peter’s SS Naalya is one of the schools in high spirits.

The school’s head teacher, John Nfite, could not hide his joy at the way the school performed in the recently-released level A-level results. Started in 1998, the school has been exceling for 20 years, with Nfite explaining that their current enrolment stands at 1,600 learners.

Some 277 sat for last year’s A-level exams. Of these, the school saw two students scoring 19 points. A further eight scored 18 points, while seven got 17 points.

A further 10 students scored 16 points and 14 students obtained 15 points. Nfite attributed the good performance to a policy he had been running there over the last five years.

“We complete the syllabus in time to allow learners enough time to revise whatever we have taught them in-depth,” Nfite said.
“We try our best in preparing the candidates by exploring the whole syllabus as indicated by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) and we also follow the guidelines of the ministry of education.”

He added: “The teachers do the teaching of science subjects practically on a daily basis; we may be the only school that makes the culture of practical teaching of sciences not theoretically in class alone”.

Nfite also attributed the school’s success to the rapport among teachers, parents, board members and the students, who he says are committed to the cause of excellence there.

“I take the pleasure and honour to congratulate the management board of governors, staff, parents and more so our students for the excellent performance in the UACE 2016.”

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

Uganda Christian University (UCU), Mukono on Friday March 3 saw off 435 graduates in her 17th graduation, with degrees and diplomas.

Speaking at the event, the bishop of the Tanzanian diocese of Tarime, Mwita Akiri, urged the graduates to act differently from the majority of African public servants, who he said had become a threat to development.

“So many and much of the public employees behave like little gods. They have become a threat to development of our continent and they are people who go to church. Endeavour to be different,” Bishop Akiri said.

“Africa has too many human hyenas, who have devoured the continent’s resources, turning its people into beggars. This lack of sacrifice ought to be condemned and discouraged.” 

Dr John Senyonyi, the vice chancellor, appealed to the graduates not to be comfortable with the qualifications they have acquired, but to seek more knowledge to better themselves.

Only nine of the 435 graduates passed with first-class degrees. Speaking to The Observer, Rodgers Tayebwa, a pioneer graduate of a Master of Water and Sanitation pledged to use his skills to build appropriate water technologies and treatment mechanisms to enable rural communities access good-quality water for domestic use.

alex.taremwa@yahoo.co.uk

Living in an area short of basic health facilities would be an enriching experience if many such students were like Jesse Esabu Omayido. He scored 17 points in the recently-released A-level exams.

Yet he looks on his past with confidence.

“Around my local area, hospitals are very far. Service delivery in terms of medication was very difficult to receive. So, you [would] find people are just dying in a funny way,” Omayido says.

His father died barely a year after his birth. Yet Omayido’s passion to bring positive change to the community is the reason he wants to study Human Medicine at Makerere University.

“So, if I make it to my dream course and succeed, then at least I would like to start a clinic or a hospital, so that I reduce on the distance that people have to travel to seek medical attention,” he says.

At O-level in 2014, he scored aggregate 11, which was following the aggregate 9 in his Primary Leaving Examinations, four years earlier. For his A-levels he studied Mathematics (at subsidiary level), Biology, Chemistry and Physics at St Julian High School Gayaza. Although Omayido was among the best students in the science class, he admits success did not come easy.

Three days to the final exams, he fell sick and was unable to revise his books.

“I was admitted to the hospital; so, I thought I could not make it,” he says. “I was mostly worried about Biology because it was a bit disturbing.”

Although he was able to achieve this milestone, the future for him remains grim due to financial challenges. His mother, Anne Akello, a teacher at Gulama primary school in Najja sub-country, Buikwe district is worried because she has no money to pay for a programme like Human Medicine at the university.

“I can’t say that I’m prepared to foot the university bills. As I speak now, I don’t even know what I’m going to do with him. He was studying on bursary since senior one at St Julian,” Akello says.

“He wants to do medicine … we pray he gets the government scholarship,” she adds.

Desmus Mutanga, the head teacher at St Julian High School, said when Omayido completed his primary education with flying colours, they gave him a chance to further his education with a full bursary programme offered at the school.

“At St Julian, bursaries are offered to students who excel at all levels. We took him in since senior one and we have mentored him to be what he is,” Mutanga reminisces.

Mutanga say the examinations are not easy to pass. As long as students don’t develop the culture of hard work, they will not succeed.

alitwaha9@gmail.com

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Comprehensive Institute last week saw off 6,562 graduands in a colourful two-day event at their Buwambo campus in Matugga.

The graduands received certificates and diplomas, of which 215 of them were rated first class. Addressing the 19th graduation ceremony, YMCA principal Herbert Mukasa said he was proud of his graduands as they had come through several quality academic checks.

He asked them to continue improving their skills to ensure a bright future.

“I urge you to use all your acquired knowledge to survive … [but] look closely at the option of self-employment as the theme of this graduation,” he said.

For his part, the institution’s chancellor, Dr James Luyonga Nkata, asked the institute’s management committee and other organs not to lose focus on the leadership challenges facing them.

“As the overseer of proper management of this institution, the work is commended. Keep going forward; what you have achieved is visible and gives you credibility,” he said.

Nkata asked the graduands to continually upgrade their studies.

“Not everybody passes through this stage. You are winners, you are a hunter who went to the forest to hunt and you have come back home with an animal,” he said, to mild laughter. “But as you share this animal ask yourself, did I leave a bigger animal, in the forest?”

alfredodcho@gmail.com

Three law students at Kampala International University (KIU) are the lucky winners of the Pambazuka news essay writing competition.

The competition, borne out of a partnership with Fahamu Africa, a nonprofit organization based in Kenya, saw 17 students participating in the inaugural event. Of these, Morris Ladu, Nasser Kisubi and Jacob Jonga emerged joint overall victors, winning a trophy each as well as cash prize of $100 (about Shs 360,000) in cash from Fahamu Africa.

Sienna Nambuliey Barley, the programme officer of Fahamu Africa encouraged more students to participate in next year’s competition as it would help improve their writing skills and critical thinking.

“Fahamu stands for consciousness (to understand) and that is what we are trying to promote, I applaud the winners and we are looking forward to a stronger working relationship with KIU in the next year’s competition,” she said.

Fahamu is a non-profit organization started in 1997 in the UK to publish academic authors. However, the organization has transferred to Kenya, with an additional office in Dakar, Senegal.

In her remarks, KIU’s deputy vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr Annette Kezaabu-Kasimbazi, explained that the competition was intended to build citizens who can think for themselves.

Dr Kezaabu-Kasimbazi, who also represented the vice chancellor, encouraged students to read as much as possible, as this would help them make informed decisions.

Complementing Dr Kezaabu-Kasimbazi, the deputy vice chancellor for Research and Innovations at KIU, Dr George Nasinyama, challenged the students not to be overcome by social media, but to think for themselves.

“You are used to social media where you tweet about this and that … you need to change your attitude and embrace knowledge wherever it is, learn thinking without influence from social media,” Nasinyama said.

Presently, Fahamu Africa is implementing a youth-focused project titled Your Voice Matters, in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which proposes to contribute to solving some of Africa’s challenges by providing students with an opportunity to share their views and plans for Africa via Pambazuka News essays, dialogues and debates.

The themes of the competition include access to capital and starting small businesses; agriculture, food sovereignty and security, religious fundamentalism and culture, the role of peace and security in development, as well as the use of technology as a tool for innovation and employment creation.

Others are citizenship and right to nationality, education and professional training, environmental conservation and climate change, leadership and governance and migration and Africans in the diaspora.

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

Uganda Christian University will soon be flying to Washington DC after winning the final round of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competitions where they will represent Uganda.

When Cavendish University launched its faculty of Law in Kamwokya, Kampala in January this year, it scooped the opportunity to host the two-day national moot court competitions - considered to be the largest and most prestigious in the world for law students.

At exactly 3:15pm, February 28, the moot court was packed to capacity as UCU Mukono law students aspiring to specialize in international law faced Law Development Centre in the finals in a special court session after about five months of preparation. 

“All rise!” the court bailiff announced as the chief judge, Dr Busingye Kabumba, also the president of the International Law Association (ILA), Kampala branch, made his way to the bench. Dr Kabumba was accompanied by other judges, Silver Kayondo, Samuel Masiko and Philbert Kansiime.

A moot court is an imaginary or mock court in which law students, acting as real lawyers, argue before a panel of judges on a specific case. According to Dr Kabumba, the purpose is to assess student counsel’s knowledge of the law and their art of legal courtroom language, skills and etiquette.

“It is an extension of a learning process but, most importantly, it’s to give the students the confidence on how the cases are presented before court,” Dr Kabumba said.

Students were challenged to research and build arguments by representing a party in a dispute, involving a shared mineral resource between two countries. Uganda Christian University (UCU), Makerere University, Kampala International University (KIU) and Cavendish University participated in this year’s competition, along with the Law Development Centre (LDC).

Olive Sabiiti, the dean of Law at Cavendish University, said the nature of the moot court got students to discover and learn more about international law by actively researching key elements of the dispute.

“This moot is particularly important in terms of capacity building. This is hands-on because they are no longer afraid of the international criminal court justice as they already have an understanding of what it takes to prepare memorials,” Sabiiti said.

Last year, Uganda was represented by a team from the LDC and emerged best team in Africa, and 11th best team in the world in the Jessup competition. The competition attracts more than 600 participants from over 60 countries.  

alitwaha9@gmail.com

I have been privy to the goings-on at Makerere University for more than 20 years.

Recently, following a strike, President Museveni set up a commission of inquiry to study the problems at Makerere. Consequently, this committee put out a call for written memoranda on December 8, 2016. Here is my contribution to that call.

Public universities all over the world are continually facing challenges arising out of the broader needs of society and expectations. This has impacted on the universities’ ability to achieve their core functions of teaching, learning and research to guide the education system in the country.

To cope with the transformational needs of a society, a modern university in the 21st century should be mandated to better serve students and the community for decades to come. There is, however, a growing gap globally between the public purposes that need to be served by universities and the realities of higher education, as a result of rising costs of education.

In particular, Uganda’s expectation of universities is to provide the skills needed to develop the science, the technology and the research capacity for prosperity and harmonious nation; the outsiders (society) want the students trained for their first job out of university; while the academics want the student educated for a lifelong self-fulfilment.

Indeed, Makerere University is seeking to reposition herself ‘to be the leading institution for academic excellence and innovations in Africa’ with a mission ‘to provide innovative teaching, learning, research and services responsive to national and global needs’, a pledge that requires a supportive dynamic leadership. 

The leadership in any university is credited by the ability to execute its mandate and provide service as per its responsibility. Lack of clarity of institutional autonomy has led to accusations and counter accusations, especially between government and the university, as to what causes the deep financial crisis.

Whereas the government accuses the university of mismanaging its resources, Makerere has accused the state of underfunding and needless meddling when it tries to revise tuition fees to plug its financial gap.

Leaders should be accountable for adherence to rules and regulations, conforming to standards and adhering to policies regarding human resources management and quality assurance, respecting the appointing authority as well as other stakeholders/ humanity (colleagues/followers).

Absence of respect to humanity has frequently created internal leadership misunderstandings,  that have sometimes tended to project attitudes of disrespect and insubordination, labelling every error as grave/gross mistake; trading accusation of indiscipline, while promoting enormous humiliation, a situation that continues to prevent ful­filling leadership potential in achieving the mission of the university.

The challenge of service leadership in Makerere has been exhibited by a demonstrated absence of teamwork and team building, unplanned policy shifts, and continued circumstantial implementation of university policies, and demonstrated absence of institutional allegiance and ownership, as well as exhibited uncoordinated internal processes in managing organisational systems and people, an area that requires a leadership intervention.

We need to address the mode of selecting high-level executive and accountable leaders in a university through a clear understanding of mandates and authority entrusted thereby, an area that requires attention.

Indeed, the continued long-standing disputes and standoff between management, lecturers and students has affected the university’s image, a situation that continues to portray staff as greedy people and sometimes projecting a university as bankrupt; a challenge that requires a leadership solution.

There is a need for a careful mix whereby both the stakeholders in public universities and the state contribute equally to create cohesion and utilise the available resources (human, infrastructure) since we all want the same thing. 

As much as infrastructure development is a major challenge at the university, it can become a major source of funding as carried out by many leading universities in the world such as Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge through endowments that fund up to 40 per cent of their budgets.

This is in addition to the cost-effective use of resources, like halls of residence, as well as enhancing the productivity of university real estate holdings.

Incidentally, with a sustainable private sector partnership, the proposed convocation project can create an opportunity for resource mobilisation.

For instance, instead of a wall to keep out the outside world, the university’s borders could house a sprawling mall (with facilities like conference) that not only comes out of a well-thought-out resource mobilization programme guided by public-private mix and university-industry, but also provides employment opportunities for students, as well as business opportunities for the public.

Lastly, Makerere University is at the cusp of technological advancement and this could be used as a driving force in contemporary higher education. To be competitive in the global movement, adoption of e-learning technologies in teaching and learning, research and innovation requires no negotiation.

There is a need for linkages between Makerere and corresponding government systems such as the national science, technology and innovation agenda, public-private partnership for knowledge transfer, Skilling Uganda, UPE and USE and the proposed national graduate service, among others.

It is time Makerere University positioned herself to meet the ever-changing needs of society for a transformed Uganda and Africa.

magarasam@gmail.com

The author is professor of Information Science at Makerere University, chairman of the Uganda Textbook-Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association (UTANA).

When the minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, visited the Law Development Centre (LDC) in 2011, he was concerned about the increasing class sizes of lawyers.

He was told then that LDC admits about 600 students who sometimes study in one hall. He equated the arrangement to a 'public rally' and advised management to decentralise LDC by setting up regional centres.

Yudaya Nangonzi met with DIDAS BAKUNZI MUFASHA, the LDC's head of department of Law Reporting, Research and Law Reform, to find out if the minister's call to expand had been heeded.

What is the latest in your expansion plan?

LDC was set up in 1970 with a target of about 70 students per intake. By that time, it was only Makerere University churning out law graduates. Over time, many universities have come on board and produce law graduates in big numbers, which [is why] LDC is unable to handle all the lawyers.

So, we found it necessary to decentralise LDC because our products are on demand by people all over the country. We have decided to move closer to the people to provide legal aid and as well as accommodate the increasing numbers.

Where exactly are the centres going to be located?

Right now, a committee headed by me has been set up by the director LDC, Frank Nigel Othembi, to establish where the centres are going be set up. But all the same, we intend to come up with centres in the Northern, Eastern and Western regions of Uganda.

Now, as to which district will be chosen to host LDC is a matter that this committee is going to investigate. In the north, we shall visit Gulu, Lira, Kitgum, and Arua districts to find out which one of them is most suitable for an LDC centre. For the east, we shall go to Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Kumi and Moroto districts.

Western region districts are Rukungiri, Mbarara, Kabale, Kisoro, Kabarole, and Hoima district in the south-western part of the country. We shall later come up with a recommendation report to the director and management committee on the most suitable districts.

But is there demand for law programmes in these regions?

Yes! The number of universities offering law is increasing and each of the regions has at least a university. Some of the students may prefer to come and study from Kampala and will be accommodated here.

But those who will stay in their regions will make use of these regional centres. And we are very optimistic that we shall have students enrolling in our centres, since they will strictly be open for only the bar course and other short courses.

When do you expect to start visiting the various regions?

We have started with carrying out research and in a few days, we shall be going out to the regions to make further inquiries.

How much is required to set up these centres?

That is part of our work to determine while in the field. For instance, we want to know the estimated prices of buying land in those regions and later come up with a budget.

Where do you expect to get funds to run these centres efficiently?

All these centres will entirely be funded by the government of Uganda. We have got backing from the ministry of Justice, Law and Order Sector and the president himself has allowed us to go ahead with this project, after we explained to him how important it was to decentralise our operations.

Will this see new staff joining the centres or do you intend to retain the ones based at LDC?

That is another thing that we are going to discover. But, we know that we can get staff in some other areas in order to buttress what we have at LDC. All professional advisors [lecturers] at LDC will always exchange firms with those in regional centres in order to keep up at the same pace.

There will be recruitment of more staff to create jobs for Ugandans though we don’t know the numbers as of now.

Currently, LDC can comfortably admit 1,000 students for the bar course despite having thousands sitting for pre-entry exams. What is the maximum the centres will admit?

The idea behind this project is to decentralise and decongest LDC. At times, you realise we have 600 bar course students and another 600 for a diploma in law and about 500 doing short courses. That is a huge number of students in a facility like ours.

So, once the regional centres are complete, some lawyers will stay at the main centre and others will be sent to the regional centres. The teaching will be the same, sit similar exams and the quality of our graduates will be the same.

When it comes to pre-entry, we shall discuss with the law council on whether the students will continue to write their exam in Kampala, or completely sit the exam from regional centres.

So, LDC space is limited?

No! The intake at LDC is not limited by space but, rather, the passing of pre-entry. All the numbers that pass come to LDC and are comfortably accommodated. There is a time when we needed more students but fewer passed.

What is the anticipated time to start construction and when you are expecting your first set of students?

Our target is to have the centres operational in the academic year 2018/19. We are carrying out a feasibility study, which will be completed by the end of this year. But I’m sure we shall be ready by that time and we shall achieve it.

We might not have buildings but it will not stop us from starting. We can rent some buildings while construction for our permanent premises continues because we want all firms [classes] not to exceed 10 students. When LDC started, there were about five to six students in every firm but today, about 30 students study in one firm. The findings of the committee will also determine whether we shall have all the centres start at ago or one at a time.

Who is driving all these changes?

The LDC director together with the chairperson of the management committee, Justice Stella Arach-Amoko, also a Supreme court judge, have introduced a lot of innovations at LDC that will attract more lawyers.

Everyone should help us to implement this project. Those holding the country’s purse should help us by availing the required finances, and politicians should give us the political will because the project is meant for the good of the country. 

nangonzi@observer.ug

For years now, the state has insisted that it will support learning in schools, but that feeding of learners should be left to parents. As ABUBAKER MAYEMBA reports, the status quo will not change, even as indicators show that the state had been willing to reconsider its position.

Countless reports have indicated that the lack of a formal state-sponsored school lunch programme is partly behind the dismal learning outcomes in eastern and northern Uganda.

The latest report, by the National Planning Authority (NPA), was presented to the education minister, Janet Museveni, at a meeting at Hotel Africana, last week.

In his remarks, the NPA chairman, Wilberforce Kisamba Mugerwa, asked the minister to find a solution to the problem, noting that it was one of the challenges faced in the education sector. He told the education sector strategic planning workshop that many children were reported to have dropped out of school due to lack of meals in schools.

“A school lunch programme could be achieved since most government schools in Karamoja and some urban areas were offering meals to their scholars,” he said.

However, the minister, who previously served in the Karamoja portfolio, was adamant and insisted that the state would not step in and provide meals to school children as this would be denying parents their role of providing for their offspring.

“I feel very strongly that we need to allow the communities of Uganda and parents to have a role to play in the education of their children,” said Mrs Museveni. “I don’t think it is right to take this to cabinet to provide lunch. I don’t think it is necessary. It cripples our communities altogether.”

The minister insisted that parents and guardians are legally mandated to cater for the needs of their children while at school. She added that taking a resolution to cabinet for the government to provide meals to scholars would not yield much, since it had already been discussed.

She then cited section 5 sub-section 2(iii) of the 2008 Education Pre-Primary and Post-Primary Act, where parents and guardians are mandated to provide food, shelter, clothing and medical care, among others, to help support their children while in school.

KARAMOJA SUCCESS

However, the minister harked back to the Karamoja programme, where she once worked. She observed that the school feeding programme would succeed if local leaders sensitised parents and guardians about the value of providing food to their children.

The first lady explained that while she was still minister for Karamoja, she partnered with the Uganda Prisons and World Food Programme (WFP) to provide meals for school children in the region because their families had no food. She, however, added that she would mobilise parents to play their role of providing meals to their children. 

“I’m willing to impress it on our people that they need to provide lunch to their children and I trust that can happen. We don’t need any other policy or cabinet paper but we want to use our Act and continue to mobilise our people to do that,”

Commenting on the Early Childhood Development (ECD), Mrs Museveni said although it was vibrant with the private sector, it would be hard for government to fast-track it. She argued that there was need to first consolidate the ‘monumental’ projects of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) before embracing ECD.

BACKGROUND

The request for state support in the school feeding programme has its roots in various calls to by the president in 2013. At the time, several education activists insisted that there was a need for the state to support the school lunch programme.

They insisted that while the parents acknowledged that it was their responsibility to feed their children, they were also having hard time feeding themselves.

Although he had previously held the view that the state would not lift a finger to provide school lunch, the president appeared willing to reconsider his stand, state funds permitting.

This was in the wake of several reports showing that several schools in northern and northeastern Uganda were only providing schooling during the morning hours, while children were let free to scavenge for lunch on their own. Most children never returned to class in the afternoons.

The activists handed over their reports to the president for consideration in the run-up to the preparation of the NRM manifesto, to be used in the 2016 elections.

However, since then the state has struggled to stay within its costs. A source privy to the reports has indicated that the state realised that it could not afford to provide school lunch to all the eight million children in primary school now and also run the rest of the education programmes.

“The programme would cost billions of shillings and the state did not have that kind of money … and things have not improved this year, if you consider the current budget cuts,” this source indicated.

Tuesday’s workshop had been aimed at organising a roadmap to develop and revise the Education and Sports Sector Strategic Plan 2016-2020.
The new plan will be aligned to the National Development Plan II (NDPII), Vision 2040 and other key national policy documents. It will also focus on quality education, equitable access to education, efficiency and effectiveness of delivery of education at all levels.

But the school lunch programme appears to have reared its ugly head in the way of plans for a new effort to revamp the education sector.

In declining the demands, officials in the education ministry suspect that the minister may be trying to ensure that she has enough funds to carry out her mandate.

abumay1988@gmail.com

When the proverbial iron door is clung shut, many a soul gets to the realization that prison life will indeed be a life-changing phenomenon. However, as PRISCA BAIKE found, learning is happening behind bars. In this four-part series, she examines the intricate correction system under the Uganda Prisons Service.

As he released the latest A-level results, Uganda National Examinations Board executive secretary, Daniel Odongo, cited Emmanuel Okello, an inmate in his late 30s, who had scored 19 points, to excel in the exams from Luzira Upper prison.

Okello, who is serving a 20-year sentence for murder, had scored an A in Christian Religious Education, an A in Entrepreneurship Education and a B in History, along with a distinction 2 in Subsidiary ICT as well as a credit 3 in General Paper. So, how had a prison inmate managed to beat the odds and perform better than many other candidates outside the prison walls?

In his own words, Okello said, “I was keen to become a better person on the inside than I had been on the outside”.

And his is not a lone story. Many prison inmates have found that they can while the time away doing something gainful to them, like obtaining an education. But prison education isn’t what it is on the outside, nor was it what it was initially planned, at the advent of the Uganda Prisons Service at the beginning of the 20th century.

The prison education system evolved out of what is known as the welfare and rehabilitation division, under the directorate of Correctional Services in 1974. Headed by an assistant commissioner, this division is overseen by the department of Rehabilitation Services. It was developed to rehabilitate and resettle inmates through diverse interventions.

According to Anatoli Owakubaruho Biryomumaisho, the senior welfare and rehabilitation officer at Uganda Prisons, the initial idea was to impart vocational skills to the inmates.

Before 1974, this included tailoring, carpentry and modern farming, among others, which had been going on since prisons started. The main goal of imparting these vocational skills was, not for education purposes but, rather, production.

In 1974, a conscious decision was taken to primarily teach vocational courses that would then feed into production. Over time, the prisoners developed a need to enhance their knowledge levels after a visit by Comboni missionaries in 1994.

“The condemned prisoners were idle with nothing to engage them; so, the Comboni missionaries of Mbuya and the Franciscan prisons ministries of Nsambya took literature materials for the prisoners to read as a way of keeping them occupied,” says Biryomumaisho, explaining that the minority who could read are the ones who read for the majority who could not read.

Eventually, the ones who could not read got interested in learning how to read from the elite inmates, so that they could read for themselves and thankfully, the readers were willing to teach their colleagues.

“The readers became leaders and they ended up being teachers,” adds Biryomumaisho. By this time, teaching in prison started with simple letters of the alphabet.

“Education is not a core mandate of Uganda Prisons Service. It is part of the rehabilitation regime for inmates,” says Biryomumaisho.

As such, the vocational education segment is yet to be formalized under the Business, Technical  and Vocational Education and  Training Act.

FORMAL LEARNING STARTS

It is unclear when the prisons starts formal teaching of academics, but Biryomumaisho is certain it evolved from the Luzira-based Upper prison between 1994 and 1996.

With the growing desire to learn, the missionaries started providing paper offcuts and chalk to the inmates. Illustrations were made on a wall, which would be washed before the next lesson.

Later, simple arithmetic and numeracy were incorporated into the classes and by 1997 formal education in prison had taken shape. In 2000, the first group of inmates at Luzira Upper prison sat for Primary Leaving Examinations.

Of the 30 inmate candidates, 16 obtained first division; eight passed with second division; while four passed in third division and two failed. But according to Biryomumaisho, this only served to increase interest in the learning processes. Consequently, the education system has been rolled out to several other prisons among which is the Wakiso-based Kigo prison.

On a bright Monday mid-morning at the Kigo prison, we found the day’s classes in high gear with several cocoons of male inmates being taught under tents erected at the edges of the open space. This space also serves as a pitch and recreational centre for all the inmates. Female inmates are taught separately, from the women’s wing.

As the student-inmates attend classes, their non-student colleagues go about their day, almost oblivious of the on-going educational activities. Consequently, while the other inmates may be shouting, singing or relaxing without let, the learners are compelled to pay attention, in what looks like a less-than-conducive environment.

However, it appears to be a godsend to the inmates, who make the best of a free opportunity to study while in prison. But all is not doom and gloom as some classes are conducted in a concrete and iron-roofed structure.

Due to limited space and small class numbers, a single classroom houses at least two classes at a given time. On the day we visited, the P5 science class and the P6 mathematics class were being conducted side by side in the same room.

Moses Ssentalo, the officer in charge of Kigo Prison, explains that they improvise with the limited space they have.

“At the establishment of these prisons, the idea of having schools was not there. It merely emerged in a fixed space but we are capable of overcoming any challenge,” says Ssentalo, who is pleased with how the inmates manage to excel despite their challenges.

IMPROVING OUTCOMES

Out of the 144 candidates, who registered for Primary Leaving exams across the 15 prison schools last year, 12 candidates passed in division I; 64 in division II; 33 in division III and 17 in division IV, while seven failed and eight did not sit exams. The best candidate was from Gulu main prison with aggregate 9.

In 2002, Upper prison got its pioneer Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (A-level) and since then, the formal education system has grown from strength to strength as Biryomumaisho narrates.

Five years later, the A-level facility was considered as a Universal Secondary Education under a public-private partnership.

“By that time, the formal education system was fully adopted by the Uganda Prisons Service, although it had no [financial] input except for goodwill,” says Biryomumaisho.

In 2009, Biryomumaisho, a teacher by profession, was appointed to head the school system in prisons, with a mandate to establish schools with a defined direction within prisons.

In that same year, the institution acquired tertiary education with Makerere University Business School providing a certificate program in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management to benefit both O and A-level leavers.

In 2010, November, the education ministry recognized and grant-aided the school and named it Upper Prison Inmates Secondary School-Luzira. The ministry has deployed both teaching and non-teaching staff.

“What prison does is to provide a head teacher because of the nature of students we have,” notes Biryomumaisho.

In 2012, the ministry introduced UPOLET under a public-private partnership, although the A-level section still operates as a private grant-aided institution. The following year, Makerere University Business School (Mubs) upgraded its certificate programme, by providing a diploma in the same discipline.

Drake University of the United States in Iowa in collaboration with Muteesa I Royal University partnered with Uganda Prisons to provide annual trainings to inmates. According to Biryomumaisho, the trainings are not examinable but are ideal in creating a holistic person, and are in line with their rehabilitation goals.

That same year, the African Prisons Project NGO in partnership with the University of London offered a diploma in international law, which has now raised study levels in prison to degree level, targeting both inmates and prison staff.

“It was agreed by the London School of Law that some staff will undergo competitive applications to undertake the course,” says Biryomumaisho.

However, majority of the slots are reserved for inmates. Currently, there are 11 inmates and three staff undertaking the course within prison. Today, there are 15 prison formal education units across the country, although plans are underway to establish more.

The schools are Uganda Prison Upper, Murchison Bay prison, Luzira Women prison, Kitalya prison, Kigo main, Kigo Women prison, Jinja Main prison, Jinja Women prison, Mbarara group of prisons (M/W), Masindi Main prison, Arua prison, Gulu Main prison, Fort Portal Main prison, Namalu prison (in Karamoja) and Nakasongola prison.

Out of the 45,000 prisoners in the country, 2,408 are enrolled in primary, 576 are in secondary school, 161 on the university programme while 3,131 inmates are undertaking vocational and technical skills training on a separate training component from the production component.

Asked about it, the commissioner general of prisons, Dr Johnson Byabashaija,  is optimistic about the future of learning behind bars.

“It is now part of government policy that prisons have schools,” he says. “In the past we relied on teachers, who are prisoners, but now we are sent teachers from the Education Service Commission and the programme is progressing very well.”

The statement can only serve to encourage Emmanuel Okello and others who are studying while serving their sentences.

“I intend to continue studying and hopefully get a degree in Law until I complete my sentence … hopefully I will be a better person when I come out,” he says, before he is ushered back behind the heavy gates at Murchison Bay prison in Luzira. 

pbaike@yahoo.com

As the sun set on Kimmi island on Lake Victoria, on International Women’s day, there were smiles of joy and gratitude from the largely impoverished natives.

A group of women had come together to give the island hope by securing land set aside for a school. Kimmi nursery and primary school was first set up by the then area MP, Rev Peter Bakaluba Mukasa (Mukono South) in 2013.

But before Bakaluba could set up the school, two area women had to surrender the nearly one acre of land for the institution to be built. Later, the MP would set up the school with support from the Anglican Church.

Many years later, some unscrupulous businessmen approached one of the original two women who donated the land for use as a school for a business deal. Word has it that this woman may have signed on a 45-year lease for the land, to be used to set up a fish processing plant, eventually evicting the school.

Now enter the women activists, mobilised by filmmaker Sarah Nsigaye, who got wind of the story, while filming at the nearby Ngamba Island wildlife sanctuary.

The women, now led by Ngamba Island wildlife sanctuary’s executive director Lilly Ajarova, raised some money to complete the roofing of one of the wooden structures that make the school.

The school, which will field its first P7 candidate class later this year with five pupils, is looking to the future with hope. But as the head teacher, Godfrey Kavuma, indicated, if it was not for the generosity of women, who took advantage of their humanity to give the islanders a chance, there would be no hope there.

Instead, Kimmi would be another island on Lake Victoria, characterized by a high school dropout rate, disease and poverty.
  
school@observer.ug

At last, Justinian and Dingo Pingo are back home in Kyamulinga, on the pineapple farm.

The boys lie in bed quietly. It has been a very busy day. They have so much to think about. There are so many problems for their mind to solve while they sleep.

Big brother Tatu is also in his bedroom. He practices songs on his French horn. In the boys’ ears, his horn sounds like the waza of Chad and Sudan, and the malakat of Ethiopia. 

They heard those horns on their travels with the amazing pineapple and the amazing blanket. Tatu’s horn sounds like the African trumpets made from animal horns, mostly ivory, or from hollowed wood. 

His songs are like those played on the kudu horn, which is actually six horns.  His songs are like those from the algaita, a Hausa wind instrument from Niger.

The boys lie in bed and hear Nyanga pan pipes that they heard during their travels. They hear the kakaki, a three metre long metal trumpet. 

These sounds of Africa in their ears allow them to travel across Africa, and through time. The music makes them to feel and see the places, even when they are not there. 

Tatu’s music takes them on their journeys again.  They travel through Africa and they travel through time.  They travel without even leaving their bed.

anansi99@hotmail.com

The executive director of St Mary’s SS Kitende, Lawrence Mulindwa, has said the school administration will do everything to remain top of the country in O and A-level examination results.

Speaking at the end of a thanksgiving service for 2016 candidates at the St Mary’s stadium in Kitende last Sunday, Mulindwa said the discipline exhibited by students has enabled the school register good grades for the last 16 years.

He said some people are perplexed at how they achieve the grades, but teamwork, devotion and discipline help everyone remain focused at the school.

“St Mary’s SS Kitende does not excel by mistake because the administration and students understand what brought them here,” he said.

“We shall continue excelling provided we are still living.” The call to action elicited applause from students and staff at the function.

According to the recently released Uneb results, Kitende registered 432 O-level candidates and 216 candidates in its annex centre. Of the 432, some 430 passed in division one and only two candidates in division two. At the annex centre, 107 candidates excelled with division one and 89 in division two.

In the A-level results, Kitende emerged with the highest number of students scoring the maximum 20 points, seven. This was followed by Uganda Martyrs SS Namugongo with five candidates and Iganga SS, Bweranyangi and St Mary’s College Kisubi each having three candidates.

Mulindwa said he envisages a lot of determination in this year’s O and A-level candidates and expects good results from them next year. The thanksgiving service, attended by students, staff and alumni, was led by Fr Gerald M Zzinda, the chaplain of St Savio Junior School in Kisubi and Fr Stephen Muyanja, his counterpart at St Mary’s SS Kitende.

During the offertory, the O and A-level head teachers handed over household items including sugar, rice, soap, and flour to the priests. Jovita Namutebi, one of the best candidates, who scored 20 points at A-level this year, could not hide her excitement after the service.

“Glory be to God that they prayed for us and we all passed our exams. With hard work and discipline, you can survive the axe at Kitende. I’m ready to sit for pre-entry examinations and study law at Makerere University,” Namutebi said.

At O-level, she had scored aggregate 16 before she was readmitted to study History, Economics, Divinity and Sub Mathematics at A-level from the same school.

George William Mulindwa, the director of Studies at Kitende, said the school has come up with more programmes that will enable students to pass with good grades.

“There is a saying out there that Kitende is the best school because of numerical strengths but this is wrong. We have and will do a lot more to ensure that we transform the raw material we get into finished products,” he said.

Mulindwa commended parents for funding their children’s education by paying more than Shs 1m in school fees yet there are many schools that charge lesser fees. Currently, Kitende has about 3,000 students at O and A-levels.

Meanwhile, after the mass, students and staff were treated to performances by an artiste, David Lutalo, among other parts of entertainment inside the school and a luncheon.

nangonzi@observer.ug

Makerere University last Friday formally started the search for a new vice chancellor, with the tenure of Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu coming to an end.

The incumbent is entitled to run for a second time to retain his office. Indeed, officials close to him have indicated he may throw his hat in the ring, despite a troubled time at the helm of the oldest university in the country.

During the recent graduation ceremony, Prof Ddumba-Ssentamu was cautious not to indicate if he would take the office or not, in his speech.

“Since I assumed office on September 1, 2012, my current term will expire on August 31, 2017. I would like to thank you Mr Chancellor, Sir, for having given me this opportunity to serve Makerere University,” he said.

According to a statement by the university spokesperson, Ritah Namisango, the search process was kicked into gear following a University Council meeting on Thursday March 9, 2017.

Consequently, a search committee composed of two members from the University Council was set up in line with Section 31 (3) of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act.

The elected members are deputy university council chair, Irene Ovonji Odida and Bruce Balaba Kabaasa (also head of the university appointments board).

The relevant law stipulates that the search committee will also have three members from the University Senate, who are to be appointed in a fortnight. These shall help identify suitable candidates for the post of vice chancellor and forward them to the senate to nominate three candidates for recommendation to the University Council.

Word at Makerere indicates that apart from Prof Ddumba-Ssentamu, the deputy vice chancellor for Finance and Administration, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe and Prof Edward Kirumira may be planning another run for the vice chancellor’s office. All three declined to comment on the search process.

We understand that a section of lecturers are also hoping that former vice chancellor, Prof Venansius Baryamureeba will change his mind and consider running for the post again.

Cavendish University Uganda on Friday passed out 1,368 graduands with degrees, diplomas and certificates in different fields at its sixth graduation.

At a function presided over by the chancellor, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, at Speke Resort Munyonyo, 43 candidates were hailed for passing with first class colours. Another 708 passed with upper second, 570 with lower second and 47 with third (pass) class.

Mkapa, escorted by his wife Anna who was active in the ceremonies, made a brief but philosophical and spiritual speech that challenged the graduands to aim for greatness in whatever place or occupation they may find themselves.

After thanking the students, their parents, and the university for making the decision to embark on a long journey to fulfill the long-held and deeply felt dream that there is more in the world for anyone to do, he said:

“You are destined for greatness! I don’t mean that you will all be famous, although that may happen. No, what I do mean is that you are all destined to be great in the little and big things you will do to move your countries and our continent forward. Greatness is finding, like His Excellency Nelson Mandela did, an ideal, no matter how basic and fundamental, for which you are willing to die.”

Prof Koi Muchira Tirima, the vice chancellor, said their products have been taught how to be self-reliant, honest, creative and innovative, responsible and respectful as they pursue their careers and in service to the communities.

Tirima disclosed the best-performing five graduands. They are Rebecca Kabejja from faculty of Law, Sophia Nansoye (Socio-Economic Sciences), Solomon Mugabi (Business and Management), Pauline Akiror (Science and Technology), and Grace Antoinette Namayanja (School of Postgraduate Studies and Research).

EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP

Meanwhile, Tirima told The Observer the university has this year established special scholarships for Ugandan students. The Cavendish Excellence Scholarship covers 100 per cent tuition and functional fees, and is available to both first-year and continuing students. The application deadline for the scholarship is April 17.

She said successful recipients of the scholarship will have to attend leadership workshops and play a role in peer-mentoring, peer-tutoring and other intellectually enriching or university-marketing work-study initiatives for 15 hours a week.

They must also maintain a CGPA of B+ or second class upper division performance.

jmusinguzi@observer.ug

Every year, thousands leave universities in search of a job placement, either as an intern or a volunteer to learn what it will take in the working world after they graduate. Not all of them get what they are looking for. So, as YUDAYA NANGONZI reports, the universities want something done about the problem.

The executive director of the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Prof John Opuda-Asibo, has agreed with university leaders for government to enact a policy providing internship placement to students.

Opuda said organisations ought to look at internship as an investment to their human resource, but not an expense.

“Today, it is very unfortunate that many students are left out whenever they seek internship in some organisations. If you don’t know anyone, you don’t go anywhere. This is heavily affecting higher education,” Opuda-Asibo said.

His views followed a paper presented by Prof Eriabu Lugujjo, the vice chancellor at Ndejje University, on prior skilling of students at the higher education conference, held at NCHE offices in Kyambogo, last week.

Prof Lugujjo said government should come up with a law ‘compelling’ industries to train or work out a mechanism where industries that train students would enjoy tax rebates.

“It is no secret that some industries/enterprises do not want to take students for internship, and yet on recruitment, they look for individuals with experience,” Lugujjo said, adding that vice chancellors in various universities agreed upon that.

He cited countries like South Africa where every industry is attached to a higher education institution, in a bid to train students before they graduate to the labour market.

For the last eight years, NCHE has been organising annual higher education exhibitions at Lugogo UMA show grounds. This time, a conference was organised before the exhibition to discuss youth employability in the country.

Under the theme, "Aligning higher education with entrepreneurship and youth employability", educators, education policy makers, industrialists, among others, discussed solutions to unemployment through partnerships in higher education and industry.

Gloria Tuhaise Wakooba, the deputy director for Procurement at the Bank of Uganda (BOU), who presented on the "Making of entrepreneurs, practical lessons, opportunities and challenges, also agreed with university leaders. Tuhaise said such a law will enable students easily have prior exposure to industry before they are employed.

“It is very true that some organisations do not allow interns and I find this very unfair. Most of the serious institutions today actually thrive on interns. [Interns] offer free labour, save time and add value to your organisation,” Tuhaise said.

She added that at BOU, students are each given Shs 100,000 as a token of appreciation for the work well done at the end of the one-month internship placement.

Before, students were offered five months on internship but due to the overwhelming numbers, the time frame was cut short to one month in order to accommodate more students.

According to Tuhaise, BOU gets an average of 1,000 applications for internship but they can comfortably handle 300 students every year from various higher education institutions.

For students who prove to be promising, she said, they have an opportunity to have their internship extended up to some time. Currently, Prof Lugujjo said, students must take advantage of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) which is also implementing a skills development facility that seeks to bridge the skills gap in various sectors of the economy.

“In the arrangement, PSFU encourages companies to take on interns especially in the recess periods,” he said.

POLICY EXPECTATIONS

In case government agrees to the universities proposal for a policy, Opuda-Asibo said government should be ready to forego some revenue to skill students.

“When the private sector offers a service on behalf of government, it expects to be rewarded in terms of tax holidays. To me, it would be very handy if government agrees to such a proposal,” he said.

He also expects to have mechanisms within the law to evaluate, control quality and clearly explain the responsibilities of the state, student, industry and universities during the internship period.

Opuda-Asibo told The Observer that the proposal for the law will also have what he described as a vocational educational enterprise where each private sector will have a room where skills of knowledge are brought to work, conduct hands-on training and mentorship for students.

In the meantime, Tuhaise urged universities to give students codes of conduct for various organisations before they are sent for internship.

“Sometimes, students come when they are so raw and become a problem,” she said. “Teach them how to present themselves well, be decent, respect their bosses and keep off their phones whenever they are assigned some duties so that they can even be retained in some places.”

nangonzi@observer.ug

Every morning, learners around the country gather at their respective schools to study.

They follow the same syllabus as the rest of the country, but in the prison formal education system, things are a little unique. In the second of a four-part series, PRISCA BAIKE explores how education is conducted behind bars.

During the release of A-level results last month, a man in a dark suit, identified as Gilbert Niwamanya, was introduced to the media at the Luzira Upper prison. The man, who is not an inmate at the prison, was identified as the head teacher of what some know as Luzira Inmates secondary school.

Shortly after Niwamanya’s speech, Dennis Mujuni, an inmate in a yellow pair of trousers and a button-up shirt, unlike the other inmate-students, clad in shorts and non-button shirts, introduced himself as the inmate head teacher. To anyone else, it was strange that a school had two head teachers.

According to Anatoli Owakubaruho Biryomumaisho, the senior welfare and rehabilitation officer at Uganda Prisons, this is the norm in prison.

“Every prison school head teacher has an inmate co-head teacher and every teacher sent from the ministry of education has a co-teacher within prison,” explains Biryomumaisho. He later adds that the ministry only sends teachers while the head teachers are trained prison officers with an education background.

He explained that a head teacher, who doesn’t have an in-depth understanding of the prison system, cannot effectively run a prison school due to the kind of students that they handle.

Biryomumaisho says the prison education system cannot function without co-teachers and co-head teachers as they coordinate inmates and teachers.

“They are the mobilisers of enrolment and retention; so, we must have them. They foster teamwork and good discipline within the school system,” Biryomumaisho said.

While the teachers from the education ministry are paid by government, co-teachers offer pro bono services. However, they are motivated with sugar, rice and soap, among other items, that are supplied by NGOs and from within prisons.

Being a co-teacher also comes with benefits like having your own room and getting priority treatment in prison as they are respected within the prison system.

As we worked on this story, I was accompanied by five prison officers touring the ongoing classes at the men’s section in Kigo prison. I’m momentarily captivated by one teacher, who is conducting a chemistry lesson about crystallization.

For a moment, I am taken back to my own chemistry days, getting hit by the harsh remembrance of how I hardly enjoyed the subject. This in-mate teacher, however, had me hooked to his lesson; I took pleasure in how he, with a constant smile, enthusiastically articulated his statements to his ardently attentive students, before he stopped to have a word with us.

As I interview him, I see my reflection in his shiny black shoes, which efficiently complement his neatly pressed orange prison uniform. Peter Ssesanga, who doubles as a deputy head teacher of the secondary section, has been teaching chemistry and physics at this prison for the last six years and he is glad to serve his time meaningfully. The motivation may be little but the benefit of keeping his brain active, while carrying on with his profession is priceless.

“I enjoy teaching people who never thought they could get education,” said Ssesanga. Interestingly, he is looking forward to the day that sciences will be introduced at A-level in prisons. He makes one believe that teaching in prison is not a nightmare, as many people might imagine.

Biryomumaisho explains that criminals change a great deal as soon as they get to prison and many of them are well-behaved people.

“A female teacher can walk through the male prison wards and conduct her lessons without any problems,” says Biryomumaisho. The male students are also very protective and respectful of their teachers, especially the females who outnumber the male teachers. However, he clarifies that male co-teachers are not allowed in the female section and vice versa; each section has its own co-teachers.

Prison teaching is interactive and in form of discussions since the students are mature people, who have an independent mindset as Biryomumaisho notes, citing an example; they may just not feel like studying because it is simply too hot or too cold. This, he says, requires a teacher to understand that these are already stressed people and it is important for them to be understood.

“It is hard psychologically but when you get used to it and handle them well, it becomes easy,” says Biryomumaisho.

FACILITIES

Like other ideal schools, prisons also have libraries and computer centers. From the libraries, students can borrow all sorts of books, both educational and leisure books according to Daphne Namudde, the welfare and rehabilitation in-charge at Kigo prison. 

The computer centre at Kigo prison is a spacious room with 14 study points and a huge table with about 20 seats around it. This table serves as a reading point.

From the centre, students can enroll for a certificate in computer applications and those who have never interfaced with a computer can get to learn the primary components of a computer. The centre, as expected, does not have internet. Students rely on software called the encyclopedia, which serves a purpose akin to Wikipedia.

Apart from the normal curriculum, the students receive non-examinable trainings in social entrepreneurship, philosophy and creative writing, among others, in a six-week annual programme sponsored by the Iowa-based Drake University in conjunction with Muteesa I Royal University.

For the non-student inmates, a separate life-skills training program in disciplines such stress and anger management, self-esteem and critical thinking are provided. These are to ensure holistic individuality and successful reintegration to society and to minimize the chances of relapsing. 

At the break of dawn, head counting within their respective residential wards is what precedes all the day’s activities. Thereafter, breakfast is served.

Like in most schools, classes normally start at 8am and end at 4:30pm; break and lunch time inclusive although bad weather such as fog or hailstorms distort their programs as inmates are meant to be within their wards in such circumstances.

Sgt Nelson Ezama, the coordinator for schools in prison, said classes in prison run from Monday to Friday.

“We respect weekends and we have holidays as well. We try to align our programmes to the national standards,” Ezama said, adding that students sit for both internal and external exams every term.

Students, who consistently perform poorly within one year, are discontinued from the formal system and encouraged to go for vocational studies. Issues of indiscipline at school, according to Biryomumaisho, are handled by counseling.

“We don’t punish them as they are already under punishment. But where necessary, we have a set of regulations with a systemic way of giving disciplinary action,” Biryomumaisho says, emphasizing that caning inmates is illegal.

Students at prisons with farms are exempted from working as they have to attend classes. While inmates must retire to their wards at 3:30pm, an allowance is made for the student-inmates, to stay in class to enable them complete their day’s work. 

After their evening meals (around 7:30pm), while students outside the prison go for evening revision classes, inmates, on the other hand, are expected to stay within their wards and maintain silence with lights out.

This makes it hard for them to read or discuss, leaving them with the toilets as their only place to revise and discuss as they are the only places with lights throughout the night.

During national exams, candidates are fed on a special diet consisting of fried beans, rice and chapatti to make them feel special.

“Such food makes them happy, which greatly helps them during examinations,” said Niwamanya.

REAL COST OF LEARNING

Education in prison is entirely free, with government and NGOs providing scholastic materials. All students have to do is to be willing to learn and enroll for the service. Those who had already started education from outside prison have to provide authentic documents before they are enrolled into the system.

A study at the University of California, Berkeley, USA has shown that a country’s crime rate is directly proportional to the level of education of its citizens. The joint study, with Lance Lochner of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and Enrico Moretti of the University of California, Los Angeles, concludes that the less literate a society, the more likely less educated folks are to commit blue-collar crimes such as murder, rape and burglary.

“We estimate the effect of education on participation in criminal activity accounting for endogeneity of schooling,” the study says.

Biryomumaisho, who has seen the study, adds that the more educated members of society have a tendency to commit white-collar offences, which include but are not limited to corruption, misuse of office and fraud.

According to the prisoners’ census of 2015, out of the 44,952 prisoners, 13.7 percent had never been to school, 23.7 percent had attended lower primary while 38.5 percent completed primary school by conviction time.

As far as secondary school education is concerned, only 19.1 percent of the prisoners had completed O-level while only 3.0 percent of them had completed A-level. Only a measly 2.1 percent of the inmates had attained tertiary education, with 350 prisoners being bachelor's degree holders while only eight had attained more than that.

“Most of the illiterate criminals only commit these crimes because of ignorance,” says Biryomumaisho, “Why would one rape or defile if he knew that it was a crime; [yet] he can actually propose to an older woman?”

It is such findings that actually validate education in prison as it checks the rate of relapse (re-offence) upon an inmates’ release.

So far, Uganda has the lowest relapse rate due to its comprehensive prison rehabilitation services. With a re-offending rate of 23 per cent, (nine mostly petty offenders), the country has been ranked the best in Africa and seventh in the world according to the African correctional journal and the international criminal journal respectively.

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When Dr Obote College Boroboro were declared champions of the robotics challenge last year, some of its students attributed their prowess to plenty of practice with computers. And as SHARON MUWANGUZI has found, not many schools are giving their students that kind of time to practice.

For Emmanuel Wacha, a student at Dr Obote College Boroboro, studying with computers comes with unique advantages.

“We are able to appreciate better how they work and how they can be used to improve life in future,” he said. “We are not champions by chance.”   

Wacha’s comment came as Boroboro beat more established schools like Maryhill High School, Gayaza High School and former champions St Mary’s College Kisubi to win the national robotics challenge.

Other Boroboro students were overheard discussing computers and some had smartphones on which they shared WhatsApp messages and images. The move indicates that these students, from a school based in Lira, are very conversant with computers. But not too many schools are that keen to allow students to use computers as frequently.

Indeed, Education Minister Janet Museveni recently complained about schools that had received computers from the government for the teaching of ICT, but had opted to keep them stored, rather than permit their students to learn from the equipment.

“You wonder what the schools are protecting the equipment for instead of enabling their students to excel,” she said, during the release of A-level results last month.

INTERNET ABUSE

But not all schools are sold onto the need to allow students free access to computers. St Florence SS Namungoona in Lubya is one such institution.

“Students access the computers once in a term; we go to a nearby café for the ICT classes, because the school doesn’t have enough computers and internet for students,” David Lutakome, head of department of ICT at the school, said. “We normally teach the internet as the last topic.”

Lutakome added that the school is restrictive to prevent students accessing downloading pornographic materials.

“As a school, we do not [allow the] use the school computer to avoid downloading of materials that could infect the computers with viruses and also hacking of the school ICT system,” Lutakome added.

In 2012, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), was introduced in all secondary schools, to be offered by A-level students as an alternative to subsidiary Mathematics.
 
CYBER SECURITY

Other schools are driven by the need to guard against cyber insecurity, online pornography and other naughty occupations that computer users get up to.

Bernard Ngobi, the director of Studies at Kasubi Parents SS, said school restricts computer access to students to once a term. However, those already in A-level access the computer laboratory once a week, during the third term, as they prepare for their final exams.

At Namungoona Progressive, the director of studies, Denis Byaruhanga, explains that students have access to the computer only twice a week, usually on the days when they have lessons. A few students may also access the computers on the weekends.

At the nearby Namungoona High School, the situation is similar. According to the school’s director of studies, Alex Semakalu, computer access is also very restricted.

“We introduced ICT studies in A-level only [since] it is very easy to monitor what the students are searching on the internet and the computers,” he said. At this school, students are taught in groups of two to one machine. ”We also have two teachers per lesson, making it hard or impossible for the students to misuse the internet.”

Semakalu adds that they are very restrictive of students in the boarding section, but have no control over day students, who can access the internet over their smart phones since this is also usually off the school premises. However, they are anxious that students will not be exposed to hackers and traffickers, during their sojourn on the internet. This is a matter that interests Moses Binoga, police chief in charge of Human Trafficking.

“Students are particularly vulnerable and we are working to ensure schools pay attention to this fact,” he said.

Binoga was speaking on the sidelines of a half-day workshop by the Uganda Communications Commission, which sought to ensure more security for computer users.

“I usually advise students not to just accept online friendships with anyone, or not to take them seriously,” Binoga adds, on the perils of online use. “Some of these friendships can develop into something serious.”

Makerere University last week hosted a career expo organised by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), at which students were coached on how to meet their career goals.

Several students commended the expo as timely as they were in their second and final years, a point where they were studying their career aspirations.

Jasper Aceng Dina, a Bachelor of Development Economics second-year student said she had interacted with some of her role models.

“I have learnt so much from the experts. It was a great opportunity for me because I now know why good communication is very vital in any business,” said Aceng.

Dickens Namurinda, a finalist pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, said he acquired some information about financial management and was looking forward to starting up his own small business.

“Career guidance is important because it has shown me a sense of direction. They should organise more of these because they are really important. Now I have an idea of what it takes to succeed in the corporate world,” said Namurinda.

Last Monday, Geraldine Ssali, the NSSF deputy managing director launched the two-day expo at the university's main hall.  In her opinion, the exhibition would be vital in motivating and guiding students on which right career paths to take.

She observed that access to information from various corporate firms would help students making informed decisions.

“Prepare your minds to look out for business opportunities through networks because you can’t succeed without them. Prepare your minds for confidence by learning business etiquette and communication,” Ssali cautioned the students. 

A series of similar events are planned to be held at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Kyambogo, Gulu, Ndejje, Uganda Martyrs University and Kampala University, among others. 

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