Seven years after the start of free A-level education in Uganda, there has been concern over whether funds allocated for this programme were earning value. ALI TWAHA has been studying a report by the Office of the Auditor General, which shows that over Shs 5.5bn remains unaccounted for.

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Directorate (CIID) are probing reports that over Shs 5.5bn in funds for the Universal Post-Primary Education and Training (UPPET) programme is unaccounted for.

Recently, the spokesperson of the IGG, Munira Ali, confirmed that they were talking to education ministry officials and school administrators to establish the missing funds.

“Upon a request from the permanent secretary, the IGG communicated to all the schools that had unaccounted-for funds under the UPPET and directed that all the unaccounted-for funds be refunded to the asset recovery account of the IGG,” Ali explained.

According to an audit report released by the auditor general, John Muwanga for the financial year ended 2015/16, as of March 2015, the education ministry failed to give a breakdown or make-up of figures disclosed in the consolidated financial statements.

“I explained to management [of the ministry] that without supporting documents, I could not confirm whether the funds were properly utilized … delayed accountability [by the relevant stakeholders to follow up on the accountability with the school administrators] may result into falsification of documents and possible loss of funds,” said Muwanga.

Conversely, contrary to procurement guidelines, which require accountability returns to be submitted to the ministry within one month after utilisation of funds, a total of Shs 7,096,791,549 is reported in the financial statements as outstanding advances to schools as at November 30, 2014.

“This [Shs 7bn] had only reduced to Shs 5,552,114,659 by March 2015, implying that there was slow accountability by the schools,” said Muwanga.

This was after the ministry’s permanent secretary admitted to the auditor general in the report that due to absence of the documents to back up the claims, the matter has since been forwarded to the CIID and IGG.

By the time the report was presented to parliament for debate in February 2016, the ministry had not yet submitted all supporting documentation to the auditor general from the different school administrators under the UPPET programme.
 
CHALLENGES

The probe came about due to concerns about the UPPET, launched in February 2007, after the government of Uganda secured a $375m (nearly Shs 1.2tn) adaptable programme loan (APL) from the World Bank.

The loan was to be implemented in three phases over a 10-year period (2009-2018). According to the implementation completion report by the ministry, the first phase received $150m (about Shs 495bn) in 2009-2012, while the second phase, running from 2012 to 2014, obtained $125m (Shs 412bn) and third phase (2014- 2018) $100m (shs 330bn).

However, work on the first phase only took off on November 2009, two years behind schedule and only closed on July 31 2014, while this report was being compiled.

The funds were to be used to build new classroom blocks in selected secondary schools around the country, to facilitate A-level classes. The government and the World Bank undertook this project with the major objective of increasing access to quality secondary education.

Also included in the plan, was a strategic intervention aimed at increasing access to post-S4 education level in order to consolidate the gains and success registered under Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) programmes.

According to the audit report, the project implementation status by July 31, 2014, $139,255,886.51 (92.8 per cent) of the credit had been disbursed and at the time of project closure a total $8,087,007.95 (5.4 per cent) was cancelled.

Another $2,657,105.54 (1.7%) from the disbursed portion of the loan was refunded to the bank. Although both the government and the World Bank performance rating was indicated as satisfactory, Muwanga says a lot of the schools didn’t achieve much from the project.

“Eighty-six of the planned schools were not constructed. In the circumstances, the project did not fully attain the desired project development objectives,” he said.

Ministry officials indicated to the auditor general’s office that the implementation modality adopted by the ministry and the World Bank regarding civil works was new and required strict adherence to procurement processes and preliminary activities which in effect led to the delay in project implementation, the report indicates.

The 86 schools have now been taken on by government and were to be completed in a phased which was scheduled to kick off the previous FY 2015/16.

By the time this report was submitted to parliament and the press, only 25 schools had received funds for total completion. 

“I await management’s commitment to the completion of the remaining schools,” Muwanga said.

CONCERNS

With new ministers having taken office, the report raised questions about the ministry’s level of accountability at a time when the government has vowed to crack the whip on corruption and financial leakages in all public departments.

The report is expected to be part of the business to be discussed by the parliamentary public accounts committee, when it begins hearings later this year. It will be interesting to see how ministry officials and school heads explain the discrepancies.

alitwaha9@gmail.com

“So why are they taking Bumpy away, Uncle?”  Dingo Pingo is confused

The boys sit sadly on the verandah.  Uncle Junior looks at their sad faces.  They have watched a minivan take the big dog away.  Uncle Junior explains, “They are driving Bumpy away because Bumpy stopped lapping milk from a dish.  Bumpy grew sharp teeth for tearing meat.  We no longer cooed the soft coo we coo to our own babies.  Bumpy stopped being a baby.  Bumpy became a Rottweiler.”

 “What did the humans expect of Bumpy?” 
 “Did they expect Bumpy to remain a puppy?”
 “Babies are cute.  Babies are harmless.  Humans love babies.  They love the babies of mammals.” 

 “But they are not so interested in the babies of invertebrates and reptiles.  Baby snakes do not cause humans to coo and sigh.”
 “Bumpy became a snake?”
 “In a way, Bumpy became a snake.  Bumpy stopped being cute and began to frighten people.  Bumpy frightened the children when they wanted to play freely in the compound.  Bumpy frightened the neighbors.  Bumpy frightened the hopeful visitors at the gate.”

 “Bumpy became too strong to play with children.  He knocked them and bit them.  He chased them and trampled them.” 
 “Big Bumpy was no longer a friendly neighbor.  His bark was loud, and he jumped over walls.”
 “Bumpy’s sharp teeth, huge feet, and wide chest frightened visitors.  Those who hooted and those who knocked would return home rather than enter the compound with Bumpy.”
 

“Now the minivan is driving Bumpy away.” 
 “Do humans expect a lion not to roar?  Do people expect a hyena not to attack?  Do people expect a puppy not to grow into a dog?”
 “What do people expect?”
What do you think?
Why does Uncle tell the story of Bumpy?

Why did people take Bumpy away from the village?
How do the children learn how to travel using the pineapple and the blanket?
How do they know they are visiting the past?

What problems can visitors have when visiting a new place?
Why do the children enjoy traveling?
Why does the pineapple stop being amazing?
How can the children travel in Africa now that they no longer have the amazing pineapple?

anansi99@hotmail.com

The principal economist at the education ministry, Nelson Wanambi, has called for a compliance policy on data provision by all education institutions and development partners.

Speaking at a validation workshop for the first-ever Uganda National Education Accounts (NEA) report recently, Wanambi said there was a serious need for the policy to harmonise information flow in the sector.

“The idea was to get a comprehensive view on funding education but we could not get information from some private primary and secondary schools and data on off-budget funds from education development partners,” Wanambi said.

“Yet, when we want this information, it should be declared and given to us so that we can be able to estimate our budget expenditures on education.”

Launched in 2013, the NEA report is a collaborative effort of the ministry, Ubos, Unesco International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-Unesco), the IIEP-Pôle de Dakar, and the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) to track financial flows to education from the year 2009 to 2014.

With financial support of the Global Partnership for Education, Uganda was selected as one of eight countries to take part in the three-year project. According to the report, most of the expenditure by private institutions is not readily available to the sector.

“Financing from income-generating activities of schools and institutions is poorly captured and reported,” says the report.

Unesco policy planning programme specialist Ousmane Diouf said some private schools deliberately refused to give them their financial records.

“It looks like private institutions do not report to anyone financially. One person there told me that ‘this is private property. It is our school and we don’t have to report our financial records’,” Ousmane said.

His concern came about after realising that private institutions in Senegal, Kenya, Congo Brazzaville and Gulf Arab states financially report directly to the education ministry, despite charging higher fees compared to Uganda.

He asked that private institutions be tasked to report to the ministry since schools are not set up as a social service but to make money. However, Wanambi offered that some school owners were worried that they would incur heavier taxation if they disclosed their revenue streams.

“In the interim, as the policy is awaited, a circular should be issued to all accounting officers in education institutions to provide the financial details,” he said.

However, John Bosco Mujjumba, the chairman National Private Educational Institutions Associations-Uganda, an umbrella body for private owners, was quick to defend his counterparts.

“Government cannot demand to know our financial status when it does not pay our teachers, buy us scholastic material or build or even paint our structures,” Mujjumba said.

Speaking in proverbial terms, he added that one cannot ask to be paid by someone who “owes them nothing”.

nangonzi@observer.ug

When Hilda Namakula joined her A-levels at Mbogo High School in 2011, all she dreamed of was going to the university, do her a course, later get a job and finally settle down and enjoy life like any other youth.

However, when she reached the university, the environment openly showed that it was not going to be easy to get a job right after graduation; so, she had to look for a strategy that would make her relevant in the job market.

“Most of my friends and relatives had degrees but the challenge was that every office they knocked at, employers wanted a person with skills and experience, something most of them did not have,” she said at an interview last week.

She decided on a plan to get the ‘skills’ while carrying out her studies at the university.

“I started volunteering right from my first year; my main aim was not to get the money but to acquire skills, and now I have enough connections and the skills,” she said.

Namakula has volunteered with organizations such as Save the Children, Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and Action for Development, among many others. The Social Science graduate from Makerere University has just completed a monitoring and evaluation training.

Namakula is among several youths in East Africa surveyed for a report by Restless Development, in partnership with MasterCard Foundation. The report, which includes data from more than 400 interviews with youth, government representatives and other stakeholders across the region, found that East African youth are worried over the disparity between the skills acquired from formal education and those required in the job market.

“The youth we interviewed argued that while many invest a lot of resources into the financially-demanding education process, university graduates need extra training including volunteering in order to enhance their employability,” said Namakula, one of the researchers.

She added: “I have observed first-hand the sense of disempowerment that comes with youth unemployment; through this research, I can be part of the solution by gaining an in-depth understanding of this problem and being a voice for youth.”

Steve Cumming, senior programme manager, Youth Livelihoods, at MasterCard Foundation, said the research shows that young people are committed to improving their skill set by themselves,” he said.

Cumming added, “Youth recognize the gap between the types of skills they gain within formal education systems and the types of skills employers seek hence they go a step ahead by themselves to acquire the skill.”

He observed that young people are taking proactive steps such as engaging in volunteer work and using information and communications technology (ICT) to acquire the skills they need for employment.

“Young people were in charge throughout the process that led to this report,” said Greg Lavender, Uganda country director for Restless Development. “In addition to learning from the findings, we hope that others will be inspired to fully-engage young people as leaders in shaping and delivering youth-focused initiatives.”

Isabelle Kubwimana, a youth researcher from Rwanda, said the youth continue to face a number of barriers that impede their ability to earn a sustainable means of living, including gender inequality, limited access to land and limited access to information and technology.

OFFICIALS SPEAK OUT

Mondo Kyateeka, the assistant commissioner in charge of Youth at the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said that empowering young people has higher returns and greater impact to the country and the report would help in forming policies to reduce unemployment.

“The ministry is planning  to introduce labour market information systems which will inform higher institutions of learning about the skills required in the job market; on that way, higher institutions of learning will formulate courses that will respond to existing problems.” he said

He added: “The youth should stop treating business as a secondary option but you should rather embrace it as a career of choice, we understand there are skills challenges but the government will address them.”

Anne Adeke, the National Female Youth MP, proposed that government overhaul the entire education curriculum to match the national development plan, urging the government to start career education at primary level.

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

A 10,000 pounds donation from 11 students from the Royal Russell School in the UK is making wonders at Two Bridges Nursery and Primary School in Wakiso, writes NICHOLAS BAMULANZEKI.

Two years ago, Two Bridges school was on the verge of being closed down due to lack of basic requirements such as classroom blocks and qualified teachers while the sanitation was horrible.

Because it was a community school, the closure was going to affect several families in the area, many of whom couldn’t afford to take their children to school. At the time, Two Bridges had 80 students and stopped at primary four.

That is when Naome Senteza and her husband took over it. Senteza is a former teacher in the UK and explored her experience and connections to ensure that the school gets some support.

Last year, Two Bridges got a donation of 10,000 pounds plus educational materials such as books, uniforms from students of Royal Russell School in the UK. Within the last few months, Two Bridges had managed to construct an administration block and two new classrooms, which were officially launched on July 22.

Two Bridges is unique in that it is offers a child-centred curriculum. Pupils learn through hands-on exercises to instill creativity and imagination. The school now has a nursery section and the number of pupils has also grown to 150 even though it stops at primary five.

“This is a wonderful gesture from the Royal Russell School and it has turned around the whole community,” said Senteza. “We plan to expand to have primary seven by next year.”

Lucy Schofield, one of the Royal Russell School students that travelled to the school, was impressed with what she saw. “We are glad to positively impact on the lives of the unprivileged and also happy that it has been put to good use,” she said.

Walking into his office at Makerere, this university don, who doesn't want his name disclosed, is excited.

His June salary is late, but he is not worried. He thinks it will all work out for the best. MOSES TALEMWA has been looking at a financial puzzle that could explode into a strike, but already has leaders panicking, while the staff have literally put their feet up in the air.

In August 2014, university dons at Makerere went on strike demanding for better pay. Their efforts led to a meeting between the president and the university council and management at State House in Entebbe.

At the end of the meeting, the president agreed to increase their pay in a phased manner, with university professors promised a salary of Shs 15m per month, as the highest earners. The detailed discussions around increasing the salaries were left to the finance ministry to handle with the university dons.

As expected, the measure benefitted other academic staff at all public universities, and eventually administrative staff. This was because there was a popular call for the state to take over the public universities’ payroll.

However, somewhere in the blueprint, the dons did not see the potential dangers. For one, The Observer has seen some of the communication between the finance permanent secretary, Keith Muhakanizi and the university secretary at Makerere, relating to the salary increment.

For instance, in a June 29, 2016 letter to Makerere, Muhakanizi referred to three conditions that the university leadership had agreed to, before money would be remitted, for payment of salaries.

STIFF CONDITIONALITIES 

The university administration agreed that as a condition for the government taking over, all internally-generated finances would be remitted to the treasury. This included monies generated from research grants to the university, as well as tuition and other fees from students. These monies constitute about 40 per cent of what is eventually remitted to the university each month.

Secondly, the universities were barred from spending any locally-generated funds at source (at the university). “Any defiance of this conditionality would result in ZERO remittances for the quarter,” Muhakanizi wrote, in part.

Thirdly, the university secretary is mandated to formally appropriate funds to various units in the institution by the 18th of each month and furnish the treasury with the same, before monies are remitted.

Muhakanizi also insisted that the university would have to remit salaries and other taxable incomes such as NSSF, PAYE (Pay as You Earn) and withholding tax ahead of all other expenses. What this means is that after the university secretary has appropriated the expenses, the Bank of Uganda would remit salaries to the institution and the remaining funds to the Uganda Revenue Authority and National Social Security Fund.

DEEP CONSEQUENCES

According to the don referred to above, the university administration may have sought a salary increment, and even hoped that with the state taking over the payroll, the institution would be better off. However, the move will come with some serious consequences.

“I expect that after all this is done, the university secretary, and not the vice chancellor, will be the most important personality here,” he says. “He determines who gets any money or no money at all.”

Another don argued that the public universities had inadvertently pursued a move towards transparency.

“In the past, the officials here would allocate huge funds for particular areas; then reallocate them to themselves as extra allowances since they accounted to no one … leaving us with peanuts,” he said. “Now things will change a bit … we are all accountable to the treasury and it will be difficult to tamper with funds in advance.”

Prof Lawrence Mugisha, a committee member of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association, agreed.

“These officials may have underestimated the situation that they now find themselves in,” Prof Mugisha said. “Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, when he was vice chancellor had warned of such a scenario and was keen to maintain the university’s autonomy.”

For his part, the former vice chancellor was unavailable for a comment last week, but has previously insisted that Makerere has the resources and assets to improve its situation.

“Our only problem is to have the right managers in key positions; after that, we can derive a lot of income from our various assets, including land in Kololo, Katanga and Katalemwa,” Baryamureeba said in 2009.

SALARY DELAYS

The matter was brought to a head early last week, with university dons threatening to go on strike ahead of the start of the first semester, on August 5, unless their pay was remitted.

This was compounded by reports from the finance ministry, that the university’s Bank of Uganda account had been credited with salaries, but Makerere would not be able to access the funds until the agreed-upon conditions were met.

With the situation getting more tense, the vice chancellor Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu decided to take leave, while the deputy vice chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, went out of the country.

“I’m waiting to see what will happen,” a don said. “The state has created conditions to avoid a strike, but it looks inevitable since those who have been eating our monies have nowhere to hide now.”

It was left to the university secretary, Charles Barugahare, to carry out the required due diligence and furnish it to the finance ministry by Wednesday, as requested.

Then on Friday an email was sent out to staff, notifying them that June salaries would be available by today. However, July salaries would await some guidance from the Public Service ministry.

mtalemwa@observer.ug

Ugandan writer, Acan Innocent Immaculate has been nominated alongside other 10 African budding writers for the 2016 joint Writivism Prizes .

The shortlisted unpublished writers are from Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.

Boyi by Gloria Mwaniga Odary (Kenya), SunDown by Acan Innocent Immaculate (Uganda), Jene suis pas rentree by Laure Gnagbé Blédou (Ivory Coast), The Swahilification of Mutembei by Abu Amirah (Kenya) and The List by Aito Osemegbe Joseph (Nigeria) have been nominated under the 4th Annual Short Story Prize.

For the Kofi Addo Prize for Non Fiction, the shortlisted are Lost Futures by S. Y. Tetteh (Ghana), Missing Wombs by Ama Asantewa Diaka (Ghana), Another One of Those by Kofi Konadu Berko (Ghana).

Redscar K'Oyuga (Kenya), Okwudili Nebeolisa (Nigeria) and Gbenga Adesina (Nigeria) have been nominated for the Okot P Bitek Prize for Poetry in Translation.

According to the statement, winners of the Short Story and the Poetry in Translation prizes will be announced at the 4th Writivism festival on Saturday August 27 and 28, 2016 respectively. The winner of the Non Fiction prize will be announced at a ceremony to be confirmed later in the month.

The winner of the Short Story Prize will take home a cash prize of $400 and take up a one month writing residency at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Short Story prize shortlisters will attend the Writivism festival and win $100 each. Winners of the Poetry in Translation and Non Fiction prizes will take home a cash prize of $500 each.

“Do you know what our president Thomas Jefferson said?” Dingo Pingo asks Justinian.
“Your president is not named Thomas Jefferson!  Your president is Barack Obama!” scolds Justinian. 

“His father is from Kenya!” Justinian adds proudly.
“Obama!  Kenya!” shouts Isabella.  She claps her hands and smiles big.

“Yes, President Obama is our president now, of course.  But I am talking about Thomas Jefferson.  He was the third president of the United States.  He was president two hundred years ago.”

“Two hundred years!  Wow.  That’s a long time.  Uganda does not yet have two hundred years,” marvels Justinian.
“It will.  But I am trying to tell you what President Jefferson said two hundred years ago,” reminds Dingo Pingo.
 “What did he say?”

“President Jefferson loved to walk.  He said that his mind did not work unless his legs were moving.  I feel the same way.  I need to walk in order to think.  I need to walk to talk.”
“Is this why we are walking now, Dingo?”

“Yes, this is why we are walking and talking now.”
“So, we are walking.  What are we talking about?”
“We should talk about what we did wrong,” says Dingo Pingo.  “What can we learn from that amazing pineapple?”

“Pineapple!” shouts Isabella, raising her blanket in the air.
“We learned so much!  We saw many parts of Africa!  We went to other times in history.   We learned a lot.”
“Yes,” replies Dingo Pingo, “but what else did we learn?”

“What do you mean?”
“What have we learned about ourselves?”
“Ourselves?  What do you mean, Dingo?”

“I mean, we must think about what we did wrong.”
“Wrong,” pronounces Isabella.
“What did we do wrong?”

“We did not respect the pineapple.  We received a great gift.  That pineapple was an amazing gift.  We used it and we abused it.”
“We did not abuse it, Dingo!  Why do you say that?”

“We did not use it carefully.  We did not care for it.”
“We cared for it, Dingo!”
“Justi, how can you say that?  We left it out on the floor for a dog to pick.  Do you consider that caring for it?”

anansi99@hotmail.com

The Japanese government has pledged to increase support to pupils in Acholi sub-region, to improve learning outcomes, years after the end of insurgency there.

Japan’s ambassador to Uganda, Kazuaki Kameda, said many pupils were suffering from the effects of the war, which include poverty and poor attitudes that see girls only valued as a source of labour or bride price.

Kameda, who was speaking at Obiya primary school in Gulu district last week, said his government had invested over Shs 560m in three schools in the sub region.

These include funds for the construction of dormitories for girls, to save them from the long walk to school, as well as other scholastic materials.

“Only a few girls are getting support, we intend to increase our aid here so that more girls can learn and be able to avoid old men who are going for 14-year-olds,” he said.

Kameda also toured various schools in Gulu and Agago districts, where he pledged even more support in this financial year, although he was reluctant to state how much was coming.

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

The Madhvani Foundation last week awarded 172 university scholarships worth Shs 711,000,000 to gifted but financially-challenged students for the year 2016/2017 academic year.

The award is the largest by the foundation, coming in the 14th year since the programme was reinstated in 2003.

Foundation board member Gabriel Opio explained that they had a tough task sifting through the over 1,100 applications, before 338 were shortlisted.

“The foundation received over 1,100 applications from all regions of the country, of which 338 were shortlisted for final face-to-face interviews. The final list of students chosen represents the most promising and deserving students we were able to find,” Opio said.

He added that they were confident the selected students would complete their studies and go on to play a valuable role in the country. Opio added that eastern Uganda dominated the scholarships awarded with 33%, followed by the central region at 27%.

Awardees are drawn from students admitted for such programmes as Engineering (43%), Commerce (37%), Medicine (27%) and Agriculture (21%).

The awardees can obtain their formal award letters at Madhvani offices in Industrial area, Kampala starting from August 31, 2016.

Title: The Adventures of Maganjo
Author: Johnson Grace Maganja
Available: All bookshops
Publisher: Maganja Publishers
Pages: 31  
Price: Shs 3,000
Book Reviewer: JUSTUS LYATUU

The Adventures of Maganjo is a simple, easy-to-read comic book for children of any reading age; the simple book has four stories. 

The four stories rotate around one character known as Maganjo, who stands out as a boy, who tries very hard to achieve what he goes for.

The author skillfully uses local scenes and city suburbs like Mutungo, Luzira, Kitintale and local and simple names which can be easily remembered by young people to drive his point home.

With a lot of simple illustrations and text, the author, apart from entertaining the young brains, wanted the book to impart the simple skills of reasoning, working a little harder, being independent and not shying away when people criticise on what they are trying to do.

The Adventures of Maganjo is also blended with an oral narrative story, without completely going off course. The author manages to end most of his stories with a relief for Maganjo, getting what they want in a way. In so doing, the book restores a smile to the young reader.

At the end of each story told, the author skillfully gives the reader insightful lessons to learn or advice; all the stories end in an inspirational manner to the young readers.

She is among the 74 candidates awarded certificates for winning the national primary essay writing competition 2016, for Kampala region, at Nakasero primary school recently.

Kasubo, a P7 pupil at Sure Prospect PS in Entebbe, moved many to tears when her essay on saving, was picked as one of the winners.

The competition, set by the Bank of Uganda, to mark their 50th anniversary, was set on the theme, Why saving money is good with primary schools from across the country invited to participate.

Kasubo explained the importance of saving.

“Saving is more important to someone’s life than borrowing or begging. It’s good to save and avoid unnecessary debts,” she wrote.

Susan Nakimuli, who is blind and is also a pupil of Sure Prospect PS, said she had learnt the importance of saving when her mother saved money and bought her an expensive braille machine to help her read and write.

As Bank of Uganda celebrates 50 years of existence in conjunction with the ministry of Education and Sports and GIZ International Cooperation, they supported the competitions to promote financial literacy which will help children appreciate the importance of saving.

“In Africa, we have a problem of saving but when we learn the culture of saving, it will enable Uganda transform from a peasant society to an upper middle-income country by 2040,” Bank of Uganda Secretary Susan Kanyemibwa said.

For her efforts, Kasubo and 73 of her fellow winners got a 4X6 mattress and a certificate.

She qualified to participate in the national round of the essay competition, to be held before the end of the year in Kampala. Kasubo said she had composed her own essay and was pleasantly surprised that she could win.

zurah@observer.ug

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has urged government to consider sponsoring master's and PhD students.

Speaking during the launch of The State of Higher Education and Training in Uganda 2013/14 report last week, the NCHE executive director, Prof John Opuda-Asibo, said PhDs are critical since people must teach what they have gone through and beyond, while inspiring others.

“Government stopped sponsoring master’s programmes in 1998. This has created a vacuum; [in] those days both undergraduates and master’s students were few so it was easy but now, the undergraduate numbers are high,” Prof Opuda-Asibo said.

He added that more funds should be allocated to facilitate researchers in the oil and gas sector and industry, among others. The report, commissioned by NCHE, indicates that academic staff numbers have not kept pace with the growth in student enrolment.

“The number of staff holding master’s degrees is 3,793 denoting a slight improvement in numbers from 3,455 in 2012/13. PhDs in 2013/14 improved from 793 to 1, 096,” reads the report.

“PhD holders in academia are not adequate for the existing demand; those who chose to maintain teaching jobs are often shared on part-time basis, leaving no time for research.”

According to the report, there was a slight improvement in staff training from 1,335 in 2012/13 to 1,660 in 2013/14. However, most postgraduate degree holders have either been self-sponsored or gone for external funding, usually from foreign donors.

Last year, the Higher Education Students’ Financing Board (HESFB) asked for an extra Shs 1.5bn from government to give loans to students pursuing PhDs. The request is yet to be honoured.

justuslyatuu08@gmail.com

After 30 years in the diaspora, the author of the storyline that produced the widely-loved 1988 movie, The Consequences, is back in town.

Prof Harriet Masembe (a Ugandan-born English lecturer) has returned home to help with teaching the language to students.

In a lengthy interview with The Observer, Prof Masembe explained that on her return late last year, she was disheartened to note the drop in standards of English language usage and teaching.

The highly-lauded academic, now staying at her home in Makindye, said she had the opportunity to continue working in a university but had elected to work with students looking to improve their appreciation of the English language.

“I’m happy to sit with a student and show them how to improve their writing … write their CV (resume), job application letters and preparations for exams in English,” she said.

Asked why she would opt to teach English to teenagers, rather than going back into academia, Prof Masembe was emphatic: “If the opportunity [to get back into academia] came up, fine … but for now I’m focused on the youngsters who want to improve their English.

She is particularly scarred by several visits to government-aided primary schools where classes are crowded and teachers are struggling to impart some knowledge.

“These teachers are overwhelmed and I think classes should be smaller than they are now … to make sense,” she remarks.

Asked about her life in filmmaking, she says she is proud of preparing the storyline for The Consequences.

“I was trying to develop a film that would teach children about the dangers of HIV/Aids in those dark days … the only place to film it was Zimbabwe, which had a well-developed industry,” she relates.  She used the caricature of a typical African situation, where the female student would get pregnant and get expelled.

“Normally, the boy would stay on to study, while that would be the end of the girl’s education, but this time, we changed by getting both Richard and Ritah expelled to show students the dangers of premarital sex.”

She is pleased to learn that Joel Phiri (who acted as Richard in the move) is now a successful movie producer in South Africa, while Yvette Ogiste (who played Ritah) is an actress based in Zimbabwe.

“If the opportunity to write another storyline presented itself, I would embrace it, but for now I’m focused on teaching students English.”

When the Special Needs and Inclusive Education (SNIE) policy was drafted in 2011, children with disabilities (CWDs) were expected to have equal education opportunities.

But as YUDAYA NANGONZI found, there has been no concerted effort to push for implementation of the policy, leaving CWDs struggling to cope in ordinary schools.

Sarah Ayesiga, the principal education officer for Special- Needs Education (SNE), says the policy has been subjected to unending scrutiny by cabinet and former education minsters.

“Whenever the policy reached cabinet, fresh issues would come up. Cabinet said the policy requires a lot of money but our special-needs department gets the lowest portion on the education budget,” Ayesiga said.

She feels the policy should already have been passed but, “the attitude, and maybe lack of awareness, on special needs of our education minsters was not good at all”.

However, not all is lost. Government institutions are now strategising to ensure that inclusive education is given priority.

Ayesiga told The Observer that with support from Unicef, the SNE department is set to validate the policy to address the contentious issues like limited data on the SNE learners, teachers, funds and infrastructure.

Since April 1, the education ministry has been registering all SNE teachers across the country in order to come up with a comprehensive report on the shortage of these teachers.

“We keep crying to government that we don’t have qualified SNE teachers but we even don’t know how many we have trained, left the profession or even willing to work as teachers instead of administrators,” Ayesiga said.

So far, 1,200 special-needs teachers have registered at the department’s office located on Legacy towers in Nakasero. Ayesiga said teachers who cannot access their offices are currently registered through their respective district inspectors of schools after presenting their academic qualifications for validation.

Currently, there are 17 special-needs primary schools, 108 primary schools with units/annexes, four special-needs secondary schools, 18 secondary schools with units/annexes and one PTC with a unit/annex in the country. According to Ayesiga, the department is seeking to find the appropriate teacher to student ratio in the schools. Such statistics will be incorporated in the policy before they send it back to cabinet.

Starting this month, the department will also validate the non-formal education policy, developed to run concurrently with the SNIE policy. This policy, also not yet passed by cabinet, targets disadvantaged children like pastoralists, refugees and street children, according to Ayesiga.

Meanwhile, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) is also working on a separate policy on inclusive education. Daniel Alenyo, the Uneb senior examinations officer for SNE, said discussions on the matter are at an advanced stage.

“We are moving on well with our policy. We hope by the time it reaches cabinet, it is not stalled [like that of Special-Needs and Inclusive Education],” Alenyo said.
The Uneb SNE desk handles PLE, UCE, UACE and exams of Business, Technical and affiliated institutions. 

At a recent consensus-building meeting on inclusive education at Metropole hotel, Kyambogo University special-needs lecturer Dr Eria Paul Njuki urged the education ministry to treat inclusion as a way of making every student welcome with their unique needs and learning styles.

“At no time does inclusion require classroom curriculum, or the academic expectations, to be watered down. On the contrary, inclusion enhances learning for students, both with and without special needs,” Dr Njuki said.

He explained that inclusion has been misinterpreted for mainstreaming which holds that students with special needs be placed in the general education setting solely when they can meet traditional academic expectations with minimal assistance.

Njuki urged schools of the future need to ensure that each learner receives the individual attention, accommodation, and support that will result in meaningful learning.

SHORTAGE OF STAFF

While the SNE department is making efforts to validate the policies, Ayesiga wants staffing needs addressed. These include an assistant commissioner for SNE, one senior education officer, two principal education officers; one for inclusive education and non-formal education at the ministry.

“The one for inclusive education died in November last year and we don’t know when he will be replaced,” she said.

The department is also short of a secretary, with an office attendant doubling as one to serve the department’s only six staff.

nangonzi@observer.ug

Two weeks ago, police in Rubirizi district came in for a roasting after they released a defilement suspect, a one Umaru, under unclear circumstances.

Umaru, a 48-year-old teacher at Nyabubare primary school was arrested for defiling and impregnating his 12-year-old pupil. As JACQUELINE BANGIRANA reports, parents are now bewildered over how to protect their children from sex predators.

The pupil, whose name is protected, had been staying in a hostel at the school, owing to the lengthy distance from her home. However, she was found at Umaru’s house, and she confessed to have been living there.

While the police and local government leaders argue about the scandal, parents are scratching their heads to find ways to protect their children from sex predators.

According to Jackson Wanzala, a senior male teacher at Kitante primary school, the problem is caused by concerns over when sex education should happen. In many areas it is a taboo subject, but Wanzala believes, “it should be carried out at any age but it should be categorised according to their age”.

Stephen Langa, the executive director of Family Life Network, agrees with Wanzala.

“The first sex education a child gets is from the way their parents behave. Children should get this information when they are emotionally mature. Parents have the biggest influence on children because that’s how God designed it,” he says.

Lillian Butele-Kelle, a retired Uganda musician and author of The Bad Touch, a book about her experience with sexual molestation, has been touring several schools speaking to parents and teachers about how children should be exposed to sex education. 

“The advantages of teaching children about the bad touch cannot be underestimated, because the scars can last a lifetime,” she said. “I wish I had read such a book [The Bad Touch] as a child, perhaps my own abuse could have been prevented.”

NEW TRENDS

Butele-Kelle’s advice and that of others above is being followed by a growing number of mothers, most of them younger than 40 years. In the past, parents rarely broached the subject, fearing that it would turn the children into sex-crazied teenagers.

Journalist Diana Kagere Mugerwa agrees with Wanzala. The mother of four says she has had to talk to two of her older children (all girls) about how to relate with the opposite sex.

“With the older girl, who is about to join the university, we started a year ago ... that is when I discovered that there was a man already scheming to take advantage of her innocence,” she says. “With my six-year-old, we have been talking about the bad touch and such things.”

Lydia Ainomugisha, a mother of two, says she has been advising to her firstborn daughter, now aged three, not to allow bad touches from strangers or even neighbours.

“I’m cautious with some male strangers carrying the baby for too long and have taught her to bathe her private parts,” she says.

Tracy Namusoke, a mother of a seven-year-old, says she was compelled to start the talk two years ago.

“My son asked me what private parts were; that is when I [realised] I had to give him that talk,” she says.
 
TECHNICALITIES

Jackson Wanzala, the teacher at Kitante PS, mentioned above, says parents need to get to the grips of imparting sex education to their children early. His insistence is borne out of a 2014 Unicef report, which indicates that the average age of first sexual intercourse among children is nine years - especially in the rural areas!

“I encourage parents to create good relationships with their children so that their children are open enough to ask them about sex,” he says. “Especially since we are in the internet age where anything can be discovered ... a child going on to ask you about sex with all the information they are exposed to from the internet and media speaks a lot about the kind of relationship you have with them.”

He suggests that pupils in lower primary (p1 to p3) should be given protective information, like don’t allow bad touches from strangers, especially certain sensitive body parts. He suggests that those from P4 to P5 are ready for more information.

In upper primary, one should give them more information, seeing as they are already learning about reproductive health. Tell them the consequences of such practices like HIV, pregnancies and also tell them the appropriate time in life to engage in sex.

Before you can balk at his advice, Wanzala asks how parents would respond if they realised that their children had been fed on the wrong information about sex. Hope Nabukenya, the director of Safety First Child Institute, an organisation that trains children and adults about child sexual abuse, agrees with Wanzala in saying that talking about sex education depends on how you are bring it out.

Dressing up decently is another thing you can teach at a young age.

“It is easier for a child to keep up a habit when they learn it as a child,” she adds. “Helping them know it is alright to come to you when they are afraid, helps build a stronger relationship with the parents.”

She notes that in some cases, sexual abuse starts in children at an early age, and appreciating a child’s language and mannerisms is important.

“This is because your child could be facing abuse but doesn’t know it is abuse because they are ignorant about sex. In some instances when they are young and there is probably no penetration, they may not mind the abuse until they are older,” she explains. “By the time they realise what has been happening to them, they are traumatised and may hate themselves for the rest of their lives.”

Hope believes that empowering children with knowledge is very essential, as it may actually save your child from child sexual abuse. A Kampala parent, who declined to be named, believes that there is a need to go back to traditional methods of teaching sex education, where children were initiated at the age of 12 years, in some cases. 

He cites the traditions of western Uganda and Buganda, where teenagers would be told about sex, shortly before getting married.

“Between age of 15 and 18, one would have an idea but would get a clear picture only when they are getting married,” he said. However, he concedes that today’s generation of children are exposed to a lot of sexual content at an early age.

NEW GUIDELINES

To support the strategies suggested by Wanzala, Kelle and others, the education ministry is setting up a handbook, to be used in primary schools in the country. The handbook details measures that teachers and parents can use to introduce sex education to children, starting in P4 (usually from the age of nine onwards).

According to the assistant commissioner for Private Schools, Ismael Mulindwa, the handbook is the result of extensive consultation due to the many issues coming up with sexuality education among parents and teachers.

Mulindwa, who is also in charge of Health/HIV in schools, explained that they were concerned about reports of some civil society organisations circulating material in schools on homosexuality, without authorisation from the ministry.

“What we are doing as a ministry is to guide these people on how they go to the schools and the packages they give children. We have not yet penalised any individuals on that issue but our principle is simple.”

He said the ministry was determined to ensure that whatever message goes to schools is age-appropriate.

“The messages must be culturally and religiously sensitive. If the messages do not address any of the three, then they cannot be supplied in schools,” he said.

“I cannot give a time frame when the framework [handbook] will be ready because we are now doing consultations with quite a number of stakeholders ... they include the faith-based organisations, traditional and cultural institutions, among others.”

However, as the discussions continue schools are now banned from holding sex education until the framework is ready.

jbangirana4@gmail.com

Dingo Pingo insists, “We did not respect the pineapple.  We received a great gift.  That pineapple was an amazing gift.  We used it and we abused it.”

“We did not abuse it, Dingo, we cared for it!”
“Justi, how can you say that?  We left it out on the floor for a dog to pick.  Do you consider that caring for it?  Oh, we neglected it.  We were irresponsible.”
“We are responsible kids, Dingo!  We are!”

“We are!” agrees Isabella.
“But the pineapple is gone.  How do you explain that?”
Justinian falls silent.  He thinks about what Dingo Pingo is saying.  Isabella is silent also.

Suddenly, Justinian has an idea!  He lifts his face quickly.  His eyes are bright.  He stops walking and faces Dingo Pingo.
“Let’s find another!” he shouts excitedly.
“Nother!” shouts Isabella.  Her smile is so big.

“Another what?” asks Dingo Pingo.
“Another amazing pineapple!  Let’s find another!”
“Another?” wonders Dingo Pingo.

“Another!  Then we can continue our travels through time and through Africa!”
Justinian is very happy about his idea.
“Do you think there is another?”

“Why not?  We found one amazing pineapple.  Why shouldn’t there be another in the garden?”
“Garden!” shouts the little girl with the pink blanket.
“Another!  Okay!  Let’s go!”
“Let’s go!  Go!  Go!” Isabella shouts with excitement.  She turns and begins to run toward home.  Her pink blanket bounces behind her on the murram.

After supper, the boys say good night to Uncle Junior. 
“You are going to sleep now?” Uncle is surprised.  The boys usually want to play games and read books.  Uncle usually has to send them to bed.
“Yes, uh, we are tired.” Justinian explains.

“Tired.  Very tired,” agrees Dingo Pingo.
“Tired!” cries Isabella.  Isabella is still awake.  It is still early in the evening.
“Good night!” calls Justinian.

“Good night!” calls Dingo Pingo.
“Night!” calls little Isabella.
“Sleep well, boys,” bids Uncle Junior.
The boys are anxious to get to sleep.  They want morning to come quickly.  They have work to do in the morning.  They must search.

anansi99@hotmail.com

The government will soon close over 63 nursery and primary schools, operating under the Bridge International Academies (BIA) network.

The network, the largest and most controversial chain of commercial private schools worldwide, has been on a roll, establishing learning institutions almost every two months.

Education Minister Janet Museveni told parliament last week that she had based her decision on technical reports from her office, indicating that the schools did not respect national standards.

These ranged from concerns about “poor hygiene and sanitation [that] put the life and safety of the school children in danger,” to “material used [which] could not promote teacher pupil interaction”.

Bridge International Academies is a for-profit commercial chain of low-cost private schools backed by investors such as Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Pierre Omidyar (eBay), as well as the World Bank, and the US and British Governments.

It aims at providing education to 10 million pupils by 2025 and already runs over 450 schools in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and soon Liberia and India. The company has been particularly criticised for using a non-transparent system of entirely scripted and standardised curriculum, mostly designed in the US, delivered by untrained teachers reading the script from a tablet, while selling this scheme as “world-class education”.

The move follows a petition by several civil society groups, including Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) and the Forum for Education NGOS in Uganda (Fenu).

Reacting to the minister’s revelation, ISER Executive Director, Salima Namusobya said they were encouraged by the sector’s resolve.

“This decision, which is backed up by field visits of Ministry officials, confirms the grave concerns we have had about Bridge,” said Namusobya. 

“We have long been worried that BIA schools did not respect the government guidelines on basic requirements and minimum standards for schools for example regarding infrastructure, purposefully used unqualified teachers in order to reduce costs … in violation of Ugandan laws.”

For his part FENU executive director, Frederick Mwesigye, said that the ministry was acting in line recent resolution from the UN Human Rights Council that made it the duty of the government to close schools that are sub-standard or that lead to commercialisation of education.

“The Ugandan education system suffers from many shortcomings. However, it does not mean that any investors can come in and make profit out of the situation by delivering low-quality education while disregarding national authorities and standards,” Mwesigye said.

Acknowledging that the closure could result in a crisis, ISER Programme officer, Saphina Nakulima tasked the sector to work around ensuring a harmonious exercise.

“The Government now has to ensure that all children have access to free quality education and no child’s education [should] be disrupted,” she said.

“They made the wise decision to wait until the end of the term (early September) to close the Bridge schools, and we call on the authorities to use that time to help find alternative school for the children.”

Five youth organisations have started a movement to assist troubled children, especially those suffering from the consequences of drug abuse and other peer-related problems.

FourSum Uganda, Wrist House Uganda, and Vital Voices partnership with Nakulabye youth group, Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre and Mwana wa Ggwanga Foundation are currently leading the campaign, dubbed #EndChildTraffickingUG.

This is after they concluded that these teething problems are becoming prevalent in schools. Using drama and mentorship programmes, the organisations are meeting children, parents and communities either involved or reluctant to address the issues.

For instance, Agnes Namakula (not really name), a student at Nabisunsa Girl’s Secondary School in Wakiso, who was drawn into selling Cannabis Sativa ( also known locally as mairungyi) by her stepfather in Seete a trading centre, Mukono district in 2013.  

In 2014, Namakula was brought to Nabisunsa by her guardian to resume education. According to Allan Semiyagi, a teacher at the school, due to the increasing number of similar students, they have established counseling and health clubs to cope.

“Some students won’t reveal their situations but for those that have come out, it is alarming. These drama performances and counseling sessions have been helpful, opening their [students] eyes on the issue,” Semiyagi says.  

At Nabisunsa, each teacher is assigned 30 to 50 students for mentorship and counseling. It appears to be working as children like Namakula are slowly starting to cope with societal challenges.

The programme is being spread to several schools, including the St Lawrence group of schools.

jsekandi@gmail.com

A Makerere University lecturer has proposed that the government set up a procedure involving the private sector to improve the procurement of school text books.

Prof Elisam Magara says the education ministry ought to set up a process that involves private sector in the book chain (including authors, publishers, booksellers and consumers (schools) and the National Curriculum Development Centre in a coordinated structure that would ensure good quality school book production.

He says the current process relies more on the whims of private publishers. 

“Whereas the current procurement process ensures that government evaluates the school books and are tested through technical, pedagogical and cost evaluation, the system uses official structures with limited private sector participation and minds less on capital investment for the future development of the book industry in Uganda,” she said.

Prof Magara, who heads the Uganda Textbook-Academic and Non Fiction Authors Association (Utana), believes that the new system would help develop a formidable school book production programme.

“There is a need to support publishers in terms of capital development to produce school books, support for writers in critical areas of the school curriculum through grants, awards and training in textbook writing,” he says. [The system would] extend support [to] marketing authors’ products, and professional training for their editors, booksellers, writers and consumers (head teachers, librarians, and teachers) and curriculum support, quality assurance, and monitoring and evaluation, which all require a policy framework.

He cites statistics that show that the average cost of text books on the local market is $11 (about Shs 37,400) higher than other African countries like Nigeria at $4.61 (about Shs 15,647), and Kenya $3.8 (about Shs 13,800).

Prof Magara believes that establishing the local capacity for books to be developed in Uganda would make reading materials more affordable to learners.

“The NCDC would develop the curriculum, make it available to authors, who would then develop the relevant materials for publishers to print, and for book sellers to make,” Prof Magara said.

“[For instance], as the country is currently advocating for use of local languages, there is a need to support writing books especially interactive textbooks, and integrating the library development policy into the schoolbook provision programme.”

Prof Magara also believes that this would also improve the book to learner ration, which remains a challenge in schools. For instance, in primary schools, every seven, five and four pupils share one Mathematics textbook in P1 P2 and P3, respectively.

The student to book ratio is still high at 4:1; higher than the ministry target of one book per child. Social Studies has the least stock of textbooks among the basic subjects with a ratio of 24 pupils per textbook in P1, 18 in P2.

Things are a little better in secondary schools, where the policy has enabled each student to have a textbook in Mathematics and English language, while in Science the textbook ratio is 1:2.

Prof Magara is planning to discuss this programme further at a publisher-author partnership workshop, organised by Utana in collaboration with Uganda Publishers Association, with the support from Norwegian Association of non-fiction and translators in Kampala from October 3, 2016.

The workshop aims at fostering a positive relationship between authors and publishers, as well as an understanding of contractual relationships.

mtalemwa@observer.ug