Public-Private Partnerships Advance Secondary Education in Uganda

Uganda’s school system, despite having achieved encouraging progress in primary education, is currently unable to meet its population’s need for secondary schooling. To improve the situation, public-private partnerships like those of the PEAS organization (Promoting Equality in African Schools) are stepping in to create self-sustaining secondary schools in areas that need them most.

Uganda has increased its primary school enrollment rate to above 90%. Secondary school enrollment rates remain low, however, hovering around 25%. The lack of secondary schooling limits job opportunities for Uganda’s young, growing population, and often traps families in a cycle of poverty.

There are not enough secondary schools to meet the need, and those that exist are often poorly managed, and teachers often strike over missing and delayed paychecks. Promoting Equality in African Schools, a UK-based charity, is one organization promoting a new type of secondary school to address some of these problems.

PEAS schools operate as public-private partnerships. Funding from the charity is supplemented by the Ugandan government and tuition paid by parents. PEAS currently operates 21 schools in Uganda, and plans to expand to 100. The goal, according to PEAS founder John Rendel, is for charity funding to eventually taper off, leaving schools completely self-sustaining by the year 2021.

The PEAS model relies on structured curriculum and standards, with adequate monitoring and school accountability. Schools focus on providing access to high quality education to students from poor families.

PEAS schools charge a fee for tuition- a controversial move, as UNESCO findings have shown that any fee can deter poor families from enrolling their children. Susan Opok, the PEAS managing director, notes that although the fees are “a very big sacrifice” for some parents, they are necessary to pay teachers and ensure that schools can achieve financial independence in the future.

Though public-private partnership schools like those run by PEAS don’t solve every problem in the school system, they do create hope of wider access to better quality education for more students. And for a country like Uganda with tens of millions of youths approaching adulthood in need of education and employment, they are a huge step in the right direction.

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Written by Carla Drumhiller Smith