Primary school teachers in Uganda earn an average of 250,000 shillings ($100) a month, while secondary school teachers earn 450,000 shillings ($175). In 2011 the government promised to raise teachers’ pay, but now insists that it lacks the funds to do so.

James Tweheyo, leader of the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU), says the strike will continue until demands are met, and that teachers will resist any attempts to intimidate or harass them.

“We expect some government officials to visit some schools to intimidate some teachers, but… even if teachers are harassed to [go] to schools I am sure without doubt these teachers are not teaching,” he said.

UNATU officials recently met with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who appointed a commission to resolve the issue. Talks stalled, however, when UNATU representatives highlighted areas in the national budget where funds could be redirected to teacher salaries.

“We pointed out money which was meant for luxuries for ministers like entertainment, foreign trips and they want this money for end of year parties,” says Tweheyo.

Ofwono Opondo, a government spokesperson, told the press that it was not possible for the government to satisfy teachers’ demands at the moment.

The Ugandan government has found itself struggling to meet budget needs since the international community cut off aid to the country last year. As aid was suspended due to allegations of government corruption, questions as to why the country cannot find the money to pay its teachers may further damage the administration’s reputation.

According to UNATU, the government “holds the key” to ending the strike.  As soon as demands are met, Tweheyo says, teachers are ready to “settle down to class and teach these children to our best.”

Creative Commons Love: beL0VED on Flickr.com

Lead researchers for the project, which ran from October 2012 to March 2013, included Makerere University Professor Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo, Dr. Florence Kyoheirwe, and Dr. Carol Watson. According to Professor Bantebya, the researchers uncovered widespread discrimination against Ugandan girls with respect to education and empowerment, mostly rooted in religious beliefs, and cultural attitudes, norms, and practices.

Professor Bantebya cited cultural attitudes that consider boys to be more important than girls, and told the audience that factors like child marriage and unequal gendered division of household labor inhibit girls’ education.

“Despite government interventions to educate girls, progress is still held back by so many constraints. Our girls are given in marriage at an early stage for bride wealth [dowry]. Even some male teachers discriminate against girls, calling them less intelligent,” she declared.

To tackle the issue, the project’s researchers recommended a mass sensitization campaign, increased government focus on the problem, and a repeal of divorce and inheritance laws that discriminate against women.

Researchers plan to implement a second phase of study, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development. The next stage will compare trends between Uganda and other nations, including strategies used by other countries to overcome the problem.

Creative Commons Love: weapher on Flickr.com

According to Sibabrata Tripathi, the Indian High Commissioner to Kenya, Indian universities are popular because of the affordable cost, use of English, and the quality of education. Additionally, the institutions arrange for visas for the students, making the process easier on the students and parents.

Some of the courses that marketed to foreign students include Bachelor’s Degrees in: engineering, nursing, commerce, information and communication technology, and law.

Kenya, with 3,500 students in India, currently has the most African students there. Uganda is currently working with India to sign a pact to ease the student visa and temporary work permit process for students, due to a growing interest to study there.

There are currently 25,000 African students studying in 500 public and private universities throughout the country.

Creative Commons Love: Steven S. on Flickr

Regional Ministers of Education identified a total of thirteen main challenges prevalent in the region, including the lack of empirical policy development, planning, monitoring, and evaluation along with overall cooperation critical for effective implementation.

The heart of the discussion at the Forum laid on the EFA Acceleration Framework, also known as the “Big Push,” which contains additional five courses of action that are to expedite the EFA process. Other topics evaluated the progress and results brought about by EFA as well as Eastern Africa’s post-2015 agenda.

The Forum has culminated in the Kampala Commitment, a collective pledge signed by ten Eastern African countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania (Mainland) and Zanzibar, and Uganda. The Commitment’s purpose not only serves the achievement of EFA but also the post-2015 agenda for Eastern Africa. The ten countries will continue their cooperation till June of 2014, through comprehensive national assessments leading up to a final review of their progress.

The Forum first started in 2011 under the Mombassa Call for Action. This year, it was hosted by the Minister of Education and Sports of the Government of Uganda, supported by the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa and Uganda National Commission for UNESCO. The Republic of Rwanda will host the third one next year.

Creative Commons Love: United Nations Photo on Flickr.com

In the midst of a decades-long war several thousand children brave the threat of air raids to attend primary school in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The Sudanese government in Khartoum has been withholding education services from the population, but the Catholic Diocese of El Obeid funds the schools in the area. They plan to open a new secondary school next year, and recently opened a small teacher-training college.

The war is a conflict between black African, Christian rebels and an Arab, Islamic regime in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. In addition to withholding basic services, the Sudanese government continues to bar humanitarian aid organizations from the mountains.

As the fighting continues, however, the local people have revived the efforts to restore education. Bishop Massem Max Gassis, the head of the diocese, stated that the new teacher-training college is “the future nucleus of education in the Nuba Mountains.” His hope is that the college will provide the Nuba people a measure of self-sufficiency and serve as an impetus for the continuation and spread of schools in the region.

A Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, with South Sudan seceding in 2011, leaving the rebel party to continue the war in the Nuba mountains. When fighting resumed in mid-2011, close to 100 primary schools, and the only two secondary schools, shut down. Across five rebel-controlled counties, there are approximately 36,300 students in 141 primary schools. However, the population is estimated to be as high as one million.

The most qualified teachers were expatriates from Kenya and Uganda, and fled when the fighting resumed. The children also fled the schools to remain in the protected rocky hills of their homes. Approximately 20,000 students stopped attending schools.

As the fighting enters its third year, the local people hope to retain a level of normalcy in their lives, and education provides it. Patrick Alalo, the principal of a primary school in Kauda, stated, “Education is so important- without it we are useless.”

Creative Commons Love: Rita Willaert on Flickr.com

In Uganda only 30% of students who begin primary school manage to complete it. According to Dr. Hilda Tadria, of the Mentoring and Empowering Program for Young Women, the statistics are even worse for girls.

“Yes, only 30% complete primary seven. But of this 30%, the majority are boys,” she said.

According to Dr. Tadria girls often drop out due to unintended pregnancy. Factors like a lack of sanitary materials and having to share latrines with boys also play a part in this problem.

Dr. Chrysostom Muyingo, higher education minister, says that students also drop out due to poverty. Many children, especially orphans, cannot afford school fees. The government, he says, realizes that it has a duty to educate them.

The committee in charge of the reintegration project plans to research effective methods and begin readmitting dropouts early next year.

This move is part of a wider awareness of the need for change in Uganda’s educational system. Recent events such as a meeting of the Uganda Women’s Network to discuss gender equality, and the government’s Skilling Uganda project, intended to promote technical skills among graduates, have kept public discourse open and the government in search of new ways to improve education.

Creative Commons Love: MaishaElonai on Flickr.com

The report was launched in Kampala, where the United Nations Development Programe (UNDP) senior economic advisor Alex Warren-Rodrigues pointed out that although Uganda’s global ranking has not changed, it has made great progress in education and health when compared to the last 20 years.

One of the Ugandan government’s most progressive decisions was introducing free education, boosting their education sector and championing Uganda as a role model for the rest of Africa.

It is expected that Uganda’s educational focus will continue as the government has decided to allocate close to sh1.4 trillion to the education sector throughout 2013. The source of this wealth needs to be considered however, as much of the money is funded by donors and international financial institutions.

Proof of their decisive success has been supported by Rodrigues, who states, “Today, Ugandans are better off than they were 20 years ago despite the fact that the rankings have remained the same.  Life expectancy has improved and the education levels have also improved. However, we note that maternal mortality rate among women and the quality of education remain issues that need to be addressed.”

The country is still below average in provision of basic human needs to stimulate human and economic growth, the report adds. The report however emphasizes that economic growth alone does not automatically translate into human development progress.
“Pro-poor policies and significant investments in people’s capabilities can expand access to decent work and provide for sustainable progress,” the report says.

“To sustain human development for the generations to come,” Rodrigues said, “Uganda and other countries need to address the issues of inequality, unemployment, democracy and education.”

Creative Commons Love: uusc4all on Flikr

The Uganda government is expected to recruit up to 10,000 teachers in primary schools in order to make up for massive teacher shortages. Assistant commissioner for primary education Tony Mukasa-Lusambu stated during the district education officers and stakeholders’ workshop at Speke Resort Munyonyo that recruitment efforts would begin this February in all districts.

At the workshop, Lusambu declared that every Primary Seven school must have a minimum of seven teachers, a head teacher inclusive. There ought also to be a pupil-teacher ratio of no greater than 53 pupils to every teacher. Although the average pupil to teacher ratio in Uganda has improved to about 50 to one, it is not uncommon to see primary school classes of eighty pupils led by a single teacher.

Would-be teachers will apply to a district service commission, which will maintain a shortlist of teachers for interviews and appointments. The commission will keep a back-up of teachers on standby, in case an instructor passes away, quits, is terminated, etc.

Results on the Primary Leaving Exams (PLE) indicate that urban schools performed better than rural ones. The gap in performance is likely to due to a shortage of teachers and absent pupils.

The pupil to teacher ratio in secondary schools are much lower (about nineteen to one), but that may be due to the fact that so few Ugandan children even attend secondary schools in the first place: little more than twenty percent.

Creative Commons Love: IICD at Flickr.com

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has revealed an improvement in test scores for the Primary Leaving Examination. This year, 88.4% of test takers passed the exam, compared to 86.4% in 2011. The total number of test takers who passed the exams also increased since last year, from 444,815 to 480,067. This number is some 50,000 greater than that of 2010: 431,706.

UNEB executive secretary Mathew Bukenya stated, “The report from Chief Examiners indicated that generally, the quality of candidates’ work has improved, compared to that of the previous years,”

There were a total of 565,663 registered test takers, and 20,989 (3.7%) students did not show up. 1,603 candidates had their scores withheld for alleged examination malpractice. Additionally, there was a noticeable gender gap in test results. In general, boys performed better than girls.

Students seemed to perform best on English and social studies, while continuing to fall behind in math and sciences.

Uganda spends approximately 3.98% of its GNI on education, placing it 89th among 168 nations. The United States ranks 67th, spending 4.79% of its GNI. However, in terms of public expenditure on education, Uganda ranks 43rd, allocating 18.29% of public funds in this sector. This proportional amount places it well ahead of the US.

Creative Commons Love: IICD at Flickr.com

The British government’s Department for International Development (DFID) is pulling its aid to the Ugandan government as investigations concerning fraud by the Office of the Prime Minister continue. The DFID had allotted approximately £89 million per year to help Uganda until 2015. These funds are now indefinitely frozen.

The World Bank is also currently assessing its aid to the nation. A spokesperson stated, “The World Bank Group condemns all acts of corruption for depriving countries of the means to achieve better development outcomes.”

It is estimated that Sh38.3 billion of foreign aid has been mismanaged by the Office of the Prime Minister, diverted perhaps into personal accounts.

The corruption has already threatened educational funds. Furniture meant for schools was handed out to private individuals. Poor internal administration mismanages the supplies, giving too much and too little to schools across the board. Despite the generosity of the donor organizations, hundreds of millions of dollars are routinely lost, often without explanation.

Kinkizi East MP, Chris Baryomunsi, stated that those who stole money intended for Uganda’s children “are worse than murderers who deserve the worst possible punishment.”

Finance minister Chris Kassami commented on the scandal, stating, “This was outright theft. This is a new trend where a group of civil servants collude to steal money. Our system never foresaw this. They beat the system.”

Former Prime Minister, Professor Apolo Nsibambi, continues to deny allegations of his participation in the scandal. He expressed regret for the affair: “This scandal is very unfortunate, and I regret that it escaped my radar.”

Yet, such kleptocratic leadership has always been the norm in Uganda. The administration is fraught with corruption and underhanded financial dealings. These issues call into the question the efficacy of mass government aid. Can the Ugandan government be depended on to distribute funds intended for those in need? Can the private sector do a better job?

Creative Commons Love futureatlas.com at Flickr.com