West Nile Stakeholders Advise on New Education Policy

Nationwide stakeholder consultations on education, provide unique information on issues affecting the region.  The Commission is visiting regions and engaging stakeholders in the education sector to solicit their views and proposals for the formulation of the new education policy for Uganda.

The Education Policy Review Commission led by the Chair, Hon. Col. (rtd) Amanya Mushega, met key education stakeholders in West Nile region. These included district and municipal leaders, educationists, civil society, administrators of refugee camps, religious leaders, faith-based education entities, community leaders, teachers, parents and learners.

The Commission visited schools and institutions of learning to get firsthand impressions of the education system – curriculum application, teacher pupil ratio, attendance, feeding, building structures, quality of teachers, administration, fees structures, and more. 

 Some of the policy proposals and recommendations highlighted by stakeholders are outlined here:  

        i.            Access to pre-primary in government schools is still limited since it’s not provided for. ECD should be mainstreamed under each Government aided secondary school.

      ii.            School feeding especially lunch meals remains critical. Many learners continue to study hungry. This has led to irregular attendance of students and low attention spans in class.

    iii.            Schools acknowledge that the lower secondary school curriculum is better. It makes learning learner-centered. However, the challenge is that the training of teachers to deliver the curriculum was inadequate. This is coupled with inadequate infrastructure and lack of instructional materials to implement the curriculum.

    iv.            The teacher pupil ratio in some schools is 1-200, this affects effective teaching and learning. This was attributed to lack of accommodation, no-show of teachers posted to these schools and more.

      v.            Several districts within the region have high dropout rates of school-going students, especially at the primary level. Promote skilling and tooling at primary level.

    vi.            Influx of refugees from neighboring countries overwhelm the education system. Plan to accommodate numbers.

 vii.            The issue of teachers’ remuneration remains critical. The teachers reported that Government shouldn’t expect much from a low-paid teacher. This is worsened by salary delays. At the time of the visit in some schools, teachers had not received their salaries for the last three months. This has affected teacher performance which also ultimately affects learners. In addition to emerging indiscipline among science teachers due to pay disparities.

viii.            The region has several languages, making it impossible to instruct learners in Lugbara language. Consider developing instruction materials for pre-primary and lower primary.

    ix.            There is limited understanding of Government policies by the members of the Boards. There is no qualification for appointment to the Board and  lack of the requisite training for Boards of Governors and School Management Committees.

      x.            There is inadequate budget for inspection of education institutions.  This should be increased to allow monitoring by the district.

In conclusion, the Education Policy Review Commission will continue holding public hearings, consultations and dialogue with key stakeholders across the country. The Commission gathers views and proposals about Uganda’s education and sports sector. The findings will be used to inform the formulation of a macro policy framework for human capital development in the country.