The Challenges facing the Education System of Uganda today and their possible solutions

 

INTRODUCTION:

In Uganda, education is free and easily accessed through the government’s program entitled Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE). Through these programs, government sends grants to its aided schools to cater for the daily running o f the schools. The beneficiary schools receive among others trained /qualified teachers, scholastic materials and financial support to cater for the daily running of the school. These schools are entitled to receive the same benefits throughout the country but due to some hinges, rural schools tend to miss out on this which greatly affects the academic progress.

The thing is when people fret about public or private education they mean big-city or urban schools. They forget about the millions of children who go to school in remote and rural areas. And it is here that the education situation in rural areas becomes very obvious and sometimes disappointing since rural-based schools tend to face so many challenges as compared to those in the town setting.

 Below is my discussion on how the rural schools are disadvantaged as compared to their urban counterparts:

First and foremost there are few government aided schools in rural areas and spaced from each other and so students have to walk long distances every morning when going to school. In towns the schools are centered in almost every sub-county. The few private schools in the rural area are very expensive yet the parents cannot afford to pay for them as they solely depend on farming which is not the case with their town counterparts. This makes the children exhausted and some end up losing interest in schooling.

In line with the above, the rural schools are over congested due to the limited number of schools. Students have to scramble for the only available opportunities and so the teacher to learner ratio becomes high. This makes it hard for the teacher to effectively deliver in class. Because of over congestion, the students at the back row may not pay attention to what the teacher is deliberating in class. In towns the numbers are always limited and there are enough structures to accommodate the learners. They are even put in streams so that the classrooms are manageable.

The existing schools are not well facilitated in terms of teaching/learning materials. Instructional materials such as textbooks and laboratory equipment that aid research are not fully stocked in the schools. The new competency based curriculum is more learner-centered and is meant to make a lot of research. The only way they can do this is through accessing reading mate rials form the library and use of the internet.

Electricity is still a challenging factor in rural areas. Despite government intervention in rural electrification, many rural areas are still not connected to the national grid. This hinders many activities in schools that depend on electricity such as computers and printers. This also deters learners from having extra lessons and night preparations like their urban counterparts. In towns there is an efficient flow of electricity and in case of power load shading, there is a stand by generator or solar energy.

Their structures are dilapidated. The roofs are leaking and when it rains lessons will be interfered with. The students have to sit under a tree and down on the floor and no desks are provided to these schools. This makes learners lose interest in learning. This is contrary to what the town counterparts enjoy. In towns the rooms are spacious, and the number – teacher to learner ration is minimal. This makes learning effective.

 The imbalance is also caused by inaccessibility of schools where most schools are in hard to reach areas, making it hard to deliver social needed services. For example in Bududa and Kasese, roads are impassable and have been washed away by the rains. This in turn makes it hard for the supervisors to carry out their duties as they cannot connect to a rural school that has been disconnected from the grid. So this has hindered learners to access education and some give up to studies.

To add on the above, most rural schools do not have qualified teachers and this is another way learners are disadvantaged from accessing education. Qualified teachers shun working in rural areas and a few who join such schools abandon the station. So, most of the schools seek the services unqualified teachers who are either senior four or senior six leavers with little or no experience to impart knowledge and skills into learners.

Some teachers in rural schools are ardent drinkers of alcohol which affects their class attendance and delivery. Some of them come to class stinking alcohol. Others over drink and end up doing things that humiliate their integrity such as falling by the roadside, wetting themselves among other things. Learners either lose trust and confidence in the teacher or end up copying what the teacher does. This affects their performance. This is not common in urban schools as there are strict laws to be followed by the teacher.

Another contributing factor to the problem is the primitive culture, whereby some societies or cultures believe that school is a waste of time. This creates absenteeism. Time spent in school could be used productively elsewhere to do more ‘essential duties’. Case in point is a belief among the Karamojong that cattle was given to them by God and therefore more important than school hence children should instead be looking after cattle. Other communities first send their children to dig or get engaged with some house duties like fetching water, collecting firewood among others which leads to poor performance in village schools.

In towns workshops and seminars play a big role in skilling the learners and keeping them updated with the requirements from the examining body UNEB. Here learners get to interact with examiners of specific subjects who give them hints on how to answer the questions. The rural students do not get this opportunity and so my not get chance to know the changes in the curriculum or the requirements from the examining body. This greatly affects their results in the final examinations.

Poverty is also a big problem that affects education for children in rural areas of Uganda. The rates of unemployment, malnutrition, and poverty in villages are higher than in towns. This is as a result of population density that makes it more visible. Poverty, in turn, affects educational outcomes and frequently leads to early dropouts. In this case, most children do not even think of joining secondary education but rather drop out in a primary.

Concentration by students in rural schools is minimal and most of the time the students are occupied by domestic choirs. These poor kids have to wake up early enough and help their parents to fetch water from the well as well as doing other domestic activities before they go to school and by the time they reach school, they’re exhausted and can hardly concentrate to understand what is being taught to them.

Lack of lunch also makes learning very difficult and hence increasing school dropouts. It’s unbelievable but true that parents of children in rural-based schools can barely afford to pay for their children’s school breakfast or lunch. And these children go hungry from morning to evening when they go back home. This makes it difficult for these hungry children to concentrate in class.

Early pregnancy also affects the education in rural schools. These become young parents and end up dropping out of school as they fear or feel much older to fit among other learners.

 

In conclusion, Uganda’s government, therefore, has a responsibility of extending better social services in rural areas such as roads, schools, hospitals to facilitate development in those areas and hence improve people’s standards of living as well as education for the poor kids.

B. How can such students be helped to get better education?

There are so many of problems that the educational institutions of rural Uganda suffer from. The government authorities are required to take certain steps so that the rural education in Uganda can be upgraded. Here are seven ways to upgrade the rural education system:

1. Boost free education

Poverty is one of the most critical and common problems in rural Uganda. This is also one of the major obstructions in propelling the education in rural Uganda. This problem can be solved only if free education or education at very minimal fee is being offered. This is certainly going to bring up the literacy rate as more and more parents will be eager to send their kids to schools if they are not required to bear the expenses of their education.

To those who come from very low financial background, the government must provide for their textbooks, uniforms, meals, library and laboratory facilities so that they are not left with any reason for not attending the schools.

2. Establish more schools

There is dire need for the government of Uganda to construct more schools in rural areas. Unlike the urban schools, in villages students have to scramble for the few schools available and because of the over congestion children abandon school. Government should develop a policy of constructing at least one primary and secondary school per sub-county. This will curb the long distances that the learners have to trek each day so as to access education.

3. Work on school infrastructure

The rural educational institutions suffer a lot due to the lack of proper infrastructure. The roads are inaccessible. There are no health facilities where the learners can seek medical attention in case of an illness. The young adults should be encouraged to get back to school.

The schools in rural Uganda do not possess adequate number of well-trained teachers. Also, the student-teacher ratio is quite improper which makes it even more difficult to pay attention to every student. This leads to low quality education, hardly serving any purpose. If we are to lay the foundation of strong educational life, it needs to start right from the beginning and this can only be done if the school infrastructure is done well.

4. Bring innovative teaching methods

The level of education has gone a notch up in urban areas with newer teaching techniques being introduced; the state of teaching techniques is still primitive and traditional in rural Uganda. The rural schools are still stuck on inculcating rote learning in its students. This has to change. These schools must start adopting concept learning to develop their students holistically.

The communities in rural areas need to be sensitized on matters of education. Societies such as  the Karamojong, who treasure cattle more, need to be told the benefits of education.  There are some people who believe that a girl child is a material for wealth and therefore should not go to school. Such parents need massive sensitization.

5.Motivation of teachers

 Both the and  government and private proprietors  should help in motivating  teachers teaching in those village schools, for example, giving up lauding messages for the good services done and giving them a token of appreciation. This will boast the teaching process and it will solve the problems of absenteeism and laziness of teachers.

6. Promote computer literacy

Our country is progressing technologically; however, sadly, the imprint of this advancement has yet not reached to the rural areas. This has led to a digital gap in urban-rural Uganda.

The schools in rural Uganda are required to get equipped with computer education and need to be imparted with technological education as well. This will help them being at par with the level of urban education and develop themselves better.

Even though the government is working to improve the state of education in the country, there is still a lot to be improved. There is a growing awareness among people about education; however the lack of infrastructure is being a major obstacle which needs an active intervention of the government.

7. Poverty eradication

The abject poverty in rural areas greatly affects the education system in those areas. Government should come up with schemes to enrich the parents so that they can afford the basic needs. This can limit dependence on girl child as source of wealth. 

 The writer is a teacher of English and Literature in Seeta High School Main Campus