Where We Work : Uganda : Education

In post-conflict Northern Uganda, BRAC has pioneered an education programme for children who never had the chance for an education or who had dropped out of primary school. We opened 122 “second-chance” learning centres in camps for Internally Displaced Persons. Between late 2008 and early 2009, refugees moved out of the camps back to their home villages and towns and so did BRAC. We closed the camp schools and opened 265 village schools in Pader and Kitgum districts. The MasterCard Foundation funded 257 of the schools, while individual donors provided support for the rest.

The Ugandan government first approached BRAC in 2006 to address the urgent need for schools in the camps. BRAC’s education initiative is designed to complement the government’s efforts to provide educational opportunities. Our alternative approach to education, focusing on basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, draws from the innovations of our low-cost, non-formal primary education model that operates nationwide in Bangladesh and Afghanistan. We have adapted our approach to meet the needs of the situation in Northern Uganda. As the students progress, they are mainstreamed into government run primary schools.

The camp schools focused on children, aged 10 to 15, as well as older adolescent girls who had become child mothers. The new village schools have enrolled younger students as well.

By the time the camp schools closed, 2,172 students had been successfully integrated into state schools with the support of the district education offices and UNICEF. A 2009 study by our research and evaluation unit for East Africa programmes indicates that in a sample of four government schools, BRAC graduates scored as well as mainstream students on a simple test of literacy and numerical skills.

Of the 7,252 students enrolled in the village schools in 2009, 85% are girls. The students face many challenges. Of the total, 19% are orphans, 4% are HIV positive, 15% were abducted during the war, 3% are former child soldiers and 53% are child mothers.

Adolescent girls are vulnerable to early and unwanted pregnancies and have little knowledge about family planning, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and other reproductive health issues. BRAC’s research assessment of the schools recommended formally integrated life skills training as part of education for the adolescent girls.

In 2009 we initiated a health education programme in our schools. BRAC recruited health workers to develop manuals and provide training for teachers. Trained teachers spend 30 minutes of their time every week to deliver health messages to the students. The main topics covered are immunisation, safe drinking water, sleeping under treated mosquito nets, personal hygiene, hand washing and sanitation.

Programme Description

The overall goal of BRAC's alternative learning programme in Northern Uganda is to educate children who have dropped out of school or never enrolled so they can make the transition to the formal government school system.

The specific objectives are to:

• Support government efforts to achieve “education for all”
• Increase enrolment and contribute to the basic education of the country's deprived children
• Increase access for girls in education through the non-formal system
• Ensure enhanced participation of women in education
• Provide employment opportunities to women as paraprofessional teachers
• Involve communities in their own socio-economic development

We admit 30 to 35 pupils per school and employ one teacher to teach a two-year school cycle. We follow the Government Primary School Curriculum. Once pupils reach primary level 3, they can be mainstreamed into public schools. All learning materials are provided free of charge. The teachers are recruited from local communities and must have completed their school education up to secondary level 4.

The main features of our approach are:

• School timing flexibility
• Operating in a close proximity to student's house
• Small class sizes managed by female teachers
• Little or no homework
• Child-friendly teaching environment
• Relevant curriculum providing basic education and life skills
• No financial cost for students or guardians
• Close involvement of parents and communities in school management

We conduct house-to-house surveys to identify prospective students and teachers, and cross check our findings with local education officials to identify dropouts and avoid duplication. Newly recruited teachers are given 20 days of basic training designed to be proactive and participatory, placing emphasis on practice and role-play teaching. Teacher training includes topics such as the basic concepts of education, child psychology, different teaching and learning techniques and how to deal with children with special needs.

Teachers also receive monthly refresher training throughout the school cycle to strengthen their abilities. All teachers are women, which helps make parents comfortable sending their daughters to school. This also serves to increase the status of women in the community.

A school building is rented in the local community, normally a one-room structure made of bamboo or mud which is no further than one kilometre walking distance from the students' houses. Students are taught a curriculum that encompasses both basic primary education as well as relevant life skills, such as topics related to health and agriculture. Flexible school times and a no-homework policy allow children to complete daily chores and other productive activities. Zero financial costs to parents and students plus a relevant curriculum result in extremely low dropout rates.

BRAC employs Programme Organisers locally to help supervise the teachers and schools on the ground. Their responsibilities include surveying the households, identifying potential students, teachers and location of school houses and conducting meetings with parents and other stakeholders. They supervise each school at least once a week and provide support to the teachers in their classroom teaching. They also check students’ performance, attendance, teachers’ lesson plans and the evaluation register and make suggestions for improvements.

The programme will contribute to the basic education of the most deprived children in Uganda, while also promoting increased female participation in education, not only as students but as teachers and paraprofessionals.