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The UPE progam has helped a lot of the peasants in their struggle to educate their children to attain te basic skills of primary school education. The parents who could afford to pay for their children have been sending them to private primary schools with the hope that they can get good results at the end of the Primary Leaving Examinations. In the past it has been that some parents in the villages would then give fees to educate the boys and leave out the girls, in the struggle to give secondary education to their children. I think this will have to change since now there is the chance for the peasant to take their daughters to the Universal Secondary Education program.. BUT WILL THEY DO SO? I think this at last is the chance to advance the education of the girl child in rural Uganda where that chance has not been very visible. It has come to my notice that most pupils who are in primary schools are girl , there seems to be more girls than boys at least in some schools. All the more to support the GIRLS EDUCATION MOVEMENT that has been set up by the UNGEI.. United Nations Girls Education Initiative.How can the local community be sensitized to positively respond to  this innitiative in line with Ugandas USE Universal Secondary Education for Bonna Basome Siniya?

UNEB Releases UCE Exam Results: Males Dominate

Thanks to UNEB  for releasing the UCE/S4/UNEB/2006 results. I love education and a tiica by profession, am reaaly happy tyo see that there is an improvement in the S4 Exam perfomance. Yes the challenge still is that a lot of schools  must put in more in the study or the teacing of sciences at O level. But unfortunately many third world and mostly rural secondary schools  have really struggled to educate the students  without all the science laboratory equipments that other schools have. What is amazing is that  a lot of times when the students move from these upcountry schools to go to better A level schools  some of them end up doing better than those who did their O level in the good schools.

Now that the Universal Secondary Education is here we hope that secondary education with emphasis on sciences will help many youth and thus have a bigger number of candidates passing and joining A level. But again there is need to encourage the students to join A level so that they do the 6 years of secondary education prior to their going to the University. Mai question as usual - I hope the girls will see value and put in more effort in doing the sciences both at O and A level. If the girls can do well then we are assureed of women scientists and women active in other science related fields.

Congratulations to all Head masters, teachers, parents and students for the good S4 results.Parents please take the children to S5. We now need a good education system that can offer good A level studies to enable the students read, pass, and go to the University.

UGpulse ---- I have note seen the results for Kibaale district put in your article of the best candidates  per district.------ what happened.------ please reply --may be it was a misprint.

 THANKS FOR THE  ARTICLE ON THE S4 RESULTS

This is a very informative article.  I am bowled over with the research and format in how it was put out for us here.  Thank you and please keep us informed more.

I'm going to ask to be excused to digress in light of a comment I read up on a photo Admin had posted of school kids walking to school in a town setting.  Reason being that it highlighted the headaches or obstacles some in rural parts of the country face getting to-fro school on a daily basis.  The comment came from the photo section and I am attaching the photo to refresh our memories.  Sometimes it boils down to poor planning in one's household in any setting irrespective of locality be it rural or town.  Indeed there are some families in town whose kids also don't get fed prior to them walking out to school. 

Just because one lives in rural parts shouldn't be an excuse for not planning out ones's day/week/life.  What's stopping these kids carrying some mawolu or even lumonde/cassava let alone posho, and eating it at intervals along the way? I might've been in a boarding school in a very rural area of Busoga in my earlier life but believe you me - we improvised on what was around locally to compete with the day school kids!  I used to even to trade chores with locals for millet/sogum meals or other food stuff that we couldn't pilch off from their compounds such as mangoes, oranges or sugarcane!  I may be wrong but I sometimes feel its this kind of encouraged mental malaise that is infecting our society in so far as some in rural areas are concerned; whereupon now heading down to some villages you'd be hardpressed to find a well tendered garden but instead have to equip yourself with a car full of raw foodstuffs in addition to the old expected trade-offs such as soap or parrafin!!!!

Tiica.... No idea about Kibaale... perhaps there whre no top performers?....lol

The writer is from UMC with his email address at the end of the article if you really need to know. :)

Tiica - It's good to have you on board and that you are in the teaching profession on ground. Hopefully you can be able to shed light first hand as to certain aspects that could be plaguing our education system over there.

You raise a point pertaining to availability of resources for science subjects in rural school settings  - this no doubt can be applicable to other academic subjects too, but let's stay on the one you bring to the fore. You have gone on to mention another valid point when you state that students from disadvantaged school settings have gone on to attain better grades later on in their academia once they have relocated to other educational institutes outside of their upcountry ones.

My take on this comes in two parts.  It is a challenge for rural or some upcountry schools to facilitate an ideal grounding in certain key academic subjects due to lack of resources.  However the teachers and parents/community where these schools are, also have a duty towards their offspring's academic progress.  Teachers when planning the curriculum of their students should be able to not only draft out the obstacles that lie ahead or set fees with/without additional costs which keep changing goals posts. They ought to try and find workable and transparent solutions within the constraints of their set budgets.  It is when clear and conscise educational issues are ear-marked, can the journey to address the root causes be commenced. Have rural schools thought of  a scheme whereupon they can share facilities/resources with other schools in areas whereupon they find themselves unable to deliver?

Parent's within such communities and beyond, if they take interest in their offsprings' attainment, should work with the schools to facilitate this through the existing governing bodies that most schools have in place already.  This ought to be done in a professional manner and not on a basis tied to kinship or otherwise.  Also where there's a will there's bound to be a way as will be shown whereupon these students although having lacked the resources for the ground work into their academic attributes, will go on to flourish if emphasis is not placed on the shortfall of the school's . Positive teachers bring about positive students, less focus on what is lacking and more focus on the potential of each given student might also be an avenue worth exploring. 

If the resources for science are missing - use ingenuity of the locality around to teach the subject on hand - some of the great scientist didn't start off with fancy labs but a willingness to experiment with all things around them. 

Shalom - I hope you can add your input seeing as you are soon to be heading down to input all you've had in addition to what existed!!!

When the UPE prgram began some ten years ago in 1997, it began sorrounded by the politicisation of the education that the NRM party in government would give free primary education to all children. Well first the government offered to sponsor four children and then later on it was decided that all children be given a chance to go to school.And then there was the problem of class accomodation as some schools didnot have the space to house the children i.e. some schools had as many as 350 in one class, and it was almost a disaster with the high enrolment in primary schools. But the peasants welcomed the idea and the program of free primary education as it helped many of the poor to send their kids to school withou paying school fees. Some got the impression that Museveni will take care of the kids as long as they are in school -- boona basome.But then some ten years down the road the UPE program has made some progress because the government eventually built some classrooms in different villages and town and helped take up several community founded schools that became goverment aided schools and thus reducing the child teacher ration  per clas from the 350 number to about 65:1 or even in some cases to 55:1. The kid are passing the PLE exams ad are ready to go to USE. yes  eagerly awaiting to go to secondary schools or SINIYA as the peasants call it.

But now ten years later and its today, the goverment now has offered free secondary education.That means that the graduates of UPE that began ten years ago,are coming into the secondary schools.The question again is: how ready is Uganda to house the incresing number of students that have now joined the Universal Secondary Education, In some subcounties, or Gombororas there are no secondary schools and one wonders what will happen to those kids who have finished PLE and have passed the exams. Where will they go? The rural areas are worst hit because the kids are many and the schools are few.The ministry of education tells us that over 200,000 Senior one students are enrolled under USE and they are to flood schools today Monday 19 Feb 2007. Yes the intake per school has increased but the facilities have not increased, I guess its because the nations ministry of education was busy with UPE and didnot have enough time to plan for the USE. If it is true that the ministry indicated that the 700 government aided schhols are expected to admit 126,000 students, private schools 36,000 and new seed schools 4,800 then what will happen to the rest of the kids? The ministry plans to bulid SEED schools in subcounties withou secondary schools. Well what will be the situation in the north and in the east of the country where there has been some political instability and no schools built? And what of those subcounties thatnhave never bulitanysecondary school private or community based or faith community based? Government wants that the government schools admit students who got over aggregate 28, while the private schools are free to take on those with up to 32 aggregates. But those whgo passed are many and will they all be absorbed into the USE school aand the private schools?

How reaady are schools for the USE the Universal Secondary education? Well since Uganda is on the road to modenization and privatisation, I think its high time the government gave subsidy to school that are private in order  to boost the education sector of the nation. And so the step taken by the government so far is a good a step, that is , to befriend the private schools and make sure that they admit students into the secondary schhols ad thus be able to absorb the high number of UPE graduates that are going to increasingly enter the secondary schools year after year . That means it high time the government woes investors into the education sector as part of the privitazation program--- to invite the faith based communities especially churches and then business community  and other local and foreing bodies or NGOs to invest in education, and especially in secondary education.

As usual, I find myself again putting the same question: will the peasant community this time see the light at the end of the tunnel and think seriously of sending their daughters to secondary schools?  or wil it be the same saying that girls and women are not to go to schools. You see in the past it has been that the parents would pay fees for the boys and not for the girls as the girls would be kept home for marriage and for good money of dowry, but that is now changing, and education will fast track that change in society so that the parents see value in educating the girl child as well .I think its high time the population be sensitized on the values of girl child education. Yes we must support the education of the girl child so as to have the nation go into modernization.The girls must go to the USE and then A level and later on other tertiary instituions and  University, then they wiil be able to come out of the training and enter the world of politicians, doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, professors, the military and business community  etc. at local, district,regional, national and international level.

Yes free secondary education has began today in Uganda, but the question still remains: how ready are the schools , the parents , the Local Councils . and the politicians  ready for the Universal Secondary Education. Feel free to respond to my rather lengthy observation of education events in the field of secondary education USE in Uganda.

 TIICA - lover of educating the youth.

Tiica - thanks for the update. I am however still waiting for your response to what I raised to your earlier posts.  It would really be appreciated if you were able to keep this as a two-way communication as opposed to a one-way street.

Nevertheless, I shall respond to your latest posting.  Going from lessons of the past, I do not think the current schools are ready for the USE implementations as suggested by the current system.  They just dont' appear to pay much credensce to preparing the groundwork sufficiently for it to have effect just like most of the projects the current governance practices.  It's merely a case of jumping on the bandwagon, ticking the boxes necessary and hoping that those that can be quick enough to ride it out, pull through. The feasibility studies were probably done theoretically and prolly looked very impressive too.  Just that they forgot one factor - we are dealing with human error here involving corruption that still remains like a huge boil and one that seems to be so adaptable to any new projects that come into play.

Education in our society is something that requires well established roots in order to see rounded effects - not a rushed job for political scoring. One thing I will keep harping on about - educate the girl child by all means, but do not forsake the education of the boychild. We need a well educated society of both gender - not just the female gender as this can lead to an imbalance in later years to come. Look at China to understand where I'm coming from!

UNEB Releases Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education Exam Results

Congratulations to all the students, parents and teachers for all the hard work that bore such fruits. 

BTW - does the idea of tertiary education in Ug have a place in the education sector?

Please elaborate Sugarbabes... as far as I know Tertiary education is any education after secondary... eg Makerere University offers tertiary education... therefore it does exist and has for long existed in UG.

 Have you guys noticed from the results at http://www.ugpulse.com/events/uace_results.asp that we are really facing a crisis in Sciences?  I was disagreein with the government before but these figures makes me understand the crisis at hand.  The goverment seems to indeed have a point in taking drastic measures to promote sciences over arts... The inbalace in some districts is amazing.

Don't know where Yumbe is http://www.ugpulse.com/events/uace_results.asp?district=yumbe

But only one science student passed in this district... and did you see his grades....wow!

The long awaited results of the S6 candidates are finally out and the education stake holders are now evaluating to see what happenned and how the perfomance was. And all this comes at a time when the whole nation is going thru this awaiting with a lot of anxiety.

From mid Jan to early March 07 we have witneesed the release of Exam Results by UNEB at different levels: PLE for the P7 candidates , UCE for the S4 candidates , and now the UACE for the S6 candidates. And at each releasing of the results tension mounts again as to where the children will go for the next stage of their education. It reminds me of a pupil I met while visiting  Lubiri Primary school in Ndaiga-Kyaterekera, Kibaale disrtict near the escarpment of Lake Albert that borders with DRCongo.  Poor pupils would always walk 5 miles fom the escarpment down at the lake and trek on bare foot to come up hill to Kubiri PS to attend classes and go back down the escarpment every day. And for sure by P7  with that long walk you have many school drop outs and few PLE candidates. And so I asked the pupils of P7, the candidate class, what they would like to be in future.? After a lengthy discussion on education issues they started saying, well after P7, next is Siniya (S1-Secondary education). And I kept asking , then after Siniya then what,---- well then Haaya,(S5-6 HSC), and then Makerere (University studies).Then I asked  - what next after Makerere? MBU  going to Bulaya (Abroad - overseas, I guess they were itired of going over water wells, over  streams, over rivers and now they anted to go overlakes and overseas, and one wonders why not over oceans?)  And I asked what next after going to Bulaya Abroad Europe or America? and the answer was. well then i just stay there and ENJOY the good things of the Bazungu. To enjoy the life of affluency. and be as rich as the whites. BUT MAY BE  THEY WERE RIGHT, AND THAT IS THEIR VISION OF EDUCATION --- IT TAKES YOU TO BETTER LEVELS OF LIFE, IT LIBERATES YOU FROM IGNORANCE TO KNOWLEDGE, BECAUSE EDUCATION IS POWER.

ButI see that the enrolment of spupils in primary schools has improved so much especially with the introduction of UPE Universal Primarey Education, that our Ekanya Cartoonist once rightly termed  UPE to mean not  the Bonna Basome but to mean BOONA BAZAALE or better UGANDA POPULATION EXPLOSION --UPE.Well the UPE program  that was introduced for the nation some ten years ago in 1997, has produced its fruits and now in 2007, the graduates of UPE are to enter the secondary schools and study without paying school fees under the USE Universal Secondary Education program. When the PLE 06 results came out, there was an improvement in the PLE reults and the number of those whpo had passed had increased tremendously. Now the gavumenti  has to plan on how to house the many S1 intakes. Not all succesfull candidates  got a chance to go for free secondary education.Why? because some schools that are government aided didnot wandt to participate in the USE plan, other govt schools whose fees was above 75,000Shs were left out as the MoE wanted to put students in school that werecharging up to less than 75,000 Shs for day scholars. Then there was the fact that although the MoE wanted to assist each subcounty with oner secondary school for USE some subcounties did not have any secondary schools at all.The MoE has finally come out with a plan to make a covenant with several Private secondary schools to admit the rest of the PLE graduates.Here at the PLE, remember that the private schools did give a challenge to the UPE schools by giving good PLE results and at times better thatn those of UPE where the UPE schools have almost everything given by MoE.The USE  has come to help many of the poor parents in the towns and city and especially the rural peasants who cannot afford to get the money for the fees of their children.At least now they have no excuse except to get money for uniform, books and lunch for their children who are now going to Siniya. And the number has been so big for the S1 Intakes as if we did not kbnow that the baks of the great UPE river would one day burst into Siniya.

And then came the S4 UCE Results and again the EXPLOSION was so great that  the Haaya is again unable to house the S5 intakes  and several schools of A level have been forced to put stiff entry mark for entry into S5. But all this is in vain because within the next 3 years or so, again the big EXPLOSION will be felt after the S6 UACE exams. The number just keepes increasing at every level may be for the good of the nation Uganda. And surely we need more secondary and A level schools  to cater for the big number. May be its high time Govt did waive taxes  for investment in USE so as to encourage more people, businnes people, foreign investors, Local Communities LC3 and LC5, and faith-run organizations like churches to come back into the field of education and give a hand in educating the youth by putting up more schools.

As we begin to see or feel the pressure of UPE upon the secondary schools, then I think its high time the nation realizes the need for a better planning and setting up of education standards from nursery schools all the way to university --- that the students get the type of education that will equip them to be job makers and not job seekers waiting to be in the office for white collar jobs of the Colonial times.

The S6 results are out and its time again to look for vacancies in the tertiary institutions. But how ready are we for this as well, because it seems that at every stage  we realize that the planning has not been enough and that the  students who finish one stage and want to go to the next cannot do so because there are not enough institutions to absorb the S6 graduates. REMEMBER THE KID IN THE OTHER PRIMARY SCHOOL WHO SAID HE IS READING SO AS TO GO TO UNIVERSITY---------- what will happen to his dream?The MoE says that 98.55 of those who sat for A level exams passed and qualify to get UACE certificate , this means the number of those to qualify for entry to Universitites might get bigger as well withe the bigger impact of the UPE explosion. Many of the S6 successful graduates cannot afford the fees payments at the university this is simply because the majority are from poor and very, very poor families. Some one has suggested that a special fund or bursary be set up so that these needy, poor but bright students be helped to further their education.

Iam aware that the boys are perfoming beter than the girls at the UCE and the UACE UNEB Exam results and especially in the field of Maths and the Sciences, but thats why all the more should government push for the policy of encouraging all students especially the girls to pick interes and do the sciences well at O and A level.  Schools with few facilities have proved both at S4 abd S6  Exam results that they can still pass and thats why thereis more need to assist these schools wit extra funding in the sciences.It will mean training more teachers who can teach sciences and it will mean that science laboratories be spread out to as many schools country wide and not just to the govt city schools but also to the rural schools and especially the  girls schools in the rural areas be they private or govt aided schools. this is affirmative action.Yes when you see the society of Europe and America, the women are educated or rather the number of educated women who have finished College or University is high and this has helped the income of the families. . Uganda we must take a step in that direction as well and encourage the girls to study and reach college or University well knowing that EDUCATION IS POWER, it will empower them. The rural schools singelsex or mixed, private or govt aided should be assisted, they deserve the support because they contribute to the education and the development of the nation. Finally  isay that there is a saying that A NATION WITHOUT A VISION IS BOUND TO PERISH OR VANISH INTO OBLIVION, therefore we must invest in the education of the African Uganda Child, for I believe that education will give economic emancipation to our Uganda and especially to the girl child. EDUCATION LIBERATES, EDUCATION EMPOWERS.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY   

About Sciences and Arts...

I wonder what’s with people thinking sciences are better off. Personally that’s a judgment from a very small perspective of things (no offense) not everyone will excel as expected in sciences or arts which ever is thought easier or better, we are teaching the young generation that we have to think for them. Is that what we want our future leader to be (thought for)? They should be left to make their own choices and know the consequences.

The desire for Arts or Sciences comes naturally or by example then, excelling will be automatic, and don’t forget that we use our brains differently (am talking about left or right hemispheres) which will highly affect our love for either Arts or Sciences, yes I know we can fix this but that’s not something of  view at the moment..

I don't think the problem is with UPE, USE or Uni. Problem is that we are still stuck with this education format... why should people think Primary 1 to University education format gives you a life of your dreams or is the only sure way out...

I say it makes you a second hander who lives on old systems that have taken us no where so far and are no longer that helpful.

hhh.... 

Thanks for the post TIICA... apart from waiting for the government to organize the madness of their good intensions.... perhaps Ugandans from around the world can find a way of assisting.  

FIRST: Helping setting up schools from donations(By the way i just talked to a friend here in the States who is about to set up a school  in UG for orphanages and has raised over $200,000 in less than a year...also read http://www.ugpulse.com/articles/daily/Education.asp?ID=454)

SECOND: Maybe some Ugandan entrepreneurs can find a way of making a quick buck with this increased demand for education- a demand that needs to be encouraged even without supply.

The history Tiica has expressed in his post reminds me of how big coorporations here in the US made(and still make) large sums of money from the "baby boomers"- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers#Size_and_Economic_Clout_of_Boomer_Group

Basically after World War 2 there was a population explosion in the States and many entrepreneurs in the States saw this and planned accordingly from increasing the supply of nappies creating some giants in this market, to increasing the supply of anything as this generation of Americans went through different stages of their growth from 1945 up to today.  This is part of what we are currently seeing when we see the US with a healthy economy... I believe the baby boomers right now are on cruises and planning for retirement or something...lol.... so the market is adjusting to meet these needs.

Ofcourse the US government steps in to regulate every now and then but the main forces are supply  meeting demand in the private sector.

Now back to Uganda.... from what you have described.... I'm very excited for what is ahead.... even as some of these UPE and USE students don't make it.... perhaps a little economic boom in UG is coming in the next 7-10 years?  In the meantime I think a lot of people should start thinking of how they can get involved in the education sector even if its purely out of making a quick buck- challenge here will be regulation and perhaps even here, another entrepreneur can set up a contract with the government to regulate these mushrooming schools.

Apart from discouraging our education system from simply making job seekers instead of job makers... WE also need to understand that our government is inefficient(often not by choice) and that we cannot always wait for the government. In this case they have at least done a decent job by increasing enrollment.... A good  and healthy private sector(with clever entrepreneurs) will find a way to make a dollar out of the chaos.

I know what is on people's minds as they read this...."Oh well easy for you to say... this is not America.... where are our poor Ugandans going to get the money to build these schools... who will pay the fees if these kids are going for free."....LOL.... well ... let me put it like this....if you can't figure that out then you are not an entrepreneur and you should stick to job seeking....lol.... hahahaha! 

As for conceptx... ESPECIALLY if you live in Kampala or Jinja, I agree with you.

 But have you seen the results at http://www.ugpulse.com/events/uace_results.asp ?

In most disctricts the grades are terribly low and in some disctricts ABSOLUTELY NO ONE PASSED in the sciences. 

Some of the other districts that have students that passed....their grades are often relatively low.

If I was in the Ministry of Education looking at these stats I would do the same thing that the government are doing.  This is like a war that we are facing and drastic measures are needed to encourage students in the science field.  i think there is a misconception that the government wants to increase the number of science majors above those of Arts.  From looking at these results this is not true by miles.  What they are trying to do is simply create a healthy though not perfect balance.

As for the few science graduates ending up abroad.... oh well... that is another story and and another thread... altho I believe someone will attempt to bring it up in this one.

Just got an email from my kid brother who ALSO did not do too well in the sciences.... aparently a lot of his friends are "stranded" as they failed or did not perform well in the sciences.

Its surprising how you are reading the scores of the best in the districts and what you are seeing are E's and O's... obviously there is a foul smell in the system.

(Thanks for the post TIICA... apart from waiting for the government to organize the madness of their good intensions.... perhaps Ugandans from around the world can find a way of assisting.)   You are right Finaly..was thinking of how we us pulse members can contribute and become active in our countries development. Have seen many schools and hospitals built by friends as a team. We dont need to be public about it but should be determined to make it a success. we have the power we can do it.. your views?

Finally, what I was enquiring about was to find out what investments - be it public or private,  are being put in to this area of education, as in part, some people who've prolly missed the boat in academia might benefit from this branch of education or even those whose grades haven't hit the target requirement to get into University.  For instance, some persons might not be gifted in theoretical acquisition etc, but can excell  in practical forms of education.  With my very limited knowledge of education in Uganda, I just wanted to learn what was available for such people. 

Talking of science grades, could it be that most students in Ug tend to follow the pack - i.e - most opt for trendy subjects such as law or business studies which appear to be the in-thing in so far as money making is concerned?  Are there any prominent science mentors on ground for persons to aspire to aside from those most would associate to be linked to clinicians?  How is the career education managed?

The idea of all of us doing our bit to contribute to the education system is indeed a good one - how many of us can take the gauntlet to donate our services on a voluntary basis to utilise our professional skills be it in rural or town settings when we take holidays to Ug?  I've found organisations such as habitat or fairtrade to be good vessels in this respect.