Schools2030 uganda
In Uganda, Schools2030 is present in the capital city of Kampala and the northern district of Arua.
Landlocked Uganda, located in the Nile basin region in East Africa, has been an independent nation since 1962. With 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves, 5 community wildlife management areas and 13 wildlife sanctuaries, Uganda is teeming with a spectacular array of wildlife. Uganda is home to around 345 species of mammal – including more than half the world’s endangered mountain gorillas – and over 1000 species of birds.
Despite ongoing challenges and conflict, Uganda’s educational system has seen significant change since the late 1990s. The system is set up so that children spend seven years in primary school, six years in secondary school, and three to five years in post-secondary school. In 1997, the government declared that primary school would be free for all children. This amendment has had huge benefits. In 1986, only two million children were attending primary school. By 1999, six million children were attending primary school, and this number has continued to climb. Following significant gains in access to primary education since 1997 when universal primary education (UPE) was introduced, Uganda in 2007 became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to introduce universal secondary education (USE). This bold step by the Government of Uganda led to an increase in lower secondary enrolment of nearly 25% between 2007 and 2012.
The broad aims of the education system in Uganda are eradication of illiteracy, promotion of scientific, technical, and cultural knowledge; promotion of national unity; and promotion of moral values.
Our Team in uganda
Richard Lacere
Schools2030 National Coordinator
Paschal Mandhawun
Country Manager
Susan Balayo
Regional Grants Manager
Elly Nayanda
Programme Officer
Benneth Nimusiima
Data Officer
Charity Mugaya
Accountant
ASSESS
Similarly to other Schools2030 countries, Uganda worked alongside the National Advisory Committee in 2021 to define the focal domains on which the programme will focus, and ensured these were aligned to national education priorities. Education stakeholders, schoolteachers, representatives from the Ministry of Education in Uganda and CSOs all contributed to defining how these domains would be measured in practical terms.
This paved the way for the Emily Tusiime, the Regional Assessment Coordinator for AKF in East Africa to work alongside the Global Assessment Partner, Oxford MeasurEd, to develop a suite of contextualised and validated assessment tools.
In some cases, these were adapted from existing tools like ECD Measure’s Brief Childhood Quality Inventory (BEQI) and Save the Children’s IDELA for the preprimary cohort; in many cases, however, such tools have never existed before in Uganda.
The team also spent time developing a strategy to enhance teacher assessment capacity.
The strategy provides a structure and methodology for enhancing teacher assessment capabilities, defines specific roles and responsibilities of teachers and partners, identifies gaps where expertise is needed, and highlights key activities which enhance teacher capabilities on assessment.
Access examples of assessment tools
from across our programme countries.
All these tools are available free to download below and will continue to be refined and iterated to ensure robust psychometric validity.
INNOVATE
During 2021, Schools2030 Uganda team successfully hosted Human-Centred Design workshops in two phases over 5 days. The first phase comprised the ‘launch, explore, define, generate and make’ phases, with the teachers learning to use the rapid assessment tools (developed for early baseline measurement whilst awaiting more robust tools) as well as interview techniques, to scope any challenges they perceived. The second phase was dedicated to prototyping, and currently a huge variety of innovations in a variety of learning sites are undergoing implementation and testing for efficacy.
The Schools2030 Uganda team is also working in many non-formal education settings as well as in schools, and we have seen incredible examples of how context-driven, learner-centred approaches can positively impact livelihoods outside the immediate classroom setting. For example, the team is working in Luzira Upper Prison to support inmates to attain the skills they need to develop positive livelihoods after they are released from prison. Schools2030 has also partnered with Somero Uganda – a local CSO supporting vulnerable young women who are engaged in the sex trade and want to leave – to co-develop a skills-focused HCD programme that includes a mentorship model to engage former sex workers who can support and mentor the young women.
Girls with Tools
DESIGNED BY: Jamila Mayanja, Smart Girls Uganda
TO IMPROVE: Employability Skills for Out of School Young Women
AGE GROUP: 15+
Girls with Tools is an initiative that supports vulnerable young women to become skilled in traditionally male-dominated fields. The initiative trains the girls in Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills.
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Many of the young women do not have enough money to buy tools to practice, so through HCD, the Jamila and her team have come up with a tools library, where the young women can borrow tools and practice. To support girls who cannot afford to travel to the school site, the team have also adapted to this challenge and have now created a ‘Class on wheels’ that goes out to the women in their local areas.
The Taxi Game
DESIGNED BY: Nakasero Primary School
TO IMPROVE: Literacy, Relationship Building
AGE GROUP: 5+
Teachers at Nasakero Primary School noticed how many students attending the school were extremely shy and struggled to interact with others. This was particularly acute because many of the children came from different trobes and thus had different cultural backgrounds.
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The teachers came up with the ‘Taxi’ game, as this type of public/communal transport was something all the children were familiar with. In the game, two children (often the most shy or withdrawn) are assigned to be the driver and conductor, and they pick up passengers from the other students by loudly calling out instructions. The children will then pretend to disembark but they must say their names, spell the name of their village as well as the name of a favourite fruit or snack, for example. Thus they are not only enjoying fun and positive interactions but also improving their spelling and confidence.
Meteorological Stars
TO IMPROVE: Numeracy, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Problem-Solving, Creativity
AGE GROUP: 15+
Another highly interactive and creative innovation, the ‘Meteorological Stars’ students design and create meteorological equipment to collect and analyse environmental and climate-related data, record their findings and report these back to the class.
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In this way, they develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in a highly interactive and engaging way, as well as learn more about their immediate environment and the impact of human activity on day-to-day weather.
The Writing Treasure Trove
TO IMPROVE: Literacy, Collaboration, Self-Efficacy, Creativity
AGE GROUP: 15+
The writing treasure trove is an adventure in the world of descriptive writing. The innovation aims to improve student ability to give vivid descriptions in their creative writing and speech by taking them on an engaging journey
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through the writing treasure trove – a special and accessible corner in every classroom. Groups will be encouraged to write under creative pseudonyms to have expressive freedom, and will also be able to storyboard their ideas using cut outs from magazines etc to allow them to visualise their ideas more expressively. The final stage of the adventure is where students “wave the magic wand” and write a descriptive story based on their ideas. There will also be space for feedback from others, as well as other visual ways to think creatively, including a ‘story tree’.
Download our HCD Tools for Uganda to start creating education innovations in your school.
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Toolkit
Full version
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Toolkit
Sprint version
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Facilitator Guide
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design School Leader Guide
SHOWCASE
Coming Soon
NEWS
partners
National Advisory Committee members
Dr Mugenyi Cleophus
Director Basic Education | Mininistry of Education
Mike Nangosya
Director-Examinations | Uganda National Examinations Board
Baguma Grace
Director | National Curriculum Development Center
Annet Kiberu Mpuuga
Chairperson Readers Association Africa | Readers Association
Fatuma Wamala
Cluster Lead | Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI)
Raymond Ombele
District Education Officer | Arua City
David Osuku
Programme Manager – Education | Kampala City Council Authority
Hajat Rehma Lutalo
HeadTeacher / Country Facilitator British Council Classroom Experiences Project (Kalungu Masaka) | Kalungu Senior Secoundary School
Rupert Corbishley
Regional Advisor | Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)
Paschal Mwandham
Country manager | AKF-Uganda
Janat Namatovu
Schools2030 Coordinator | AKF
Country Assessment Partners, Evaluation Partners and Learning Partners
