Education Support in Rural Mubende, Uganda

Learning4Life Africa is presently working with the following ten schools:

• Kyakasimbi Primary School
• Kasaana Public Primary School
• Kabubu Primary School
• Mugungulu Primary School
• Nabibungo Primary School
• Christ the King Primary School
• Ntungamo Primary School
• Mawujjo Primary School
• Ntunda Primary School
• Kitalemwa Primary School

First stage:

When a school is taken on there is a review of the existing facilities and an initial capital expenditure programme is undertaken to either renovate or build classrooms, harvest rainwater by improving roofing and guttering as well building water storage facilities. Most importantly the development of the school garden is under taken under the guidance of a Key Farmer Trainer. This brings both a practical element to the classroom theory in agriculture as well as helping the school to provide a hot meal on a school day to its pupils.

Second stage:

Kyakasimbi, Kasaana, Kabubu, Mugungulu, Nabibungo and Christ the King Primary Schools have entered the second phase of the program. This means that L4L no longer makes major investments, but they remain part of the L4L family of schools and continue to participate in competitions and visits by Key Farmer Trainers (KFTs) and Teacher Trainers (CPDs). We are pleased to report that all six schools continue to build on their positive development.

The newest schools 2020: 

Ntunda and Kitalemwa Primary Schools are two small village community schools, which Rotary and L4L are supporting together. The villages are in poor remote areas, where many of the parents are illiterate. Other schools are at least eight miles away, too far for young children (who mostly go barefoot) to walk to. The parents decided to set up their own schools, but they do not get any financial support from the government. This means that parents have to bear the full costs of the schools, including paying for teachers, buildings, teaching aids etc. The buildings are very rudimentary and there was not a single textbook or school desk. We gave each school textbooks, toys, desks and benches as well as a fuel saving stove, a bag of maize seeds and a pan to cook porridge in. We helped Kitalemwa to replace a storm damaged classroom/office and installed a 10,000 litre rainwater storage tank at Ntunda. Here, the pupils had to fetch muddy water from a swamp down in the valley, which is also used by animals. Now, rainwater is collected from the roof in a 10,000 litre PVC tank and the children can spend more time and energy in class.

Inter-school competition:

On 28 February 8 schools competed in the L4L Inter-school competition at Ntungamo. In the morning teams from all classes took part in a quiz based on the core curriculum subjects. After that, the school choirs performed wonderful songs, dances and plays on the theme “we care for the environment”. The Head of the Mubende District Administration as well as Heads of the Departments of Education and the Environment attended the day to show their deep appreciation of the contributions L4L has made to education in their District. They were clearly impressed with the quality of the performances and all the material improvements to the school buildings and facilities.

Nursery School Teacher development:

L4L also organised a highly successful workshop on early childhood development for teachers from nursery classes and the two lower primary school classes. An experienced Montessori teacher explained a wide range of age specific teaching methods and gave many practical tips on playful creative learning.

2020 Covid Impact on schools:

On 23 March schools in Uganda had to close because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The whole country entered into strict lockdown. Luckily, L4L was able to finish the class renovations it had already started at Ntungamo and Mawujjo Schools, as the materials were already on site and the builders agreed to sleep at the schools.

The school closure remained in force until 15 October, when only the top P7 classes were allowed back at school for 6 weeks to prepare for the School Leaving Exams, which have been postponed to April 2021. During that time, most children have missed out on education. Distance learning is not an option in these rural areas without electricity, where families do not have a radio or television let alone a tablet or computer. Some printed exercises were distributed to children’s homes, but that was only sporadic. The normal teacher training programme also had to be suspended.

Thanks to the great efforts of Headteachers and KFTs, L4L managed to keep the school gardens productive. This meant that school meals could be provided as soon as P7 classes returned to school. L4L also provided each school with a thermometer gun, without which reopening would not have been allowed.

School Fuel Saving Stoves:

In addition, L4L has started a programme of building fuel saving stoves in primary schools across the District and has launched an appeal to “Adopt a School”. These stoves are made from free local materials and save 70% of firewood. This has become urgent, as firewood is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. By adding a chimney the kitchens are now smoke free, which greatly improves the health of the cook and her helpers. The Mubende Rotary Club is supporting these efforts by sensitising communities and encouraging families to build these stoves also in their homes. Farmers belonging to microcredit groups are doing likewise.

Post Covid restart:

In January 2021 L4L has been able to restart its classroom renovation programme at Ntungamo and Mawujjo Schools. Blackboards and walls are restored and new concrete floors get rid of the jiggers which thrive in the dust and cause terrible infections of the children’s feet and hands.

Special praise is due to Emmanuel Tubihimaana, L4L Coordinator in Mubende, who during all these difficult months with curfews, travel and meeting restrictions has managed to stay in touch with the schools, the KFTs and trustees in the UK, making sure that at least parts of the L4L programme continued to be carried out.

Wider benefits:

The programme is bringing a lot of benefit to the school communities in terms of pupils’ enrolment, organic agricultural training, school meals, improved school facilities, academic achievements and extracurricular activities. This is very much recognised by the parents, teachers, pupils and the local authorities.

1. Challenge number one has been and still is COVID 19. Although official death figures have remained in their hundreds, the number of infections is growing and healthcare facilities are extremely limited. Schools were closed and the mobility and meeting restrictions made work very hard.
2. Some schools still lack facilities such as classrooms, latrines, an office, teachers’ accommodation and water sources.
3. In particular, classrooms with dirt floors are a breeding ground for jiggers which bury into the pupils’ bare feet and cause very nasty infections. They need concrete floors.
4. School gardens can suffer from drought, pests, fungi, mineral deficiency, stray animals and theft of crops. More needs to be done to improve fertility, watering and to create boundaries, preferably in the form of hedges and grevillea trees. A night watchman can act as a deterrent for theft. In Mugungulu big saucepans were stolen.
5. Sensitisation is needed to encourage more parents to work in the school gardens.
6. There is a need for more trees for shade, fire wood and fruit.
7. Class furniture is insufficient and libraries need to be extended to give pupils sufficient reading practice.
8. Regular maintenance of school buildings needs to become routine.
9. Teaching is still too often based on learning facts by heart rather than understanding them and there is a lack of teachers skilled in early childhood development.
10. Further data collection for evaluation of the L4L project is needed.
11. Finding additional UK link schools is proving difficult.

1. Work to achieve the aims of L4L and to address the above challenges will continue with enthusiasm in the schools which are part of the project.
2. Nabibungo and Christ the King will now join Mugungulu, Kabubu, Kyakasimbi and Kasaana into the second phase in which L4L will observe their development, but will not make any more major investments. However, in view of the importance of producing sufficient food in the school gardens and teaching organic agriculture and the fact that Mugungulu, Kyakasimbi and Kasaana all have new Headteachers, we have decided to continue to give some degree of KFT and CPD support for these schools.
3. The latest L4L schools, Ntungamo and Mawujjo, will get priority with regard to any new investments in school facilities which L4L may be able to make. Eventually we hope to realise also some of the remaining projects in the other L4L schools.
4. There are a number of other village schools which urgently need assistance. As there are not enough government schools in the rural areas, some parents are trying to set up their own local community schools. These schools get no government funding at all and lack in everything from books to buildings. We shall try to support two such schools, Kitalemwa and Ntunda, as best we can.
5. We shall continue to look for additional funding from other sources.
6. We are also happy to give organisational support to other organisations who want to do their own school projects in Mubende.