Uganda: Bridge Schools Seek to Partner With Government

Friday, December 2, 2016

Primary education is the foundation for development of any country. Uganda has one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the world. As the population continues to boom, already stretched social services will be stretched further.

Since the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) there has been a huge and admirable success in improving access to education. Before UPE in 1997, less than 60 per cent of children went to primary school. Now the figure is 94 per cent. But, in-keeping with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 “ensure inclusive and quality education for all” the focus needs to be on not just getting children into classes, but ensuring they learn once they are there.

The 2015 UWEZO report states that the situation is not good. Only 13 per cent of P3 pupils tested could read a P2 story and complete a P2 maths exam. Twenty six per cent of pupils in P7 failed the very same P2 test. Ninety per cent of classes visited lacked pupil textbooks. In 53 per cent of classes visited, there was no teacher. Less than 20 per cent of children in rural areas attend nursery school. A recent report by Uneb suggests 80 per cent of new Primary Teacher College (PTC) graduates failed a P6 literacy exam.

Source: allAfrica (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Education