SNV Uganda 2009 Annual Report

ensure that their practices positively affect enrolment, retention and
quality of education services.
“With this knowledge,
my wish is that illiteracy
The Uganda Constitution (1995) stipulates education as a right for all stops with me“, SMC
and subscribes to both the Education for All goal and the Millennium member Yumbe
Development Goals. Actually realising these goals, though, is still
uncertain. In many districts access to primary education and the
quality of it are hindered by high pupil and teacher absenteeism,
gender disparity in completing the education, inadequate infrastructure and human resource issues.
Underpinning all these structural challenges are issues of accountability, transparency and efficient use
of resources.
SNV Uganda’s support to primary education aims to
• increase enrolment and retention, especially of girls, in primary schools
• improve the quality of service provided to promote holistic learning
To achieve these aims, SNV initiated forums that brought all major players together to identify issues,
seek solutions, manage them with the aim of improving coordination and collaboration, and ultimately
promote efficiency and transparency.
Throughout the year, a number of districts addressed district-specific issues:
In Mpigi District, parents volunteered to mobilise fellow parents to send children to school and support
them to complete primary 7, while in Kiboga District, functional adult literacy was introduced for parents
so that they would learn to read and write and could then help their children with their homework.
Radio programmes were used to mobilise community support for universal primary education.
Further positive outcomes noted from these meetings
include the favourable environment created for all
parties to harness their roles and responsibilities.
Leaders in districts, sub counties and schools strove to
“SNV has shown us the way! Now,
we can take up our responsibility
create innovative strategies to improve service delivery.
to improve the efficiency and
Support to school management committees resulted in effectiveness of primary education
better handling of school affairs. Most have instituted in our district,” District Education
mechanisms for improving school affairs and monitoring
Officer, Kyenjojo District.
pupil learning. In Rakai, 25% of schools now have
school feeding programmes as a result of active school
management committees. In Kyenjojo, teacher and pupil
absenteeism decreased by 50% while in Rwenzori, rates of completing primary school improved from
35.6% in 2007 to 51.5% in 2008.
In Kiboga, the district education officer invites head teachers for peer- to-peer support in charting
improved teaching and management practices for the district. This participatory approach has resulted
in improved management at all education levels in the district. Improved collaboration among head
teachers has improved the sharing of resources and has motivated teachers. By the end of 2009, Kiboga
registered that 90% of teachers had attended the beginning of the term compared with only 50% at the
beginning of 2009.
In Bundibugyo, the district education officer met with others to agree on an education road map for the
district, providing a framework for collaboration and investments and stipulating interventions that would
promote education for all.
The accuracy of available data to enable proper planning and decision making continues to be a challenge
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