School Priorities - SNV

Community Participation
Imagine studying for more than 10 years—
learning everything from math and science
to English and history—then graduating
and having no idea how you’re going
to make money. How do you turn your
knowledge of isosceles triangles and past
participles into a job?
That’s the situation the Ugandan education
system puts students in every year. It
overemphasises examination grades, forcing
children to cram information in their heads
instead of trying to understand and apply
what they are learning to their day-to-day
lives.
The Junior Achievement ( JA) Programme
sets out to solve the problems of an
examination-driven education that pays
little attention to life skills or job readiness.
The programme brings practical skills into
the classroom as it teaches pupils to be
responsible citizens, creative thinkers and
entrepreneurs. Key to its success is the
understanding that children learn best not
by hearing and seeing, but by doing. They
must be physically and actively involved in
learning both in and outside the classroom.
The programme curriculum includes:
• Learning about how everyday products
are made. Mpigi pupils, for instance,
went to see the production methods
used to make donuts, which involve
maths for measuring and chemistry for
baking.
• Analysing how money moves through an
economy. Through trips to banks, village
savings and loan association (VSLA)
schemes and local businesses, students
can see the savings and loan systems
at work, helping them understand the
process for when they are ready to start
their own businesses.
• Taking field trips into the community
to study how people earn their livings.
The trips show them not just what jobs
are available, but what services people
need—services they may be able to
provide.
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