School Priorities - SNV

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Community Participation The Arua District Education Ordinance made it clear that everyone is responsible for making sure children attend school. This ordinance, one of very few of its kind within Uganda, seemed to be a model for clarifying UPE’s intent. Unfortunately, although Arua education activists had pushed for the law, it has not been properly implemented or enforced. As one parentteacher association (PTA) leader said, “When this ordinance was made, it had no owner.” Although school inspections have begun occurring more regularly and teacher attendance has improved to 80-90% (up from roughly 70%), implementation has stalled since the ordinance passed. In an effort to revitalise the ordinance, in 2010 SNV agreed to help Arua DLG review its implementation through a series of activities, including: • Multi-stakeholder meetings at district and subcounty levels to assess the progress and challenges in implementation • Interviews and group discussions with headteachers, teachers, school management committees (SMCs), parents and pupils at 16 schools • Document reviews at school, subcounty and district levels • School observations • Interviews with key people at district and subcounty levels • Feedback and validation workshops at the district level SNV’s intervention highlighted some persistent challenges. The district and its subcounties made little effort to notify communities and teachers about the ordinance. Nor did they enforce it apart 34
Community Participation from occasional school inspections, which provided little guidance for schools struggling with attendance. Children still reported late to school, with schools registering only between 10-30% even by the start of the second week of the term. When they did come, many still lacked scholastic materials. Additionally, Terego County, which used to belong to another district but has since reverted to Arua, felt no ownership of the ordinance since it was implemented when it was in another district. SNV’s review of the ordinance’s implementation has helped put things back on track, as it guided Arua DLG to appropriate solutions to these challenges. As a result of the review: • All 28 subcounties in Arua have developed ordinance implementation plans and the district has combined these plans into a cohesive district implementation plan. • The Arua DLG has authorised all 28 subcounties to budget for the implementation of the ordinance during the 2011/2012 financial year. • Arua District has formed—and provided terms of reference for—an ordinance implementation committee headed by the secretary of the Arua Social Services Committee. • The DLG has stated its intention to develop policy guidelines that clarify roles and responsibilities in implementing the ordinance. The SNV–DLG review has acted as “a wake-up” call for district leaders, who have redoubled their efforts to enforce the ordinance, realising a need for guidelines and performance indicators for all actors involved. They have also realised that they do not need outside resources to effectively enforce the ordinance. Rather, subcounty authorities, local police, parents and community members are mandated by Ugandan law to enforce it. The long-term success of the ordinance will be determined by the degree to which the community takes ownership of it. Coercive policing would only induce resentment and hostility from community members. District leaders must convince the community of the value of education so that they will voluntarily abide by the ordinance. For more information, contact Mr. Nicholas Tembo, District Education Officer, Arua Lessons learnt • While it took a concerted effort by district leaders to enact the ordinance, such political will must extend to implementing and enforcing the law. • Forming an ordinance is not an end in itself. All local laws must also clearly outline how they can be implemented and enforced—as well as who is responsible for overseeing enforcement. These mechanisms should be developed during the initial stages of community consultations and annexed directly into the ordinance so that communities are aware of who is supposed to be doing what as soon as the law is enacted. • Community programmes require constant follow-up in order for implementation to succeed. Each step of the action plan needs a moment for critical self-assessment. When action plans are generated it becomes easy to keep track and hold the responsible actors accountable. With each step of the action plan that is successfully done, the community becomes more motivated to participate in the programme. 35
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