School Priorities - SNV

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.
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