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Ugandan Schools: an overview Education is the key element for anyone wanting to improve on their situation and to move towards a better future. In Uganda there are many, many people competing for a limited number of good jobs, and without a decent education there is very little chance of ever landing one. However, getting that education in the first place is a huge challenge. During his time in office, Museveni, the Ugandan President, has been keen to promote free primary education for all. Whilst this may be a noble goal in theory, the reality is somewhat different. Despite these ideologies, Uganda has very few free government schools, and those that do exist are hugely oversubscribed. It is not uncommon for classes to have well over one hundred students a-piece, with very little in the way of facilities, and unmotivated, over-worked teachers heading them. This means that for most of the population, especially those who want a good education, the only real option is private school. In Uganda, private schools vary enormously in fees and quality, and sadly, with so many large families in one country, there is rarely enough money to go around. This means that many children are left sitting at home, waiting for their relatives to try to scrape together enough money to send them to school. However, matters are made worse by the fact that there are many extra school requirements to pay for on top of fees. From brooms and blankets to school books and shoe polish, each child must turn up at the gates with everything asked of them, or else they will simply be sent back home. It is a seemingly impossible task for many children and their families to fund an education, and a lot of children only manage to pay part of their fees. This is a common occurrence, and however hard a child has worked at school, if they can't pay their fees in full they are not given their school reports or exam certificates. Their whole year of learning is effectively made worthless. Consequently, many children end up changing schools every term, building up debts wherever they go as they simply can't afford to pay them.

The Ugandan Education System     The Ugandan school year starts in February and finishes in December. The first term runs from February to April, the second term from May until early August, and the third term from September to December. This is why at S.A.L.V.E. International we ask for our sponsorship payments to be made three times a year, on January 1st, May 1st and September 1st in order to correspond with school fees being paid. Alternatively, you can choose to pay your sponsorship costs in one yearly lump sum on January 1st. The Ugandan Education system follows a fairly similar pattern to that in Britain. Children are in primary school for seven years (Primary 1- Primary 7), and then continue through secondary school for the next six years (Senior 1- Senior 6).  The three most important school years for a child in Uganda are: - Primary 7: All students must take leaving exams which will determine which secondary school they go to. - Senior 4: O-Level year. - Senior 6: A-Level year. At S.A.L.V.E. International, we want to see all of the children that we support go to school up until the end of Senior 4. After Senior 4 we will talk seriously with the child about what they think their future holds, and from there we will make the decision as to whether they should continue on to A-Levels or whether they should move on to vocational training. Once they have completed this next stage of their education, their sponsor is no longer expected to support them. However, if the child is bright enough to go on to university, and the sponsor wishes to support them, we will be extremely happy for the sponsorship to continue, and we will offer our support in any way we can. The Ugandan school system is very competitive. There are so many children who want an education, that schools all over the country are able to pick and choose the best students in order to improve their grade average and national standing. Testing is relentless for students, as every term they have to take exams as well as having ongoing assessments of their performance; based on their results they are given a grade and a position in their class. If the child is successful, they can move in to the next class in the New Year. However, if their performance is poor they may have to repeat the school year again.  As many of the children in our program have been out of education for a long time, it may take a while for their results to improve. This is understandable and expected as they have a lot of adjustments to make in their new life. As they enter their primary school, they will undergo an aptitude test in order to determine their school year. The results of this are not necessarily based on what they know, but rather on how quickly they can learn. Thus, the child may be placed a couple of classes higher than when they were last in school, leaving them with quite a bit of catching-up to do. This is why we pay for our children to get extra lessons when they first re-enter school, helping them to catch-up with their classmates much quicker than they would do otherwise. Classes in Uganda are not based on age because a lot of children drop out and re-enter school based on whether or not they can afford to pay the school fees. This means that the children in our program might be in classes with students who are a lot older or a lot younger than them. Whilst this may seem strange to us, it is of no consequence in Uganda, as the most important factor is that they all want to learn!    If you were to ask any child in Uganda if they would prefer to go to boarding school or day school, the answer would almost always come back as boarding school. In Ugandan boarding schools, children are provided with a much better education, as students get to fully concentrate on their studies and receive extra classes in the evenings. It is hard to be a teacher in Uganda, as you are faced with such large class sizes and poor resources that it is incredibly difficult for you to give one-to-one attention to those students who need it most. When the day-school pupils go home after classes, the teachers are at last able to work on a more individual basis with the boarders. That is why at S.A.L.V.E. International we want all children in our program to attend boarding school, where they will receive the best education that they can get. They have been through so much already in their short lives that we want to give them the best chance possible to move forward and to shape their future for themselves.     Improving School Facilities   Schools in Uganda face huge challenges due to their lack of facilities. This makes it far harder for the children to learn and for the teachers to teach to a reasonable standard. Imagine schools that are often only half built, without textbooks or any kind of teaching aids beyond a blackboard to help stimulate the children's minds. If a school does improve its facilities, it also has to raise its fees in order to cover the improvement costs. This of course means that fewer families in the community can then afford to send their children to the school to make use of the better facilities. That is why at S.A.L.V.E. International we want to fundraise for the school(s) we send our sponsored children to. Not only do we want to improve their education, but we want to improve the education of hundreds of other children in the community also. If the money for the improvements comes from an outside source, the school does not need to raise its prices to compensate for them. Thus, a better education remains more affordable for all, helping us to achieve our aim of an education for all. Click here to return to 'Where We Work' Enter content here Queuing up for porridge at break-time.   Primary Education   Children in Primary school take four main subjects, English, Maths, Science and SST. SST stands for Social Studies, a subject that includes Geography, History and Religious Studies. There is also the option of taking Agriculture as a fifth subject, depending on whether the school provides this option or not. They are examined at the end of every term in each of these subjects. Grade boundaries for primary school: Distinction = 100 - 80 % Credit = 79 - 50% Pass = 49 - 30% Fail = 29 - 0%  Secondary Education Children in secondary school take a wide variety of subjects with English, Maths and Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) as the key subjects. For each subject, a child is given grades based on their exam performance: Division 1 = 100-81 % Division 2 = 81-72 % Class 3 = 72-68 % Class 4 = 68-61 % Class 5 = 61-53 % Class 6 (Fail) = 53-0 %

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