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SUNDAY VISION , March 29, 2015

NEWS FEATURE

UPE schools grapple with

Education minister
Jessica Alupo recently
directed headteachers in
UPE schools to look for
ways of feeding pupils
without charging any
extra fees. Innocent
Anguyo talked to some
headteachers on how
best to implement the
directive
In 2010, Suzan Wamala, the headteacher
of Mukono Boarding School, did the
unthinkable. At a time when headteachers in
Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools
were being arrested for charging lunch fees,
she decided to put her head in the noose. The
school introduced a charge of sh120,000 per
term for day scholars to cater for break tea,
lunch and utility bills.
Wamalas intention was to eliminate hunger
because she would see children yawning as
early as 11:00am, but the bigger outcome was
improvement in the academic performance.
The average number of candidates scoring
Division One in Primary Leaving Examinations
rose from 10 before the introduction of meals,
to 57 between 2012 and 2014. Besides, after
the introduction of meals, third and fourth
grades ceased to appear on the schools
results sheets.
This, though, did not come without
challenges. Initially, many parents defaulted
on the payment, saying the Government
had assured them that education was free
in schools under the UPE programme. As a
result, the term ended when the school was in
huge debts.
We were forced to look for money
elsewhere to settle the debts. However, I did
not give up the idea, Wamala recalls.
However, due to the significant improvement
within the first year of introducing meals,
parents who had defaulted on the payments,
started to comply.
I called a meeting, where I explained to
them how introducing lunch had yielded
results. The parents who had food arrears
cleared the dues. Since then, feeding at
Mukono Boarding School is a priority for
parents and we have continued to shine in
performance, says Wamala.
The school spends between sh2,000 and
sh3,000 per pupil per day on feeding. The
foods served includes posho, beans, cassava
and sweet potatoes.

CHANGE IN GOVT POSITION

The Government position has since changed

and Wamalas story offers hope to many
headteachers who are wondering how to
implement a new directive by education
minister Jessica Alupo.
Early this month, Alupo asked UPE schools
to ensure they feed children without charging
extra fees.
In an interview with Sunday Vision, Alupo
said providing lunch at school would reduce
absenteeism and improve performance.
She asked school authorities to discuss with
management committees, boards of governors
and Parents Teacher Associations and come
up with modalities for feeding children.
In a 2010 report to Cabinet, the education
ministry stated that hunger was one of the
main reasons children perform poorly in UPE
schools. The report explained that hungry
children have poor concentration, poor mental

Pupils of Otatai Primary School having lunch of mashed potatoes, locally known as amukeke. The potato chips are provided by parents
abilities, absenteeism, bad behaviour, poor
health and often drop out of school.
The Education Act allows schools to charge
parents a limited amount of money for feeding
children, provided it is agreed upon by the
school management committee in consultation
with the district council. It, however, maintains
that such payments must be voluntary.
The law also states that pupils must not be
dismissed from school, if their parents do not
pay lunch fees.

In a 2010 report
to Cabinet, the
education ministry
cited hunger
among the reasons
why UPE schools
performed poorly
Other options proposed by the ministry
for feeding school children include children
returning home for lunch, carrying packed
food, contributing food rations to the school
and setting up school gardens where the
children or their parents provide labour.
To facilitate the school garden option, the
ministry is partnering with the World Food
Programme to provide seeds for planting. In
Karamoja, schools will also get hoes.
The idea that there is no food in rural areas
should not arise anymore. People should find
a way of getting food to schools, Alupo says.
Whereas some headteachers are relieved
that they can now officially do what they have
been doing sneakily, others fear that they are
being made to climb a mountain.
More than half of the schools interviewed
by Sunday Vision backed the ministers idea,
saying it will greatly improve performance. In
fact, many UPE headteachers said by the time
Alupo made the pronouncement, they were

Akongo and Atim during the interview at Otatai Primary School in Soroti district
already feeding their children using funds
contributed by parents.

Hungry children drop ouT

By 2010, there were over 8.7 million children

studying in Ugandas primary schools, with
more than half of that number not being fed,
yet hunger is one of the leading causes of
school dropout.
A 2014 report by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation indicated that of the children
who joined Primary One, only 63% reached
Primary Seven.
Alupos pronouncement has left district
officials and headteachers pondering how
to implement the directive, considering that
UPE schools get a capitation grant of less than
sh10,000 per child each year.
Mukono district education officer Vincent
Baraza says he is waiting for communication
from the ministry, before calling the
headteachers for a discussion.
He acknowledges that some schools in the
district have been charging a fee for meals and
he thinks they are on the right path.

Likewise, the Wakiso chief administrative

officer, David Naluwayiro, welcomes Alupos
idea, saying hunger has been responsible for
persistent poor performance of some schools.
He plans to call headteachers for a meeting
to discuss how to provide food in schools.
Many times when we go to workshops, if
we are not given anything to eat by 11:00am,
we yawn; what about children? he asks.
In Gulu district, Caesar Akena, the
senior education officer, welcomes Alupos
pronouncement, but fears that it could fail if
parents do not co-operate.
Similarly, the Nwoya district education
officer, Richard Irwenyo, says many
interventions to improve education in the
district have failed due to the parents poor
attitude.
Parents do not like digging into their
pockets. This has made it difficult to improve
the performance of schools, says Irwenyo.
In Amuru district, the senior education
officer, Joyce Lanyero, says the district is
preparing to launch a gardening campaign
that will be implemented in 15 schools.
We have the parents backing. By the end

NEWS FEATURE

SUNDAY VISION , March 29, 2015

Alupos directive on feeding

Angella Asio, a teacher at Otatai Primary School, recording pupils attendance

of this year, we want 60% of the schools
covered, Lanyero adds.

HEADTEACHERS SPEAK OUT

At Pacudu Primary School in Kitgum district,

the headteacher, Grace Lawiro, feels relieved
by Alupos directive. Most of the 720 pupils
in the schools walk long distances to school
and by midday, they lose concentration
in class due to hunger. Lawiro, a new
headteacher at the school, is planning to
meet parents to discuss the issue.
A number of UPE schools in Mukono
district are providing children with lunch.
Among them is Kasenge Primary School in
Nama sub-county. The headteacher, Jane
Namuli, says introduction of meals at school
had signicantly reduced absenteeism among
teachers and pupils.
At Old Kampala Primary School, pupils in
the lower classes are given a cup of porridge
at break time, while others are provided
with lunch. Pupils pay sh10,000 for food.
Teachers say this amount is too little for
a balanced diet, forcing them to feed the
children on posho and beans all the time.
Elsewhere, it has been an uphill task
convincing parents to pay for food. Richard
Nsubuga, the headteacher of Namabo
Primary School in Mpigi district, reveals that
of the 350 pupils in the school, only 50 have
paid the lunch fee.
The situation is worse at Driwala Primary
School in Ayivu County, Arua district, where
out of the 800 pupils, only one has paid for
meals. Lillian Abele, the headteacher, says
the pupil has meals with teachers since the
school cannot cook for him alone. Children
who live near the school often run home for
lunch. However, each parent pays at least
sh3,000 per term for teachers meals.
Acholi region has been similarly difcult.
Parents have a negative attitude not
only about school feeding, but education
generally. That is why they will never take
matters of learning seriously, said Moses
Ochom, the headteacher of El-Shadai

The Uganda
Teachers
Union wants
the Government
to formulate
guidelines on
school feeding
Primary School in Gulu.
At Patira Primary School, the over 700
pupils often queue to buy pancakes or boiled
maize at lunchtime. Those who do not have
money for snacks go hungry.
Similar challenges are being faced in
the eastern region. Two years ago, the
management of Otatai Primary School in
Soroti district asked every parent to provide
one basin of dried sweet potato chips
(amukeke) per child per term, but out of the
200 parents, only 40 complied.
The headteacher, Jane Akongo, says most
parents believe it is the Governments
responsibility to provide food and meet all
other educational needs of their children.
At one time, a parents teachers association
meeting resolved that each parent pays
sh6,000 a year, but only half paid, says
Catherine Atim, the deputy headteacher at
the school.
The school withheld report cards of
children who had defaulted, but this did not
help as some parents simply transferred their
children to other schools.
At Pamba Primary School in Soroti
municipality, the deputy headteacher, Anna
Ariyo, says they have started a feeding

First aid for hunger-stricken children

Florence Tushemereirwe,
a nutritionist at Mulago
Hospital, says in case of
extreme hunger, a child
can become very weak.
Such a child can be given
rst aid with a drink that
has some sugar, but not a
zzy drink.
A fruit or fruit juice, such
as those made of sweet
bananas; sugarcane and
mango, are healthy foods
for hunger. If a child has
appetite and is able to eat,

then give them fruits and

or fruit juices and wait for
30 minutes, before giving
them other foods. Do
not overfeed them; their
system needs to adjust
to normal rst, warns
Tushemerirwe.
In the worst scenario,
a child can faint due to
hunger. Such a child,
Tushemerirwe advises,
should be rushed to
hospital for emergency
medical attention.

But it does not have to

happen. As testied by
some headteachers, school
feeding is possible, even
when the Government does
not provide money for it.
Even when schools fail to
provide the food, parents
can prevent trouble by
packing for their children
healthy snacks such as
roast gonja, cassava, maize
and groundnuts. Others are
sweet bananas, tangerines,
oranges and water.

scheme where they ask each pupil to pay

sh15,000 per term. However, the school is in
a dilemma over what to do with children who
cannot pay.
Absenteeism in the afternoon is rampant
among pupils who do not feed at school.
Others fake sickness so that they can be
allowed to return home, Ariyo explains.
Still in Soroti, Opar Primary School only
feeds Primary Seven candidates due to lack
of co-operation from some parents. The
headteacher, John Egabu, says P7 pupils are
asked to pay sh5,000 and also provide a basin
of dried cassava each.
I wish the Government could allocate
some resources to feeding. It will be difcult
to convince parents who think it is the
Governments responsibility to feed their
children, Egabu says.
In western Uganda, some schools have
started feeding pupils. Milton Bateekateeka,
the headteacher of Katete Parents Primary
School, welcomes Alupos directive, but says
some parents cannot afford to pay.
Schools with enough land should embark
on farming. Children can grow their own food
as it used to be in the past. The Government
should have a special fund for meals to cater
for children whose parents cannot afford to
pay, says Bateekateeka.
The headteacher of Mbarara Municipal
School, Martin Kananura, reveals that he
is already feeding pupils with nancial
contribution from parents.
Those who get meals at school pay
sh70,000 per term. The children are fed on
posho, matooke, rice, beef, groundnuts and
beans. Children who live near the school
go home for lunch, while those who cannot
pay for the meals and come from far come
with packed food, which we keep in a store,
Kananura explains.
We invite parents at school at the
beginning of the term and sensitise them on
their responsibilities towards the education of
their children, he adds.
Samuel Tumuramye, the headteacher of
Kafunjo Primary School, advises that the
ministry should rst implement a pilot study
on school feeding before rolling it out to
avoid mistakes.
Godfrey Tumwine, the deputy headteacher
of Boma Primary School in Mbarara, says
most of his pupils get meals at the school.
He says day scholars contribute sh60,500
per term for meals.
John Bosco Kamujuni, the headteacher of
Uganda Martyrs Primary School in Mbarara,
says pupils having meals is a priority and that
they ask parents to either contribute money
for meals or pack food for their children.

UNATU EXPLAINS

Considering these diverse experiences from

schools, the Uganda National Teachers Union
(UNATU) recommends that the Government
formulates and disseminates guidelines on
school feeding.
It is a good idea, but it should not be
rushed. There should be clear guidelines
on implementation and supervision. There
should also be penalties for schools that
default, says James Tweheyo, the UNATU
secretary general.
Leticia Sabuni of Kampala, says if Alupos
idea is implemented, her children will not
have to walk home for lunch and then back.
James Okeny, a resident of Lacor in Gulu,
says some parents are not co-operative
because they have lost hope in UPE over
quality concerns.
Such misgivings notwithstanding, provision
of lunch at school remains a crucial matter.
Additional reporting by John Ssemakula,
Fred Turyakira, Godfrey Ojore, Jolly Owiny,
Ali Mao and Richard Drasimaku

Hunger leading
to high dropout
rates experts
The senior programme ofcer of
Hunger Free World, a non-government
organisation, Gonzaga Kiddu, says hungry
children become angry with the school
as well as their parents, which leads to
rebellious behaviour and school dropout.
Hungry people are angry, he says.
The executive director of Public Affairs
Centre Soroti branch, Benson Ekwee,
welcomes Alupos directive, but is worried
that politicians might fail feeding schemes
by making populist decisions.
The very politicians issuing such requests
shall be the ones threatening headteachers,
who send away children who have not paid
money for feeding, he notes.
Ekwee emphasises the need to change
parents mindsets about the belief that the
Government should do everything for them.
Associate Prof. Freddie Ssengooba, a
lecturer at the Makerere University School
of Public Health, says an inclusive feeding
programme in schools would be the gamechanger in primary education.
You cant expect children to perform well
on empty stomachs. After several hours
of studying, trekking long distances and
playing, children exhaust the sugar in their
bodies, he says.
Apart from the academics, physical and
health benets, Ssengooba says school
feeding programmes would promote
agriculture by providing a robust market
for food items. He criticises the ministry
for maintaining that no parent should be
compelled to pay for meals at school.
He argues that either parents pay or the
Government provides food.
To say anyone shouldnt pay is like
burying our heads in the sand. These
government ofcials send their children to
top schools and are paying for meals. Why
do they want children of the poor to wallow
in hunger? asks Ssengooba.
A community psychologist in Lira,
Emmanuel Okodi, advises that the best way
to run a successful feeding programme in
northern Uganda is to set up by-laws that
will compel stubborn parents to contribute
towards such schemes.
Florence Tushemereirwe, a nutritionist
at Mulago National Hospital, says feeding
pupils helps them concentrate in class,
improve performance and their mental
health.
A hungry child has a less productive and
dull brain. Everyones brain requires good
nutrition to work at its best and energy is
key. We get energy from the food we eat,
says Tushemerirwe.

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