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Qn. Although access to education has improved, quality still remains a challenge. Using institutions of your choice, discuss.

Introduction Definition of key terms


1. Education- This is a deliberate attempt to acquire and transmit interest worthwhile skills, attitude, and knowledge. 2. Quality- Pertains to a high standard or level of something (Oxford definition). 3. Challenge- Refers to a situation in which ability to achieve or do something is tested (Oxford definition). The institution in focus is the primary level of education system

1. Background to Primary Education in Uganda


Uganda has a population of 31 million people, 85% of whom live in rural areas (World Bank, 2009) and a youthful population with children below 15 constituting more than half of the population making primary education a key fundamental stage in literacy development (World Bank and UNICEF in 2009). This is a major aim of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (United Nations, 2000) which is to reduce the number of uneducated African youth. Education is a right in Uganda as per the constitution in article 20 (1995 Uganda constitution). As a result of that, the government of Uganda set up government schools and licensed the private ones to collectively see that this right is satisfied throughout the country. Such schools as the government aided schools were attended by students at a cost that was definitely cheaper than the government in abide to increase on the attendance. However, in Uganda where more than 38% of the population are living below the national poverty line (earning less than a dollar a month), access to education still became a problem affected by a number of factors (World Bank and UNICEF in 2009).

Factors that reduced accessibility to Primary Education


a) Poverty in that most of the parents couldnt even afford the little tuition charges that were levied at the school. b) Few schools were government owned leaving most of the population at the mercy of private schools that exploited them with high tuition charges c) Accessibility in terms of distance was a problem as some pupils had to move very long distances to get to school d) In other areas however, civil conflict distracted and put off learning for some time for example in the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) war affected areas in Northern Uganda Recognising the education crisis, the Government of Uganda in 1987 convened an Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC), which had the mandate to make policy recommendations for all levels of education. In their report to the government in 1989, the Commission recommended the universalisation of primary education as soon as feasible, stating: Only when every child is enrolled at the right age and does not leave school without completing the full cycle of primary education it would be possible to ensure that all the citizens have the basic education needed for living a full life With such prevailing hindrances to education, the number of illiterate people in the country rose to around 74% from the previous 54%. As such, the government decided to put into place solutions to address this problem and bring to fulfillment one of its main citizens right.

Solutions implemented to improve accessibility to Education in Uganda


1. Free primary education for all its citizens was introduced under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) under which enrolment figures after the launching of UPE shot up from nearly 2.6 million in 1995 to 7.4 million in 2008 (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2009).

Deininger (2003) also shows that there were substantial increases in overall enrolment rates in Uganda following school fees elimination, and that fees elimination reduced socio-economic disparities in access to primary schooling. However, Deininger finds that

there were noticeable reductions in the quality of education following the influx of UPE entrants. This however mainly benefited the rural communities as results reflected the fact that school enrolment in urban areas was much higher than in rural areas before the elimination of school fees. There is also some anecdotal evidence that urban schools continued to charge fees after 1997. 2. The government set more primary schools at least at each sub-county and where it couldnt, a private institution was taken up and became a government aided school. 3. Physical distance challenges were still solved by building schools at every sub-county targeting the most populated areas in doing so. 4. The Uganda government with co-operation from neighboring states fostered security in a bid to bring an end to conflict and re-establish peace in such war torn area which in doing so brought a number of pupils to return to school. Such implementations as the above and more have seen the accessibility to primary education in Uganda greatly increase but however the question of what quality such education delivered was still unaddressed though it stood out in the objectives of UPE that were cited as below.

Objectives of Universal Primary Education


1. Making basic education accessible to the learners and relevant to their needs as well as meeting national goals 2. Making education equitable in order to eliminate disparities and inequalities 3. Establishing, providing and maintaining quality education as the basis for promoting the necessary human resource development; 4. Initiating a fundamental positive transformation of society in the social, economic and political fields 5. Ensuring that education is affordable by the majority of Ugandans by providing, initially the minimum necessary facilities and resources, and progressively the optimal facilities, 6. Enable every child to enter and remain in school until they complete the primary education cycle. (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:10)

Challenges of quality in Primary Education


Large student numbers The increase in number of the pupils was over whelming and this affected the amount of time spent in class considering that a class that previously took up 50 students had currently triple that number and at times multiple class shifts have to be resorted to (Nakibuuka 2004). Shortage of manpower A commensurate number of teachers were needed that hasnt been addressed up to now leading to few teachers teaching large numbers of pupils in nearly all the primary classes in the school. This has forced teachers at times to just deliver shallow material because of exhaustion (Aguti 2002). Shortage of teaching material Teaching /learning materials have also compromised the quality of education as there isnt enough to facilitate minimum favorable training for the pupils in terms of textbooks, and demonstration charts (Aguti 2002). Poor remuneration Low salaries given to teachers also affect the quality of education. This is because most schools were charging extra fees to supplement teachers salaries through the Parents Teachers Association which was phased out with the introduction of UPE yet at such a time as they are doing more work than previously. Inadequate physical infrastructure The classroom numbers stocked fully with furniture needed to cope with the ever increasing numbers of students was inadequate (Kasozi, 2006), leading to improvising of space for studies like sitting under trees where the students are distracted by the passing vehicles, noise from the surrounding, and at times sessions have been cut short by hostile weather like heavy rains. This has led to inadequate explanations during some sessions and at worst premature termination of sessions.

Content and relevance of the curriculum Current teaching promotes rote learning rather than application, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial skills (Kagoda 2009). In this way, the curriculum has promoted more of theory than practical which rally with the needs of the students in case they decide to progress to secondary or end there and venture into vocational. Poverty Despite the introduction of UPE to the response of the poverty burden in Uganda, this has continued to impact the quality of education as some parents arent able to meet the minimum requirements to comfortably sustain the pupil in school like exercise books, lunch, uniforms amongst others. Teacher training Continuous training is needed for the teachers to equip them with the latest skills and knowledge in problem solving and approach to teaching. This has not been supported by the government and in turn kept in schools out dated information as per the demands for a student at such a level hence creating a poor quality of education challenged by the prevailing current trends. Weak government policy/guidelines on teaching Due to the governments failure to set and strictly enforce a code of conduct stream lined for the provision of quality education, laxity has been exhibited in the way the teachers do their work. Teachers can part time in a number of schools and this in turn affects their effectiveness as they will not deliver equally to the standards in all the schools they go to. Disparities due to location The current education state has clearly showed to favor more those in the urban than rural setting. This has in a way dictated on where the resources will be concentrated as a priority in terms of the infrastructure like school building and their quality and also the good teachers will tend to do rural-urban migration leaving the rural schools short of quality education

Special needs groups The government has failed to provide for an avenue of leveled education for children with disabilities in so doing some have tried to fit into the ordinary training programs. However,, compatibility with their existing inadequacies have seen such individuals fail to cope and drop out of school.

Conclusion
In such a state as the one the education in Uganda is, it is clear that most of the work to effect change and improve quality lie in the hands of the government through policies and their strict implementations. Overall, the introduction of Universal Primary Education along with other implementations bridged the gap of accessibility to education increasing on the literacy rate as sited above. However the question of quality of the education being availed wasnt adequately addressed as such factors as above continue to challenge the availability of an education that is up to standard. Its however clear that some factors will obviously not only pose a challenge but also contribute to a downward trend in the standards of the education provided like lack of classrooms, class shifts, and remuneration of the teachers thats a current cause of the education crisis in Uganda.

References
Aguti J.N 2002: Department of Distance Education Makerere University, Facing up to the challenge of Universal Primary Education, (UPE) in Uganda through distance teacher education programmes P 4-9

Deininger K. Does Cost of Schooling Affect Attendance by the Poor? Economics of Education Review 2003; 22(3):291-305.

Kagoda, M. (2009). Consult widely before curriculum review. Retrieved from http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/35/697700

Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda. Ministerial Seminar on Education for Rural People in Africa: Policy Lessons, Options and Priorities. Ministerial Seminar; 79 September 2005; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 2005.

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary P 182 and 950

The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Article 20.1995

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2009). Statistical abstract. Retrieved from http://www.ubos.org/onlinefiles/uploads/ubos/pdf%20documents/2009Statistical Abstract.pdf

UNICEF (2009). Uganda statistics. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_statistics.html

United Nations. Millennium Development Goals. 2000. Millennium Summit of the United Nations. World Bank and UNICEF in 2009

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