Presentation made during the Secondary School Head Teachers Conference, 1st to 2nd June 2015, MUK By Specioza Kiwanuka, Country Director Build Africa UgandaChallenges to Enrolment, Retention and Transition among Schools in Uganda: Build Africas Experience Outline About Build Africa Challenges to Enrolment Challenges to Retention Challenges to Transition Conclusions and Recommendations Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Build Africa Uganda (BAU) was registered as a Ugandan NGO in 1996 with the ambition to give children and their families the opportunities they need to escape the cycle of poverty. Since then BAU has been undergoing a process of steady growth and development. We are currently operational in 13 districts, working with 154 primary schools, reaching 65,000 children and over 30,000 men and women with our education and livelihood programs. In our new strategy to 2018, we have prioritised seven strategic approaches, that we will be focusing on in expanding our work in education and livelihoods.These approaches are: 1.Laying the foundations for learning 2.Maximising learning 3.Including girls 4.Preparing for continuous learning 5.Supporting financial services and business development 6.Boosting harvests and increasing access to markets 7.Strengthening resilience to shocks and stresses About Build Africa Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Some of the factors leading to low and/or non-enrolment in schools, that were identified by Build Africa during the implementation of the Rights, Education and Development (READ) Project in Bunyoro and Teso regions include: Lack of money to afford school dues and other scholastic materials- (34.6% of the parents) Domestic work- this mainly affects the girl child ( cooking, washing utensils, fetching water, firewood, etc) Long distances to school (5.8%) Childs lack of interest in school- No role models in the community Physical and mental disability of children. Other factors: lack of safety at school and while traveling to school, overcrowding of classrooms and family traditions. Challenges to Enrolment *It is worth noting that during the baseline survey of the READ project, 6% of the parents indicated that they had children in the 6-17 age bracket that have never gone to school. Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Challenges to Retention * Retention refers to the percentage of pupils who remain in school for the full cycle in Ugandas case, seven years of primary schooling. The baseline figures for the READ project indicated that for children who enrolled in P1 in 2002, retention rate was only 30.7%. The factors mentioned before, which hinder enrolment still pose a challenge to retention in school. Others include; Examination failure or had to repeat class - This discourages children from continuing with school as they develop the mentality that they will not make it through the education system. Marriage/pregnancy (19.2 %) - I n Bunyoro sub-region for example it is believed that a girl married off at a younger age attracts more bride wealth for her family Lack of hygiene facilities especially for girls while in their Menstruation periods Bullying/ teasing, especially for the young ones Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Challenges to Retention (Cont) Lack of school feeding- Due to hunger, most children are forced to go out to look for something to eat. Domestic violence- In other instances, families break up and children find themselves having to relocate and having to abandon school altogether Poor attitude towards education by parents but also children- T here are very few or no role models in some communities to demonstrate the importance of education Poor law enforcement - By rule parents/teachers who violate childrens right to education e.g. through defilement or early marriages are also punished. This is rarely done. Teacher absenteeism- This discourages the children who in turn also absentee themselves leading to poor performance and drop out Chronic illnesses (28.9%) Poor learning environment- During the rainy season, some children skip school, and during the dry season, the strong winds disrupt learning. These inconveniences cause some children to abandon school all together. Factors Leading to Drop out / Low Retention An assessment of the factors leading to school drop out and low retention was done by Build Africa in 40 school communities in Bunyoro and Teso regions. The graph below represents results from the assessment as a % of the responses received. READ Baseline Assessment Report, Build Africa, 2012. Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Challenges of Transition to Secondary Education Build Africa is implementing a research project in Ngora and Bukedea Districts to ascertain the challenges to transition to secondary education. Some of the factors identified as contributing to non transition include; Perceived benefits and relevance of education both by the parents and children ( poor attitude) -Lack of community support can significantly affect attendance and performance, particularly for girls. -In Uganda, more than a fifth of children dropout of school due to indifference to education. -In the BAU target districts, a lack of awareness and appreciation of the benefits ultimately brought about by education has been cited as one of the major reasons for the high dropout rates. The associated costs of education ( low income levels) -Poverty is cited as one of the major causes of dropout in schools. -It has been found that secondary education costs around seven times more than primary education and around 40% of children dropout of school because it is deemed too expensive. Pupils limited numeracy, literacy and life skills levels -Many pupils leave primary school without the necessary numeracy and literacy skills to deal with the challenges of secondary school. -In Bukedea District, more than 20% of students in primary 7 are unable to read a primary 2 comprehension story, while almost a quarter are unable to complete a primary two mathematical division. -As a result, a large percentage of secondary school head teachers identified the low quality of students as the biggest challenge they faced. Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Conclusions and Recommendations Resolving the menstrual hygiene management challenge: Where poor rural communities cannot afford the existing options in the marketplace, training girls and their parents/guardians on how to make sanitary pads from locally available materials can be a long lasting strategy to menstrual hygiene. In turn, they can pass the skills acquired to others with a similar need; Effective methods for changing attitudes towards education: Cultural transformation takes long to create significant impact as evidenced with READ project schools. Sustained advocacy coupled with legislation and strict enforcement could perhaps bring more positive results; Addressing pupil absenteeism and drop out: To reduce absenteeism and subsequent drop out, new measures including pupils sensitisation on the dangers of absenteeism, setting up of school attendance follow up committees at school level, and emphasising the school family initiative, could be adopted to boost attendance; Addressing child labour: Improve the implementation of laws and policies on child labour; Poverty eradication programs: Promote and emphasize poverty eradication programs as a tool for the retention of children in school. This particularly pertains to providing food for children in school; Page heading Ubuntu 35pt Conclusions and Recommendations (Cont) Teacher motivation: Review and improve factors relating to teacher motivation (not necessarily monetary); School enrolment age: Clarify further the age at which children should start school; Community based education monitors: Mobilize a wider constituency of educational actors and strengthen structures to do community monitoring of enrolment and school attendance; Regulate the school dues charged in different schools and provide reasoning for differences in school dues; More information on the right to education: Provide children and parents with more information regarding their rights and responsibilities towards education; Counselling of children: periodic counselling and engagement with children on their school life experiences and general life skills. Thanks for Listening