Kamwenge District On the Spot Over Poor Fuding of Education Sector

 

 

Inadequate funding of the education sector has contributed to the poor performance of schools in the national examinations

Kamwenge district is on the spot for inadequate funding of the education sector.

In a research carried out by Karambi Action for Life Improvement (KALI), a local NGO operating in Kasese and Kamwenge districts, the inadequate funding has contributed to the poor performance of schools in the district in the Primary Leaving Examinations, Uganda Certificate of Education and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education.

Out of the shs 24 billion budget for the 2011/2012 financial year, only shs 7 billion was allocated to the education department. The research also indicates that under the education budget, only 0.34 % is allocated to inspection of schools.

According to the report, teacher pupil ratio is at 1:100.

Happy Francis, the program coordinator KALI says that because of the inadequate funding, children are being taught in dilapidated classrooms and in some schools, where there are no classrooms, they are being taught under trees.

He also says that some of the inspectors have failed to monitor the attendance of teachers and pupils because they lack resources, which gives rooms for teachers to abscond from duty, leading to the increasingly high failure rates in primary and secondary schools.

Happy says that the district should allocate more funds to the sector, which will be used to construct more classroom blocks and latrines, which will improve the sanitation in schools.

//Cue in: “pupil teacher ratio is high

Cue out: “…good infrastructure.”//


Eric Tumwirigyiye the Kamwenge district education officer admitted the sector is poorly funded, but said that he hopes that funding of the sector will increase by 20% in the next financial year.

//Cue in: “issues raised are correct…

Cue out: “…better performance.”//

Lovence Bagarukayo, the Kamwenge district chairperson and secretary for finance and administration, says that more funds can be increased to the education sector, but the district is limited by lack of adequate local revenue.

In 2010, the district had 143 pupils in the first grade, while in 2011, there were 72 pupils.

poor funding poor infrastructure

Accessed on Saturday 17th November from: http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=46999  

INCREASE PARTICIPATION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS IN DESCION MAKING TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERLY

Low participation of special interest groups in leadership in Kamwenge district has not only affected the decision making process but also service delivery to these groups.

During the district consultative meetings for special interest groups, the following were noted.

A case in Kamwenge district

 The PWDs are not represented on the DEC (District Executive Committee). That is on the DEC; representatives for, PWDs = 0, Youth = 0, females (not known).

Also in parliament, representation of PWDs directly elected = 0, youth directly elected =0,   females directly elected = 0.

The whole district has only 2 youth councilors who are overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done and only 1 representative for the youth for the whole western region. This is not a representative number since in Kamwenge district, 37% of the population are youth.

The youth councilor (male) Kamwenge district emphasing that the youth are poorly represented in leader ship                  

In Kasese district Out of the 365 staff, only 61are female. That only 17.1% of all the staff are women.    

There is need to inspire PWDs, youths, women   to increase their participation in leadership through role modeling.            

 
By Nabankema Victoria (KALI)                                                                

Derisory budgeting is affecting the achievement Kamwenge district development goal.

Having an empowered and prosperous Kamwenge community is not only a development goal but should also be viewed as a social objective so that the vulnerable groups /special interest groups are not neglected from the developmental government interventions.

Much as government has done a lot to reach the people of Kamwenge and Uganda at large through various interventions, little has been done to improve service delivery to the vulnerable groups.

O

n the  30^th of October 2012 KALI & RWECO team conducted an incredible consultative  meeting at Kamwenge district to locate vulnerable groups in the local government processes. The R.D.C, L.C.V chair person, Representatives of PWDs, Women councilors & Youth councilors were among the people who attended the meeting. The following were noted;

Although the district has an estimated number of 800 CWDs (Children with Disabilities), there is only one private centre to cater for all these children. (St. Anthony P/S) yet the neighboring districts like Kasese district has 4 centers and Fort portal has 3 centers.  In addition to the inadequate centers for these CWDs, the budget for the special needs education for the whole district for the year 2012/2013 is only 1,000,000 Ug.shillings (approximately U.S $357). This implies that Expenditure/CWD/year is 1250/= only. Inclusive education is not favoring these children with disabilities.

Even if the Community Based Services (C.B.S) sector has tried to involve the PWDS through small grants , very few have benefited due to the inadequate budgeting ( inclusive budgeting) which is already not favoring PWDS  since even the total number of PWDS in the district is not exactly known.

For instance; the total budget for the Community Based Services 2012/2013 is 427,075,108 Ug.shillings (approximately U.S $152526.8). If this money is spent on the 332,000 people (estimated population of Kamwenge district), expenditure/person/year =1286.6/=, and expenditure/person/day = 3.5/= which is too small compared to the 1 US dollar (approximately 2800/= (Ug.shillings) needed for every human being per day. Such budgeting really can’t make the district meet its vision and mission. Besides even if it was spent on women alone in the district, it will still be inadequate as only 6.7/= will be spent on each woman (there are 173,400 females in the district).

Not only that, but even in the water sector, PWDS are not considered when planning and budgeting for water supply in the district yet majority of them cannot access the water points due to their locations in the valleys.(hence this increases the vulnerability of PWDs to water related diseases). There is need to extend water supply facilities to PWDS for instance water harvesting tanks will help the severely impaired access water easily.

“We the PWDs are not considered when mapping water sources yet some of us are severely impaired. Some water sources should be located at least in close proximity to PWDs”. Also we should be considered in agriculture sector through adopting mechanization since majority of us cannot easily cultivate with garden hoes due to severe impairment. (One of the participants who was totally blind commenting during the presentation).

By Nabankema Victoria (KALI)

UPE: Staggering 71% drop-out rate so far

UPE: Staggering 71% drop-out rate so farPublish Date: Nov 10, 2012

Only 29% of those who enrolled in 2006 sat PLE exams this year.

.

By Francis Kagolo

Over one million pupils who enrolled for Primary One under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 2006 did not reach Primary Seven.

This indicates a whopping 71% drop-out rate, much higher than the 40% usually quoted.

According to statistics from the Ministry Of Education, 1,598,636 pupils enrolled for Primary one in government-aided schools in 2006.

But the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) figures for pupils who sat Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) this week are 463,332, which is only 29% of those who enrolled in 2006.
So, what happened to the 71%? Did they all drop-out, die or could it be evidence of the alleged existence of ghost pupils in UPE?

The commissioner of primary education, Dr. Daniel Nkaada, says a scientific research is needed to find out what happens to the enrolled pupils.

Could they be ghost?

A report by the Judicial Service Commission instituted by President Yoweri Museveni to probe fraud in UPE and USE confirmed existence of ghosts in schools.
The commission compared the official enrollment given by the school administrators, with the headcount results and found a variance of about 21.6%.

The report also estimates that the Government lost about sh400b under UPE and USE last year alone, due to shoddy construction works and absenteeism among pupils, teachers and head teachers.

Nkaada notes, “The issue of ghost pupils is real. But you cannot confirm it until you have probed it.”

He blames head teachers and local governments for the ghosts saying they are the ones directly responsible for recording enrollment.
He adds that the ministry of education is fighting ghosts through conducting routine head counts of UPE and USE students.

The finance ministry revealed last year that the Government loses sh28b annually to ghost teachers, pupils and schools.

Did they drop out?

UPE is credited for increasing enrollment. If indeed threefold drop out before P.7, this important programme will come to naught.

In East Africa, Uganda has the lowest proportion of children staying in school up to P7, according to a 2010 report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In Kenya, the completion rate is 84%, Tanzania 81% and Rwanda 74%.

Moses Kyambadde, the head teacher of Natyole Primary School in Luweero district said: “After 15 years of UPE, Uganda should have achieved a significant increase in literacy levels.
But this seems not the case because most children drop out before they even learn how to read and write.”

Early pregnancies

The health ministry’s HIV/AIDS report of 2011 showed that children are exposed to sex very early. About 71% of teenagers have risky sex, yet, according to the report, less than half use condoms.

The earlier 2006 Uganda demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), put the teenage pregnancy rate at 25%. Data from the education ministry shows that dropouts are highest among girls than boys due to early pregnancies.

How expensive is UPE?

Critics also attribute the high school drop-out in Uganda to the hidden cost of universal education on the parents. Under UPE, parents still have to contribute towards school meals, scholastic materials and uniforms.
Many children from poor families may find it hard to complete the seven-year cycle.

James Male Kiwalabye, the programme manager at the Uganda NGO Forum, cite overcrowding in classrooms poor conditions at schools as the other factors fueling high drop-outs rates.

“I studied at St. Tereza primary school in Mitala-Maria, Mpigi in the early 1990s, we were 40 in class. Today, the same classroom accommodates over 150 pupils.

Accessed on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/637176-upe-staggering-71-drop-out-rate-so-far.html 

By editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

Posted  Wednesday, November 7  2012 at  02:00

Pupil sits exam while in labour

Share Bookmark Print Rating

A police officer watches over a pregnant candidate in Kasese District yesterday. PHOTO BY KAHUNGU MISAIRI 

  
Kampala

A 14-year-old girl in Kasese District endured two days of due labour to sit this year’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), which were characterised by many interesting tit bits, including very old candidates. The oldest candidates were a 56-year-old grandmother in northern Uganda and a 37-year-old pastor in Kabarole District.

The 14-year-old expectant mother (names withheld) struggled with labour pains on the first day and the school hired for her a midwife to be by her side in a private room at Nyakasanga Primary Healthcare clinic, about a kilometre from her school.

“I decided to come and sit the exams because I thought I could, despite being pregnant. I am sure to complete this paper before giving birth to my first child,” she said.
Ministry of Education regulations permit girls to continue with their education even when they are pregnant.

“At the end of the first exam (mathematics), the supervisors told us that the girl’s condition changed and that she had pain. We rushed her to hospital where she was kept until the time to sit the afternoon exam. She told us she was ready to continue,” said Mr Joshua Munzomba, the headteacher.

When she did not deliver, the District Education Officer, Mr George Mainja, intervened by allowing the girl to sit the exams in a special care room under the guard of a police woman. A midwife attending to her, Ms Doloroza Muhindo, told the Daily Monitor that the girl was still experiencing the first stages of labour.

Meanwhile, there was a short interruption at Kitengeesa Church of Uganda Primary School PLE centre in Buwunga Sub-county after 17 candidates from Nakiyaga Model Primary School began shaking their heads and shouting at the top of their voices shortly after they started their papers. The school sits its pupils at Kitengeesa because it doesn’t have a centre number.

A pastor was called in to conduct prayers and the pupils stopped the shouting and resumed writing their papers. The headteacher of the school, Mr Abdu Mubiru, said the symptoms started manifesting among the pupils several weeks ago but their cause is not clearly understood.

After the incident some pupils were taken in a police ambulance to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for medical examination but the doctors said preliminary check-ups did not reveal any sickness. The cause of their problem continues to be a mystery.
Denis Wokorach, a P7 pupil at Panyimur Primary School in Nebbi District, endured a heart condition to sit through the two days of examinations.

He sat on a mattress while being attended to by his grandmother in the examination room. Wokorach looked pale. He occasionally feels dizzy, has to rest and resume answering questions later.

His father had earlier stopped him from doing his PLE exams because of his sickness but Wokorach insisted that he would do them as long as he could hold a pen.
Police in Kasanda Sub-county, Mubende District, yesterday arrested Namabaale Umea Primary School deputy head teacher for alleged involvement in Primary Leaving Examinations malpractice.

According to the Officer in charge of Kasanda Police Station, Ms Patience Baganzi, they have arrested the deputy head teacher and the impersonator and are helping police in investigations. Also summoned by police is the head mistress.

The suspect had been asked by the head teacher to sit for another pupil who left school due to pregnancy. However, the invigilators identified the anomalies in the passport photos when they realised that the candidate who was sitting for the paper did not correspond with the one on the Uneb album.

Police also arrested the director Holy Generation Nursery and Primary School for allegedly embezzling his pupils’ registration fees. Thirteen candidates could not appear for PLE after they found out that the school had not registered them with the examinations board.

The director (name withheld) allegedly collected Shs110,000 from each pupil as registration fees for Uneb and pocketed it, instead of remitting the money to the examination body.

The Mayuge District Police Commander, Mr Martin Okoyo, said they acted on complaints from the parents who saw their children not sitting for exams. Mr Mathew Bukenya, the Uneb executive secretary, has warned before against malpractice and those involved risk losing school centres and results.

Reported by: A. Kirunda, G. Mayengo, I. Masaka, P. Okaba, A. Tumushabe, R. Muhereza
& P. Ahimbisibwe

Accessed on Wednesday 7 Nov. 2012 from the Daily Monitor:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Pupil+sits+exam+while+in+labour/-/688334/1613388/-/item/0/-/7njup2/-/index.html

Kasese girl braves labour pains to sit PLE exams

By Thembo Kahungu

Posted  Monday, November 5  2012 at  19:37

A primary seven candidate at Kasanga primary school, Bwera sub-county, Kasese District on Monday had to endure labour pains as she sat for Primary Leaving Examinations.

"The pregnant girl developed labour pains in the middle of the first paper – Mathematics – this morning and was rushed to hospital but did not deliver,” the Kasese District Education Officer, George Mayinja, told this newspaper.

He says she later returned and sat for the afternoon Social Studies exam in the same condition.

Mr Mayinja commended the girl for being brave.

He says the district did not face any major challenges on the first day of the examinations, save for the poor roads in the mountainous sub-counties which affected the delivery of examination papers on time.

Kasese Municipality Education Officer, Lawrence Tiruganya, said that about 20 candidates, mostly girls, have missed the examinations due to pregnancy.

However, he said that the parents are to blame in such cases because UNEB rules do not stop pregnant candidates from sitting the examinations.

About 9708 candidates registered for PLE, which started nationwide today, in rural Kasese, while 2503 registered in Kasese Municipality.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

Access from the Daily Monitor on Tuesday 6, Nov. 2012 from: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Kasese+girl+braves+labour+pains+to+sit+two+PLE+exams/-/688334/1612428/-/61imw6/-/index.html