Child of Hope provides entirely free holistic education system in a Ugandan slum for one child per family – and an income generating programme for the parents so that the whole family can prosper and other siblings can be sent to government/fee paying schools. Why does it go to such lengths?The main problem with education in Uganda is that it is not free. Not even Universal Primary Education (free as published by the Ugandan government) is truly free.The tuition may be free, but parents/guardians still have to pay for uniforms & shoes, books, stationery, PTA fees, building contribution, toilet paper, reams of writing paper, brooms, etc, etc.This means that the poorest of society simply cannot attend.
Attendance is not obligatory (nobody is taken to prison for not sending their child to school) and therefore kids just stay at home waiting for parents to gather up enough money.They might be able to attend for a couple of years, and then the parents run out of cash and they end up having to ‘sit out’ for a year or two until more money is found. Because of this system a class teacher can end up with a classroom of Primary kids aged anywhere between 10 and 18 years old!
In addition, because the government schools are cheaper than private schools, they are over-subscribed meaning that there can be anything from 100 to 200 children in one class with only one teacher, sat on the floor often. Ours are almost western in class size - max 40 pupils, all with desks. More info, inc BBC report...
Picture by Phil Dowding
