By Jude Katende
Education is a vital tool that helps people become literate and develop themselves much better in different spheres of life as it opens opportunities and closes gaps of ignorance which is a big vice in society.
On March 16, 2023, the sitting government in Uganda marked 25 years since it started platforms of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE). Before then, the country faced a big backlog of uneducated children due to their being from poverty-stricken families.
Many of such children are from families that could not afford tuition fees, books as well as meals. To settle this problem, the government introduced “free” education under the UPE and USE programs.
Though not entirely free, the government contributes a substantial portion of the tuition, and the parents are left to buy books and cater for the children’s meals. So, in a way, it is more or less “free.”
Although these programs have faced numerous challenges such as lack of enough classrooms, good teachers and other amenities needed in a school setting, a sizable number of pupils and students have successfully made it through under these platforms.
Busesa is one of the many regions in Uganda that have government aided schools that embraced the UPE and USE programs. Below are some students who during their education careers did embrace these programs either for a year or two or have done so for several years.
Fatuma Bint Abu, is now a senior 4 student at St. Andrews Secondary School, Busesa. She studied under UPE at Hindocha Primary School in Bugiri from Primary 1 up to Primary 7. “It was not that good. It was not well maintained and needed great repair. Teaching was fair though and I managed to pass, thanks to the school,” she says.
Patricia Karamagi is now a Senior 6 student at Nkutu Memorial Secondary School. She was in a UPE school from Primary 5 up to Primary 7 and recalls that the school was good. She is now in a USE school. “I enjoyed music, dance, and drama while there. It was okay,” she notes.
Kelly Lyadda of Bulunguli Senior Secondary School is in Senior 2 and thinks that the school is improving. Asked why he notes that it is improving, Lyadda explains that before he joined, there used to be negative talk about the school, but he sees it differently now. “Former students said there were not enough educational materials including books. That is in the past because we even have a library,” he adds.
Fiona Kwagala is a Senior 2 student at Nkutu Memorial Secondary School which is under USE. “The school is good. The teachers are good too,” she explains the merits of the day and boarding school.
Also, at Nkutu Memorial Secondary School currently, Hafuswa Namaganda, now in Senior 3, was in Ibulanku Muslim Primary School. She studied here throughout her primary career, that is, from P1 to P7. “The UPE system was good because we had good teachers, enough books, and desks. I also passed my exams from this school,” she observes.
Now a Senior 2 student at St. Andrews Secondary School, Zaina Nakagolo, was in Ibulanku Primary School from Primary 1 to Primary 7. She mentions something that is quite rare as far as competition in schools is concerned.
“We had enough books, desks, and many teachers. The system was okay compared to where I am currently, which is a private school (not under USE).” Typically, private schools offer better services than government aided schools, so Nakagolo’s former school is among the different ones.
Patricia Karamagi
Kelly Lyadda
Zaina Nakagolo