By Jude Katende
Since the disruptions of the Coronavirus pandemic started, many things have changed in Uganda and globally. Here, at the Kitakule Foundation library in Busesa, learning online is one of the “new normals” the students have had to embrace.
Speaking to Gertrude Nalugo, the librarian, she told me that this new normal started on the 28th of September, 2021. “We started with senior one, senior two, senior three and senior five. I teach them how to type and how to search for things,” Nalugo explains.
She adds that so far about twenty students have benefited from this exercise and that since they have learnt how to use the computer some now know how to use a smartphone.
Since all pupils and students were sent home after the second wave of the pandemic brought about serious disruptions including deaths and job losses, the government advised that in order to catch up, the learners have to adjust and start online studies.
Other ways of learning that were introduced were watching educational lessons on television and also listening to particular radio stations at particular times for lessons. However, not so many learners or their parents can afford online learning or TVs. The data in Uganda is slow and expensive and to make matters worse, recently the government has recently increased the tax
on data.
What we have learnt so far
Salama Naiggaga, is a senior three student at Busesa Nkutu Memorial School. “I have learnt how to ask questions and how to answer Uganda National Examinations Board questions,” she says.
Rahim Menya also of Busesa Nkutu Memorial School, currently in senior one says he has learnt how to type and that this is the first time he is using a computer. He has also learnt how to ask questions.
Heather Kwagala is among several young learners described as “senior ones to be” as they are supposed to be in secondary school but are stuck because of Covid -19. “I have learnt chemistry and biology and how to use the computer,” she explains.
Patience Naiggaga is also from Busesa Nkutu Memorial School and is in senior one. “I have learnt physics, history and how to type. It was my first time using a computer,” she says.
Barbara Naiggaga is a senior one student at Tropical High School in Idudi. Like others, she too says she has learnt how to ask different questions and how to type.
Hadijja Babirye, another senior one student at Kigulu College says, “I have learnt how to search for padlets and how to search for a zoom meeting. I also learnt how to type from here,” Babirye notes.
Thanks to the Kitakule Foundation for this free service, otherwise many of these students in a poverty ridden upcountry place with less or none of such facilities would have been able to learn online or later alone know how to use a computer.
Since the library is the only place offering these services in the area, sometimes students find themselves congregating around a computer for the lessons which is far from ideal. The Foundation has recently acquired a projector to accommodate more students and improve the learning condition.