Uganda's Educational System

Uganda's Educational System


Uganda's education system is very different when compared to the U.S. As we have discovered, based on our visits and MUBS student's personal experiences, culture plays a huge role and it has made an impact on each school.  There's also a great emphasize on providing an inclusive learning environment for all students regardless of educational needs of each student. Two examples of that inclusion was seen as we visited the Luzira Prison and Sure Prospects. In Luzira, we were able to see that many of the prisoners had the opportunity to earn a degree from Makerere University, while serving their time regardless of their convictions or accusations. In Sure Prospects, students with learning needs are supported not only by their teachers, but also by their peers whom have the opportunity to learn sign language along with their deaf peers. Although, the ratio of teachers to students is higher than what's usually seen in the states, I was highly amazed of how well they're able to support each student's needs and the passion teachers have for their students.

1. Knowing that Uganda has a highly inclusive education system, what skills, resources or approaches, might you consider important to implement for Ugandans to obtain quality education, as a goal for sustainable development for all students?

2. Although, the U.S. is a well-developed country, we also know that there's always room for progression. Based on what we have learned and seen throughout our trip and from your own educational experiences, what skills or approaches would you suggest be helpful for improvement in our country or what skills or knowledge are we lacking as American students?

Agriculture in Uganda!

The agriculture community in Uganda is strong, many farmers rely on one another to get through hard times, learn new practices, and outline their community goals. The farmers that we had the opportunity to see diversified their practices by growing things like cocoa, bananas, corn, and raising pigs. When harvesting all of these products they generally all do the same thing, sell or keep for their families and communities. This means they’re making money and reducing the costs to the community and their families by providing them with food.

            The main issues that affect the farmers are climate change and the higher frequencies of droughts, crop failure and destruction, low finances, and low availability of large plots of land. They combat these problems by working as a team, involving government support, and leaning on the community. Agriculture in Uganda is a growing field and one that can have immense positive impacts on the community and Uganda as a whole. When meeting the rural farmers of Uganda, you come to realize that economies of scale and commercializing agriculture isn’t always the best way to do things.

Question: How can Uganda’s agriculture community be improved in a sustainable way, without impeding on the needs and wants of the farmers?

Welcome to Uganda trip 2019

Hi everyone:

Welcome to the Uganda trip blog!  It's great to have all you folks 'aboard' for the trip.  We are very much looking forward to travelling and exploring Uganda with you.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure in Uganda can be broken down into the three general areas of transportation, electricity, and water systems. Roads are the most commonly used form of transportation and as such, deserve the most attention as they are necessary for people to have access to work, groceries, and any other resource outside of their home. Unfortunately, the roads in Uganda are highly congested, unpaved, and sometimes difficult to navigate. This makes travel time in Kampala and other areas inefficient and slows development in little ways on a day to day basis. Access to electricity is inconsistent, and some areas lose power for days or weeks at a time without any means of recovering it without a personal generator. Water sanitation in Uganda is in an equally poor condition, and unlike in America, it is unsafe to drink water from any kind of tap or water fountain. This means a heavy emphasis on water bottles as the only safe access to water, which creates a large amount of plastic waste, often left on the side of the road.

By the way this is Quinn, not Kaitlynn, thanks

Culture

On Sunday, May 27th, we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Ndere Centre and throughout the trip, we experienced handmade art, ceramics, jewelry and more. At Ndere, we were able to participate with the performers whether it was dancing or playing an instrument of choice with traditional music. Stephen, the director, stressed the concept of all of us coming together as one and improvising together while allowing the music to take control. The performance throughout the rest of the night encompassed at least four or five different traditional cultural dances. They embraced the music to the fullest, displaying pride in their culture(s). It’s crucial for us to be proud of what we believe in and embrace our culture whether it’s religion, morals, or values. 

Although exhausted from the day, all of us were eager to dance with everyone on the stage at the very end of the performance. To simply dance with people we did not even know yet finding a connection between us felt reviving and welcoming for all of us. We should take into account that welcoming feeling the dancers gave us and share that with others as well. 

Some questions to consider...
What did you find was the most important takeaway from visiting the Ndere Dance Center?
Do you believe people should embrace their own culture more? Why?
What was your most memorable moment when experiencing the culture?

Hello fellow classmates, this is Michaela under Payton's account and I have some thoughts about our time in the Parliment building speaking with the Speaker of the Parliment. Now, it was fairly difficult for me to hear what she spoke about so I will write about a general experience with going through the process and rules of meeting her.

Personally, I did not find it surprising that we had to go through a lot of security, but, I found it odd that there were three steps of security. Especially because they checked us multiple times throughout the building once we were already cleared. A question that popped into my head due to all of the security steps was, did something occur in the building to cause the need for three stages of security? I wonder, what is security stages like in other countries government buildings? I have gone to the German government building and spoke with a member of their government, but we only went through one step of security. So yes, I am interested in why there are three stages of security here.

Another thing that fascinated me about our time in Parliment was how careful the employees seemed to be around us and around the building in general. There seemed to be a secretive and nervous energy around the building and I wonder if it was because we were there or if the energy in the Parliment building is like that always.

While meeting with the Speaker of Parliment I was nervous. Especially because of how the other employees of the government building were acting. One thing that I was intrigued by was that we all were told to stand up when the speaker entered the room. I thought that made her seem more like a Queen than a government worker.

The last thought I want to share is that I wonder why she agreed to meet with our group. I want to know her motivation for meeting with us and part of me wonders is if it was to try and impress us because we are students from America or if she would be willing to meet with a variety of different students.

So, now that I have shared my thoughts about our experience I have some questions for you about your thoughts on our time in Parliment.

1.) What were your feelings and thoughts about the process of security we went through?

2.) Out of all of the government workers we spoke to on our trip, who did you find to be most interesting? How do you feel about the way the Speaker answered questions compared to the two-panel members we spoke to?

3.) Did you feel that there was a secretive energy in the Government building and/or do you feel we were treated differently because we are American students?

Agriculture

During the agricultural visit, we toured farmer John's land to obtain a more in depth understanding of small-scale agriculture in the rural village. John explained the many challenges that accompany small-scale farming such as issues with lack of payment by the government, and loss of crops due to climate change. Along with those issues, small-scale farming is not a field in which many young people take an interest and talked about a few ways in which that could be a benefit to have them learn more. With the population expanding, more small scale farming will help to improve the economy and maybe even production later down the line. What other issues did anyone observe with small-scale farming?