Shifa and Job share about what its like not attending school at the moment.
It is coming up to 3½ months of Covid-19 related lockdown restrictions in Uganda. With the country managing the spread of the virus extremely well, especially in comparison with many countries in the West, the government have started to slowly ease restrictions on private and public transport, shops, restaurants and malls. But whereas many countries with a higher number of daily infections have started to open other parts of society, schools, places of worship, salons and bars are just some examples of those that are closed indefinitely.
Because there have been no Covid related deaths in Uganda, the population are generally not concerned about going back to normality. People have gone back to shaking hands, hugging, often no masks and not keeping to social distancing guidance.
Schools remain closed
With schools closed for the foreseeable future, there is still a real concern for the children and the loss of education during this time. It was thought that pupils in their exam years, in primary and secondary education, can return earlier than others but the government have since made a U-turn, deciding instead for children to continue studying from home.
Many families in the West, even with sufficient space, government support, resource and technology have struggled with home education for a multitude of reasons. Children in Uganda are expected to self-manage their schooling, with the help of government issued exam papers (at a cost) and virtual lessons, delivered via analogue TV and radio (for those that have them).
It is extremely unlikely that this will yield any tangible results and progress in education, despite the government promising to buy and distribute up to 10 million radio sets. This for a couple of reasons 1) it’s unlikely that the radios will get to the last of the intended beneficiaries, considering the success of the food distribution programme a few months ago 2) there are many dynamics around teaching over the radio. It is not just complicated for the students but even for the teachers, who have not been, and will need to be, trained to teach over radio effectively.
Uganda’s school term runs with the calendar year. We are not expecting students to go back to school before January 2021. In the meantime, we are keeping in contact with the children and families we work with, predominantly over phone.
Shifa
Shifa is 12 years old and is in Primary 5. She shares with us how her dad, a bus driver, is sometimes not able to send money home because he does not have the money. A lack of income is common with the families we work with, and the lack has only increased during lockdown, leading to many families not being able to afford to buy sufficient quantity or quality of food.
Shifa has been reading through her schoolbooks and helping with the chores at home, like washing the utensils and mopping the house. Recently, HFL bought Shifa additional learning resources and practice exam papers, which Shifa explains as being helpful, “they have prepared me for the exams. Now I have answers to the questions that will be asked in the exams when schools reopen”.
Shifa is dedicated to her studies and mostly wants to be able to read her schoolbooks every day.
Job
Job is 14 years old and in Primary 5. Like Shifa, Job’s dad is not able to bring home much money now, “before lockdown he used to leave home money between UGX 10,000 and 20,000 (£2-5). But now days the most he leaves is UGX 5,000 (£1)”, said Job.
Job would like the schools to reopen and has been spending his time “helping with house chores like washing and mopping the house. I have also been reading through my schoolbooks after which I go and play.”
“Before getting the question papers [that HFL provided] I had no school assignments to keep me busy but now I do. They have helped me remember some of the things we studied at school”.
Staff continue providing support
The HFL staff are working hard to keep in contact with the 75+ families we work with and have created action plans to provide the necessary support for each family during this time. Whilst students may not be able to go back to school until 2021, it maybe likely that our teachers can provide education and support to these children, as and when it is safe to do so, before the reopening of schools.
We appreciate the support that many have been able to give during this time. If you would like to support our work and the families we work with in Uganda, then please do donate. If you would like to join as a regular donor, to support a family out of poverty then enquire with us using the contact form below.