The state of Early Childhood Development andEducation in Uganda

Charles kyasanku
Makerere university, uganda

Key issues
 Early Childhood Development (ECD) concerns holistic care of a child nutrition,interaction, safe environment, stimulation and responsiveness.
■ ECD is critical in the wellbeing of a child. There is a positive link between earlychildhood learning and future holistic development of a child■ Early childhood care happens before 3 years and Pre- school starts at 3years up to5years■ ECD a period of conception (0-8 years). Any childhood development is an integrated
package and not just school■ The quality of education and care young children receive determine the quality ofdevelopment that children have afterwards■ ECD involved ensuring children are ready for school when time comes, ensuring thatschools are ready for children and the importance of pre-natal care among women■ Development in early childhood is a multi-dimensional and sequential process, with
progress in one domain acting as a catalyst for development in other domains2

Introduction■ The importance of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as a prerequisite for national
development has been emphasized in recent years by developing countries and by donor agencies.
■ The first EFA goal required nations to work towards the expansion and improvement of comprehensive
ECCE by the year 2015. The responsibility of poor countries was to make necessary budget
allocations and policy commitments; rich countries were to provide both intellectual and financial
support. Whilst some progress has been made, many developing countries especially in Sub-SaharanAfrica are still at risk of not achieving EFA by 2015.
■ Uganda is one country where there were difficulties in attaining EFA and ECCE in particular. Thissituation still exists and has been exacerbated by the prevailing economic, social, geographical, andcultural differences, as well as general beliefs about ECCE.
■ The aim of early childhood development (ECD) (also known as pre-primary education) in Uganda is todevelop children’s capabilities, healthy physical growth and good social habits■ In Uganda, there are a variety of terms that are used to describe ECCE programs for children prior toentering primary school. These include Crèche, nursery school, kindergarten and pre-primary■ ECCE is under the Department of Preprimary and Primary Education within MOE&S. The department
holds the sole responsibility of strengthening management and service delivery in the ECCE sector bycontrolling, licensing, registering, inspecting and supervising the ECCE sector.
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Historical development of ECE in Uganda■ Traditional or indigenous education (also referred to as pre-colonial, informal,tribal, or community based education) was the type of education that existed
prior to 1830.
■ Nursery education (ECD programmes) was brought in by the British colonialadministrators and Indians in the 1930s. “to prepare children for formaleducation”. Nursery schools were private and established exclusively for theuse of private communities. The main objective of European nursery schools
was to prepare European children for school when they went back to Europe.
■ The curriculum methods and scholastic materials for learners were foreign,with very little reference to the Ugandan situation. Later, some indigenousUgandans became interested in nursery school education, they opened up
their own nursery schools to cater for indigenous children in urban centres.
These schools were of poor quality compared to those of the Europeans.
■ After much lobbying by private persons and nursery school proprietors forgovernment assistance in terms of training, the government identified anumber of Grade II teachers and sponsored them to go for training in infant
methods in the United Kingdom in 1960

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Historical development cont’d■Since the government did not have nursery schools, it deployed thenursery school teachers trained in infant methods in the lower primaryclasses of government primary schools. These were called infantteachers.

■ From 1962, Grade II colleges began to offer specialized courses in
infant methods. Some Grade III colleges also later, after learning from
infant methods specialization, started to specialize in P.E, music,
infant methods, and art and crafts■ 1973, government enacted a statute which conferred upon NCDC themandate for developing a curriculum and support materials for all
levels of education including pre-school5Changing context of ECCE

■ Like in the developed world, current social and economic trends are
disrupting many existing child care arrangements in Uganda. urbanization,
work-driven migration and the increasing participation of women in thelabour market are transforming family structures.
■ The prevalence of nuclear families, in which fewer adults are available totake care of young children, is increasing, while extended families aredeclining. Armed conflict, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and environmental
degradation have resulted in large numbers of orphans and, moregenerally, of families confronted with major difficulties in the upbringing ofyoung children■ Family and community structures are evolving and Uganda is going
through rapid social and economic changes, early childhood programmes
complement the roles of parents and other carers in raising children
during the early years.
■ Smaller households, more working women, maternity benefits, new genderroles — in which the provision of care and education for young children has
historically evolved.

6Changing context con’t■ After much lobbying by private persons and nursery school proprietors
for government assistance in terms of training, the government
identified a number of Grade II teachers and sponsored them to go fortraining in infant methods in the United Kingdom in 1960
■ Although ECD covers children in the age range of 0–8 years, ECDcentres (schools for young children) take up children from 0 to 5 years■ Emphasis in ECD centres is on moral development, imagination, selfreliance, thinking power, appreciation of cultural backgrounds,
customs, language and communication skills in the mother tongue.
(although parents prefer children to be first taught reading, writingand arithmatics)■ Today in Uganda there are a range of caregiver, teacher and parenting
programmes that are managed by individuals who have little ‘Western’
ECD formal training, but base their activities on indigenous
knowledge.
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Why the case for ECCE in Uganda■ A good early childhood education will help the child’s brain grows optimally and also on theother hand a bad early childhood education will influence the child’s brain development in theother way.
■ Young children have rights, and early childhood programmes are one instrument to guaranteethat these rights are respected■ Research on human development emphasizes that young children have specific needs and thatthe extent to which these are satisfied affects the outcomes of their development into youth andadults.
■ Participation in ECCE programmes is beneficial because it leads to improved outcomes,
including better nutrition, health and education, in both the short and the long run outcomes of
their development into youth and adults.
■ From an economic point of view, investment in ECCE programmes offers a high pay-off in humancapital and there is a strong case for public intervention.
■ Early childhood programmes not only benefit children and families, they reduce social inequality,and benefit communities and societies at large.
■ Positive interactions with caregivers and early learning opportunities can improve children’s
health, educational, and even economic trajectories
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ECCE participation and primary school attendance and performance■ The positive impact of ECCE programme participation on education at the
primary level and beyond■ Such programmes can enhance physical well-being and motor development,social and emotional development, language development and basic
cognitive skills■ ECCE programmes can improve school readiness; make enrolment in the first
grade of primary school more likely; reduce delayed enrolment, dropout andgrade repetition; and increase completion and achievement.
■ In Uganda, Children who had attended pre-school had better language skills
than nonparticipants and achieved better results in school until grade 4(Mwaura, 2005, 2006).
■ Controlling for GDP, the higher an African country’s pre-primary enrolment
ratio, the higher its primary school completion rate and the lower its primaryschool repetition rate9

Access to Pre school in Uganda■ The Education Sector Policy recognizes preprimary as the first level of education in
Uganda under four programmes; day care
centres, home based centres, community
centres and nursery schoolsRegion

Number of Pre – Primary schools by category
Community Based

Day CareHomeBased

Nursery

TotalAcholi

1731203

224

Ankole152255272

Buganda97561694

1802■ The Education Act (2008) however
pronounces the management of preprimary education under the managementof the private sector which limits access.

Bukedi

181

1193

213

Bunyoro356478519

Busoga183304

325

Elgon

12153

165

Karamoja

7917101■ 91% of Uganda’s children are notaccessing pre-primary education. Over 80%of the population cannot afford the fees
charged for pre-primary education, whichlimits access (NPA 2015)

Kigezi

12171183

Lango

12232

244

Teso

152207

224

Tororo98

56387496

West Nile1412171

188

Grand Total

442

33

164,4654956

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Source: MOE&S Statistical Abstract 201410

Access to pre school cont’d■ There is an uneven distribution of ECD centres in Uganda exacerbated by
the prevailing economic, social, geographical, and cultural differences, aswell as general beliefs about ECCE
■ Areas whose population earns a high income tend to attract the ECD
proprietors with an assumption that the parents and guardians will afford
fees. This pattern of setting up ECD centres has eliminated majority of therural children from benefiting in pre-school.
■ According to ESSAPR, 2015, the ECD enrolment stood at only 433,258
yet there were over 5 million aged 3-5 years children. Hence, for every
100 children of preschool going age (3-5 years), only 9 were enrolled.
90.5% will wait until they are 6 years to join primary education mostespecially those in the rural communities■ In comparison to other East African countries, Uganda’s enrolment in preschools is far behind. In Kenya, enrolment is at 53.5%; Tanzania at 35.5%
and Rwanda at 29%.
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Challenges of ECCE in Uganda■ Inappropriateness of Learning Materials. Appropriate materials are only
found in “high class” pre-schools. The rest use improvised andsometimes primary education instructional materials. Chalkboard plays acentral role in children’s education■ The absence of well equipped outdoor space and outdoor time “moretime during the week devoted to ‘book’ or class work”■ Shortage of qualified pre-primary school teachers■ Early childhood educators are not well compensated in Uganda■ General negative beliefs about ECCE
■ Poor quality of Infrastructure; according to the Statistical Abstract 2014,
10,255 (66.6%) classrooms were permanent and 5,133 (33.4%) weretemporary. There are inadequate pre-primary sanitation facilities. There
are only 31,292 latrine stances of which 29.3% are for boys, 30.6% forgirls, 12.2% shared by both male and female pupils and,caregivers/teachers and 27.9% for teachers. A big number of these haveneither doors nor shutters.
■ Inadequate inspection and supervision of ECD centers (inadequatefunding)12What should be done to take ECCE to the next level Expand professional development and ongoing support of ECCE service
providers and actors.
■ Community sensitisation regarding ECE (many still believe school before
primary is a total waste of time).
■ Incentivizing on-time enrollment in preprimary school could help address thesignificant problem of early enrollment in pre school. It is important todetermine the appropriate funding level to maximize effectiveness of policy.
■ The Government should consider revising its current policy to increasefinancial allocation for preprimary education and providing targeted services
to disadvantaged children who currently do not benefit from preprimaryeducation (capitation grants, transfers for disadvantaged families uponenrolment)■ Implementation and enforcement of intersectoral policies on ECDE
interventions in health, nutrition, education, social and child protection
especially targeting pregnant women young children and their parents/
caregivers across regions and socio-economic status. (NIECD policy 20162020)13

What should be done con’t■ National policy to establish a minimum level of public funding for
ECDE and mechanisms be put in place to coordinate budgeting
across ministries. (gender, education, health, agriculture, justice andinternal affairs)■ Strengthen quality assurance of informal and formal early educationand care programs and services.
■ Provision of good quality community led pre-school centers throughcollaboration of MOE&S, and the local governments (Harambe “selfhelp spirit” in Kenya)14

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