Enhancing literacy in Karamoja
One Early Childhood Development Centre at a time
ECD centres are making positive strides in the region with the lowest literacy rates in the country
With only three in ten people above 10 years being able to read and write, Karamoja has the lowest literacy rates in Uganda (2020 Uganda National Household Survey), which has been said to slow down the social and economic growth in the region.
Rosemary Alweny, the UNICEF Early Childhood Development (ECD) Officer, believes that getting more children aged three to six years into ECD Centres can change this narrative.
“ECD Centres have contributed to an increased enrolment of children in primary because children develop school readiness skills at an early age that reduces dropout rates.”
Since 2019, UNICEF has partnered with Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Uganda Episcopal Conference and Church of Uganda to strengthen the early childhood development (ECD) at household, community, and district level. In the Karamoja Sub Region, UNICEF and its partners are supporting 351 functional ECD centres with funding from People Post Lottery UK National Committee.
UNICEF is strengthening coordination of ECD at district levels by supporting integration across key service points. This is being done in primary schools, health facilities and among parenting groups within the communities. In addition, UNICEF has facilitated the training of Centre Management Committees to mobilize parents, caregivers to support the enrolment and retention of children in ECD Centres.
UNICEF also supports qualitative training of caregivers to effectively provide the much-needed learning to the children within their communities. The caregivers receive certification after completing three course modules during a one-year training in Moroto Core Primary Teachers College. Over 332 caregivers have received certification while an additional 200 are in the process of completing their respective modules.
One such centre is Kokuwam ECD that is run by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) in Kathile subcounty in Kotido District. Kokuwam ECD Centre was set up in 2019 to serve five villages and has since had over 709 children receive early childhood education and with it, basic literacy, and numeracy.
Learning in spite of COVID-19
With the closure of ECD centres due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) UNICEF supported a switch to home-based learning on a rotational basis, in varying locations such as schools, churches and even in individuals’ compounds.
“There were five home-based learning centres under Kokuwam ECD Centre and three caregivers in each, “says Sabil A. Jaffar the UMSC Secretary for Education of Kotido Muslim District, noting that 308 children attended classes every week.
Each week, the caregivers travelled to different ECD centres to reinforce learning and prepare the children to return to school upon reopening. Rosemary Natome, a caregiver at Kokuwam ECD Centre says that the children were engaged in play-based learning activities for three hours, three days a week. During that time, they were taught a maximum of only two topics at a time, to enable them process what they had learned.
Through home visits, parenting sessions and community dialogue meetings, UMSC enhanced parental awareness and interest in ECD and homebased learning, resulting in a notable increase in enrolment. Jaffar also notes that whereas in the largely pastoral community, matters concerning children are usually left to the women, after the ECD outreaches, more males are now becoming an active part of their children’s lives.
“These days, the men also attend the parenting sessions. We are receiving reports that the men are now more caring, accompany their wives for antenatal sessions and help take care of the children,” Jaffar notes.
Not without challenges
While ECD caregivers receive high quality training through government institutions, they work as volunteers, with a resultant high turnover. “I love my job, but as a mother there is need to support my family. Even my husband asks why there is no financial support,” Rosemary says.
The lack of infrastructural facilities and meals for the children pose even more challenges. Classes are held under the trees and in makeshift structures. During the rainy season, classes are always interrupted and yet must end early. “Our classes end at 11am before the children get hungry,” says 40-year-old caregiver Emmanuel Longoli, “they cannot study while hungry.”
Nonetheless, amid these challenges and a crippling pandemic, in 2021 alone, over 8,165 children in Karamoja accessed ECD services at home-based learning centres, and re-joined school at the end of the lockdown in January 2022.
“With the re-opening of ECD Centres, UNICEF ECD Team is confident that the children will continue to receive the much-needed exposure to learning. They are being enabled to build resilience, acquire literacy and numeracy skills as they enjoy their schooling experience,” concludes Alweny.
UNICEF is committed to supporting early childhood development programming in Karamoja sub-region in North Eastern Uganda and across the rest of Uganda, to ensure continued learning for every child.
