New school, new students, new future

Officially, in Uganda children aged three to five years are expected to be enrolled in preschool. However, there is currently a huge 91% gap between the numbers enrolled in pre-school and the overall population of children aged three to five years.

Shocked with the statistics, The Women Protection Society based in Mbale in eastern Uganda contacted ElectricAid to partner in the refurbishment and fit out of their local pre-school. With walls not plastered or painted, a lack of drawings, pictures or symbols, limited teaching materials, the preschool was far from fit-for-purpose. This often led to infants being pushed straight into primary school education contributing to high level of school dropouts. Without the benefit of preschool, Mothers were unable to seek employment as they needed to remain at home to care for their children or in some cases abandon them to street life as beggars.

ElectricAid approved funding of €7,000 and the refit commenced in June 2018 with new classroom furniture fitted, indoor and outdoor games for the children and modern teaching aides and materials. Teachers from the preschool attended teacher training sessions which focused on writing and marking practice exam papers. The training helped teachers track individual pupils’ progress and identify the unique potential and skills in each child. As part of the training teachers were introduced to a variety of new teaching methods including the use of visual aids and making lessons interactive.

These improved facilities and teaching methods will improve pupils academic performance and directly address UN Sustainable Development Goal #4 – Quality Education and prepares children for their later move into primary schools. With 21 children enrolled the school is off to a promising start and with the necessary supports will address the currently high dropout rate and encourage more parents to send their infants to preschool.

Thank you once again to all our generous donors and supporters for helping to make this happen. Now, WPS have taken another step towards breaking a cycle where children miss out on an education during the earliest and most precious years of their lives.