Maison des Enfants du Monde has started its project of education in February 2004, in order to give the opportunity to the children living in the slums of Kampala to go back to school. It is one of the priority projects of the association, as education is one of the best ways to help these children to break the vicious circle of poverty and ignorance. The children participating in this project live in the slums of Kampala, and their families (if they have any) cannot afford the cost of the school registration.

Thanks to the support of many sponsors, 91 children have been able to start this academic year starting in February 2008: 52 in the primary school and 37 in the secondary, and 2 at the University.

Budget
(Par academic year/per child)

1) Universal Primary Education Programme (UPE)

When the National Movement of Resistance (MNR) of Museveni seized the power in 1986, Uganda was one of the poorest countries of the world and its education system was completely collapsed. In fact, between 1971 and 1985, GDP dropped vertiginously, and the share of education fell from 3,4 to 1,4%, figure approximately four times lower than the African average.
After an in-depth analysis of the education system, the government decided in 1996 to set up an universal primary d education program (UPE), in order to generalize primary education and make it compulsory since 2003. Therefore, from now on primary education is free for four children in each family, including the orphans and handicapped children.

To achieve this goal, the government has made important budgetary efforts. In fact, primary education accounts now on 64% of the education budget, towards 30% at the beginning of the nineties. Uganda, which did not spend more than 8 dollars per pupil and per annum at the beginning of the eighties, during the budgetary year 1997-1998 devoted 32,50 dollars per pupil.

Since the beginning of the programme, the number of pupils registered in primary school have increased in a spectacular way, passing from 2,5 million in 1997 to 6,5 million today.

2) Deficiencies of the programme

In spite of significant progress of primary education in all the country, the government must still face important deficiencies of the system, particularly in the quality of the teaching and the “universality” of the access to school.

Deficiency of the quality of the teaching:

The enthusiasm with which the entire country answered to the programme involved many problems on the level of the infrastructures, the personnel and educational materials, damaging the quality of education. In fact, there are not enough schools are to receive so many pupils so shortly. The ratio of pupils by teacher is of 63 (towards 37 in 1996) and it is common that teachers have 150 pupils per class (and five children per desk). Because of this overpopulation, many families have started to turn to private schools in the cities, which are of better quality.

To face this massive arrival of pupils, the authorities doubled the number of teachers, to reach a total of 125.000 teachers and built 51.203 classrooms. The number of handbooks provided by the government passed from 16.000 in 1998 to three million in 1999.

Deficiency of the "universal" access:

In spite of the bringing into force of the programme UPE, many children still cannot go to primary school. In fact, the fees for registration to primary schools were removed but the families must still pay the uniforms, books, transport... Many families living under conditions of extreme poverty in the suburbs of the large cities and counting on average more than 7 children cannot afford this cost.
Thus, in spite of the increase in the access to primary school, many children cannot still benefit from it.

Moreover, compared to boys, the schooling of the girls increase very slowly. In certain schools in rural areas, a class of 20 pupils can count 17 boys and only 3 girls. In fact, in spite of the programme EPU, the girls often assume the domestic tasks in the family since they are very young, and can only assist to the first years of primary education.

B) SECONDARY SCHOOL

The programme UPE is destinated exclusively to the pupils of primary school, so only very few children can continue their studies in the secondary school. In 1999, the rate of schooling in the secondary school was only 9%.
Therefore, the teenagers find themselves, in a difficult age of their development, working, idling in the suburbs.

Indicators of schooling
UNDP Report on Human Development 2002

Rate of primary and secondary education schooling (%) 1999: 45%
Rate of schooling in the secondary (%) 1999: 9%
Rate of schooling of girls in the secondary (%)1998: 8%
Rate of women’s registration in the superior (%)1998: 1%