Download full-text PDF Read full-text Download citation Copy link Recruit researchers Join for free Login

Chapter PDF Available

Uganda: Educational Reform, the Rural–Urban Digital Divide, and the Prospects for GIS in Schools

January 2010
DOI:10.1007/978-94-007-2120-3_31
In book: International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools (pp.283-289) · Publisher: Springer
Publishers
Authors:

Jim Ayorekire Revocatus Twinomuhangi

Makerere University Makerere University

Citations (7) References (5)

Abstract

The education system in Uganda has gone through numerous changes over
the last decade, including changes in curriculum, increased funding by the Discover the world's
research
government, and the increased role of the private sector in the provision of
education from primary to university education level. The broad aims of the 20+ million
education system in Uganda are eradication of illiteracy, promotion of members
scientific, technical, and cultural knowledge; promotion of national unity; and
promotion of moral values. In order to improve the quality of education service 135+ million
delivery, the government of Uganda has identified and integrated Information publications
Communication Technology (ICT) in the education curriculum. 700k+ research
Join for free
projects

Advertisement

Public Full-text 1

Content uploaded by Jim Ayorekire Author content

Content may be subject to copyright.
Download full-text PDF Read full-text Download citation Copy link
Chapter 31
Uganda: Educational Reform, the Rural–Urban
Digital Divide, and the Prospects for GIS
in Schools

Jim Ayorekire and Revocatus Twinomuhangi

31.1 Introduction

The education system in Uganda has gone through numerous changes over the last
decade, including changes in curriculum, increased funding by the government, and
the increased role of the private sector in the provision of education from primary
to university education level. The broad aims of the education system in Uganda are
eradication of illiteracy, promotion of scientific, technical, and cultural knowledge;
promotion of national unity; and promotion of moral values. In order to improve
the quality of education service delivery, the government of Uganda has identi-
fied and integrated Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the education
curriculum.

31.2 General Structure and Characteristics of Education

in Uganda

Formal education in Uganda consists of preprimary (nursery), primary, sec-

ondary/postprimary, and tertiary/post secondary education levels. Primary level (for
pupils between 6 and 12 years) covers a period of 7 years from primary one to
primary seven. The postprimary level is composed of secondary education and
Business, Technical, and Vocational Education and Training (BTVET). Secondary
education (for students aged between 13 and 18 years) is divided into 4 years of ordi-
nary level (‘O’ level) with classes from senior one to four and two years of advanced
level (‘A’ level) with classes from senior five to senior six. After primary school, stu-
dents also have an option of joining BTVET institutions that mainly offer practical
and hands-on learning experiences. There are a variety of BTVET institutions, and
they include community polytechnics, farm schools, technical colleges, vocational

J. Ayorekire (B)
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
e-mail: jayorekire@arts.mak.ac.ug

A.J. Milson et al. (eds.), International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning 283
with GIS in Secondary Schools, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2120-3_31,
C Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012


284 J. Ayorekire and R. Twinomuhangi

training institutes, colleges of commerce, health training institutions, and other spe-
cialized training institutions in forestry, fisheries, wildlife, meteorology, and survey.
The students are awarded certificates and diplomas after one or two years depending
on the discipline.
Primary and postprimary education in Uganda are controlled and supervised
by the Ministry of Education and Sports, while the National Council of Higher
Education (NCHE) supervises tertiary education. Primary and secondary educa-
tion (up to senior four) are compulsory for all citizens under the Universal Primary
Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) programs. The curricu-
lum and instructional materials for the primary and postprimary levels are developed
 by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) and implemented by the
Ministry
Download full-text PDFofEducation and Sports
Read (MoE&S), which
full-text has developed
Download citation education poli-
cies, strategies, laws, and regulations. The Ministry of Education is composed Copy
of link
the directorates of Basic and Secondary Education, Higher Education, Education
Standards, and Technical and Vocational Education, which implement policies and
regulations to ensure quality education and consistency in the curriculum.
As a means of increasing the number of pupils attending primary school, the
government of Uganda in 1997 introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE),
which has resulted in a steady increase in pupil enrollment from 3 million in 1996
to 7.9 million in 2008. However, UPE created a demand for universal postprimary
education as more pupils were completing the primary education level. In order to
ensure equitable provision of quality education and training to all Ugandan pupils
who successfully completed the primary education level, the government in 2007
started implementing the Universal Post Primary Education and Training (UPPET)
program. As a result, the gross enrollment rate (GER) in schools is steadily increas-
ing, with the government putting more emphasis and funding in the education
sector.

31.3 Secondary Education in Uganda

Secondary school education in Uganda is guided by the National Secondary

Education curriculum, most of which was inherited from the British at independence
in 1962. However, the curriculum is currently undergoing a number of reforms with
emphasis on altering not only the number of subjects that are taught but also ‘how
and why’ they are taught. In the first phase of the curriculum reform in 2009, the
number of subjects taught at ‘O’ Level was reduced from 42 to 18 in an effort
to make it easier for students to easily select career-linked subject combinations.
According to the National Curriculum Development Centre, the second phase of the
reforms, due to begin in 2010, will include additional reforms to change the national
examination system, rewrite the learning materials, and further lower the number of
subjects to be taught.

31 Uganda: Educational Reform, the Rural-Urban Digital Divide, and . . . 285

Uganda has 2,908 secondary schools, with 57,158 secondary school teach-
ers. Of the 2,908 schools, 57.3% are privately owned, 31.4% government owned,
and 11% community owned. Of all the schools, 10.5% are urban based, 16.1%
are peri-urban, and 37.8% are rural (MoE&S, 2008a). Before the introduction of
Universal Secondary Education (USE) under the Universal Post Primary Education
and Training policy in 2007, a small proportion of those who would complete
Primary seven were able to join secondary education. Under the USE program, stu-
dents attending secondary school drastically increased to 1.08 million in 2008 from
728,562 in 2005. The students, who were in senior one in 2007 when USE was intro-
duced, sat for the Uganda Certificate of Education examinations in 2010. There are
803 government-owned schools and 428 privately owned secondary schools partici-
pating in the USE program, which currently caters to students in senior one to senior
four. The UPPET policy was also later extended to cover the Business, Technical and
Vocational Education and Training institutions. In 2009, there were 5,174 BTVET
students in 46 government institutions and 1,076 students in 16 private institutions
benefiting from UPPET capitalization grants (MoE&S, 2008b).
In order to be licensed by MoE&S to teach at the secondary school level in
Uganda, teachers must have qualified from National Teacher Training colleges –
as Grade V teachers – or they must have qualified from a university as a graduate
teacher with a bachelor’s degree or a postgraduate diploma in teacher education.
However, due to the limited number of qualified teachers, some schools still employ
unlicensed and even untrained teachers, especially in rural areas. When teachers
qualify and begin teaching, there are very few professional development programs to
 enhance their skills and to introduce them to new knowledge and technologies. Over
the lastPDF
Download full-text two years the Ministry of Education has carried
Read full-text outcitation
Download some in-service train-
Copy link
ing, but this has mainly been limited to science and mathematics teachers from the
newly created districts. A number of teachers and head teachers have also received
ICT in-service training.
Although the number of students attending secondary schools is increasing, a
big challenge exists in regard to the urban–rural divide in terms of the number and
quality of schools, teachers, and facilities. Most rural schools tend to (1) have lim-
ited infrastructure and teaching equipment like classrooms, laboratories, electricity,
and computers; (2) attract few qualified teachers as most of them are not willing
to teach in hard-to-reach rural areas; and (3) rely on untrained teachers. This rural–
urban divide is reflected in the national secondary school examination results, where
students in urban schools tend to perform better than those in rural schools.

31.4 Integration of ICT in Secondary Schools Curriculum

The government of Uganda, along with several other developing countries, has
identified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a key area for
development, especially as countries move towards e-government and e-commerce
management structures. Over the years, the government has integrated ICTs in the
secondary school curriculum. The purpose is to equip students with skills that
 Download full-text PDF Read full-text Download citation Copy link

Citations (7) References (5)

... The main problems encountered in Rwanda are a shortage of experienced GIS teachers, a lack of
electricity and not enough computers in schools. In Uganda, private international secondary schools
were the first to incorporate GIS into their Geography curriculum (Ayorekire & Twinomuhangi, 2012)
in 2010. One of the problems with GIS inclusion in Ugandan secondary schools is the lack of trained
teachers to teach GIS, as even Geography teacher university graduates do not study GIS as a subject
at university. ...
... One of the problems with GIS inclusion in Ugandan secondary schools is the lack of trained
teachers to teach GIS, as even Geography teacher university graduates do not study GIS as a subject
at university. According to the university, this is because GIS is not included in the secondary school
curriculum (Ayorekire & Twinomuhangi, 2012) . A vicious circle indeed. ...
... Unfortunately, this scenario eventually translates into a continued shortage of GIS experts to teach
at secondary school level and in other fields. Shortage of experienced teachers to teach GIS As
indicated earlier, unavailability of experienced teachers to teach GIS as their area of expertise is a
common problem in Africa (Ayorekire & Twinomuhangi, 2012; Musakwa, 2017) (Figure 3 and Table
1). GIS is a relatively new course that is not typically taught in many African schools, and the subject
was only introduced in universities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ...

Review on the state of GIS application in secondary schools in the southern African region
Article Full-text available
Feb 2019 · S AFR GEOGR J
Maureen Kapute Mzuzu · Cp Van der Westhuizen

View Show abstract

... The added advantage of French was that it was considered by the Ministry of Education as a
vehicle of cultural knowledge. It fitted well within the broad aims of the Ugandan education system
which were "the eradication of illiteracy, promotion of scientific, technical and cultural knowledge,
promotion of national unity and promotion of moral values" (Ayorekire and Twinomuhangi, 2010; 1).
...

The Future of French in Uganda in the Context of Language Policy Challenges: A Situational Analysis
Article
Mar 2021
Edith Natukunda Togboa · Agatha Tumwine · Moses EBIL Wang'koko

View Show abstract

... Some respondents (14.2%) indicated that they were entrepreneurs running small businesses, which
 included arts and crafts, carpentry, sewing, mechanic shops, and small-scale poultry farming, whilst
Download full-text
4.8% werePDF Read
retired. The study also full-text
revealed that the majority ofDownload citation (55.9%) had at least
the respondents Copya link
certificate/diploma in some area of study, which could be an indication of progress in the Ugandan
Government's effort in supporting education for all at various levels (Ayorekire & Twinomuhangi,
2012; Uganda Ministry of Education & Sports, 2015). ...

The impact of mountain gorilla tourism: A residents' perspective

Article Full-text available
Jan 2020
Gift Muresherwa · Imelda Amony · Chux Gervase Iwu · Cynthia Dube

View Show abstract

The educational research landscape on GIS integration and challenges - globally and in South Africa
Article Full-text available
Oct 2020
Cp Van der Westhuizen · Elfrieda Fleischmann

View Show abstract

The educational research landscape on GIS integration and challenges – globally and in South Africa
Article Full-text available
Oct 2020
Elfrieda Fleischmann · Christo P. van der Westhuizen

View Show abstract

The educational research landscape on GIS integration and challenges – globally and in South Africa
Article
Oct 2020
Elfrieda Fleischmann · Cp Van der Westhuizen

View Show abstract

An Assessment of GIS Use for Teaching in Rwandan Secondary Schools

Article Full-text available
May 2015 · Geogr Teach
Felicia Akinyemi

View

Recommendations Discover more

Project

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Jim Ayorekire

View project

Project

USAID/Uganda Education and Research to Improve Climate Change Adaptation Activity and Makerere University Centre for Climate
Change Research and Innovations (MUCCRI)
Ntale Emmanuel · Hellen Owasa Abbo · Deleted Profile · [...] · Catherine Mulinde

View project
Download full-text PDF Read full-text Download citation Copy link

Project

Identifying and evaluating sustainable incentives for climate adaptation

Karl Schultz · Linus M Adler · Revocatus Twinomuhangi · [...] · James Mbaziira

The research project seeks to identify instruments and processes that can encourage those vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change to make behavioral changes that enable long-term reductions in ... [more]

View project

Project

Ecosystems Based Adaptation for mountain ecosystems

Revocatus Twinomuhangi

View project

Article

Curriculum innovation in a New Zealand secondary school : identification of enablers and inhibitors...
Kerry Earl

"This thesis explores the perceptions of staff in the secondary school in relation to a curriculum innovation project. This innovation
project concentrated on both the development of ICT [information and communication technology] for teaching and learning and the
supporting professional development programme."--Abstract. Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Waikato, 2002. Includes bibliographical ...
[Show full abstract]

Read more

Article Full-text available

Introducing the Mahara e-portfolio to student teachers: Teacher perspectives

Philippa Gerbic · Anne Grey · Wendy Moore · Ross Bernay

E-portfolios, a recent Information Communications Technology (ICT) innovation, have the potential to support learning by
documenting development over time, offering exemplars for potential employers and providing evidence for registration purposes.
This paper describes an introduction and study of an e-portfolio in the third and final year of a Bachelor of Education programme as
part of a New ... [Show full abstract]

View full-text

Chapter Full-text available

Impacting the Digital Divide on a Global Scale - Six Case Studies from Three Continents

August 2015
Birgy Lorenz · Savilla Banister · Kaido Kikkas

This study represents findings from three continents (Asia, Africa and South America) regarding usage of ICT in six rural schools. Our
goal was to analyze the current situation regarding digital technologies in these environments, describe similarities and differences
relating to the digital divide, and provide a roadmap that could improve teaching and learning, maximizing the use of existing ... [Show
full abstract]

View full-text

Article Full-text available

Challenges for Teaching and Learning Information and Communication Technology Courses in Higher Lear...