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Uganda Refugee Response Monitoring - Education Sector (October 2018)

Countries
Uganda
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Education Cluster
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Key Achievements in Sector

• UNHCR played a lead role in supporting the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) to develop and launch its Education Response Plan for Refugee and Host Communities. This 3-year rolling plan runs to 2021 and aims to reach over 567,500 learners per year.

• UNHCR is working closely with MoES and INGO partners to develop guidelines for the continued roll out of Accelerated Education, ensuring children who are overage but have dropped out of primary education have the opportunity to continue their education.

• Support to teachers and school management and parent committees is ongoing to create a sense of ownership over the schools, and ensure strong administrative functions.

• In the urban programme, within the 23 primary schools with the highest refugee population, 2,745 refugee children are enrolled.

• In consultation with KCCA (Kampala City Council Authority), UNHCR is constructing classrooms and waterborne toilets to support the urban education programme.

• In response to the South Sudanese influx, UNHCR worked closely with MoES, Ministry of Works & Transport and the • Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in the design of high-quality, wheelchair accessible semi-permanent classrooms.

• These structures are now being built to finish within a matter of weeks, ensuring more children can access education in safety and with dignity.

• UNHCR is paying the salaries of over 2,000 teachers. These teachers are paid the same salary as their government-employed counterparts, and their recruitment and deployment is done with the support of District Education Offices. Teacher salaries take a significant portion of UNHCR’s education budget. UNHCR also provides “top-up’s” for Head Teachers in government schools.

• In West Nile, Classroom Assistants – who are South Sudanese trained teachers- play a key role in overcoming children’s language difficulties and supporting teachers to handle very large classes (average pupil teacher ratio 1:85. Can be as high as 1:130 in lower classes). Classroom Assistant are also remunerated by UNHCR.

• Other programmes and approaches include: specific support to children with disabilities and girls to ensure they can also access education; equipping schools with furniture; distribution of learning materials and dignity kits (including sanitary materials) to students.