UNICEF'S Child-Friendly Schools: Uganda Case Study

From the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), this case study examines UNICEF's role in the child-friendly schools (CFS) initiative in Uganda, a country where - in 1992 - nearly 50% of eligible primary-school-age children were not in school (with numbers in the north, where rebel groups continued to fight, even higher).

As detailed here, to remedy the lack of access to education, the Government of Uganda and UNICEF developed the Complementary Opportunities for Primary Education (COPE) programme in 1994-1995. COPE aimed to quickly establish primary schools where they were most needed, specifically in 4 northern districts of the Acholi region, with a focus on older children, up to age 16, who had never attended primary school. The Ugandan Government's National Curriculum Development Centre, with help from international experts funded by UNICEF, produced a 3-year curriculum for primary grades 1-5 designed to cover 5 core subjects. The curriculum covered 4 types of material: instructors' manuals, students' textbooks, charts, and progress cards for students. The teachers for COPE schools were recruited from the immediate community and were given 4 weeks of pre-service training plus monthly refresher courses, along with weekly supervision. COPE incorporated many features of what would later be called child-friendly schools. For instance, to include as many children as possible, the school came to the children in the community; those most likely to be left out of conventional schools, including girls and children who are physically disabled, were given priority. It was gender-responsive, placed emphasis on measuring students' progress (not simply on enrolment and attendance), focused on making the curriculum relevant to learners, and involved the community - through both the school management committee and regular meetings of parents and teachers.

The case study proceeds to explore each subsequent phase in the full development of the CFS approach in Uganda, including: Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK), which started in 1998; the Child-Friendly Basic Education and Learning Programme (2001–2005); efforts to promote girl-friendly/child-friendly schools (with key investments in the development of early grades' curricula in local languages, and the distribution in 2002 of the colourful 29-page "Guidelines for the Child-Friendly Checklist" to thousands of educators); Focusing Resources for Effective School Health (FRESH); and the Girls' Education Movement (GEM, 2001). The latter is a network of school-level clubs, including students enrolled in Grade 4 to those up to age 25, which help promote access to quality education for girls. UNICEF supported the development of a training manual and GEM trainers - who subsequently train club members about gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, menstruation management, child-friendly schools, planning, school mapping, advocacy, peer-to-peer mentoring, and mass communication. The clubs undertake to map all school-age children in their communities and help them come to school regularly. They may design and participate in radio programmes, dramas, debates, music, dance, and poetry performances to address issues key to girls' participation in schooling.

As detailed here, in 1999, UNICEF began working with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) on development of the Learning Framework for Early Childhood Development (ECD) and the establishment of community-based ECD centres in the central and western regions of Uganda under the auspices of the Child-Friendly Basic Education and Learning (CFBEL) initiative. These centres are non-profit-making enterprises that are initiated, managed, and funded by the communities. The government provides quality assurance through registration, monitoring, and training, under guidance from the 2005 Learning Framework. UNICEF also supported the development of a training framework for early childhood caregivers, a community mobilisation manual, and a manual for managing ECD centres. Table 1 in the case study summarises many of the activities undertaken by CFBEL during the last 3 years of the project (2003-2005). In addition to supporting government production of handbooks, training manuals, guidelines, and curriculum units to address the needs of a wide range of education stakeholders, UNICEF supported surveys and studies that provided the framework for new government policies relevant to child-friendly schools.

By 2006, UNICEF was replacing CFS terminology with more explicit, rights-based terminology while continuing successful activities and launching new ones to cover all dimensions of child-friendly schools. The education programme for 2006-2010, The Right of All Children to Education (TRACE), is organised under two broad projects: Early Learning and Stimulation, and Primary Education. The National Curriculum Development Centre received support to develop an ECD Caregivers' Guide, a Trainers' Manual and Training Framework, and an ECD Mobilization Manual. The most high-profile activity undertaken by TRACE was the 2-year Go to School, Back to School, Stay in School (GBS) campaign launched in January 2007. Among the activities:

• Advocacy and promotional materials such as banners, posters (3,300), T-shirts (20,000), and caps (11,000) were produced with key messages written in 3 local languages as well as English. Development, pretesting, and finalisation of the messages and designs involved stakeholders including teachers, teachers' trainers, the MoES, district education office staff, UNICEF staff, and young people.
• Thematic curriculum materials were purchased and distributed in 9 districts for Grade 1 classes in all primary schools in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions and for the Accelerated Learning Programme for over-age learners in Kitgum and Pader.
• The Acholi and Lango sub-regions received 1,931 School-in-a-Box kits containing basic scholastic materials for pupils and teaching aids in lockable boxes. Gulu District received 1,540 desks for 12 primary schools.
• Capacity development at various levels encompassed teacher training on child-friendly methodologies and ECD.
• "Healthy school" interventions focused on development of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities and improved hygiene practices.
• Creative methodologies were used to support the holistic development of children in school, including the primary schools' Music, Dance and Drama Festival and sporting and recreational activities at the school and district levels.
• Video, photographs, and audio media were used to document the pre-launch processes and launches through partnership with young people.
• Monitoring and support supervision.
• Coordination of the Emergency Education Cluster.

"In 2007, the key achievements of GBS in the seven target districts included an overall increase in primary school enrolment of 15 per cent...and resulting in increased enrolment in primary school of more than 83,000 students. Moreover, post-launch activities included the first-time enactment of by-laws to enforce already existing compulsory education laws. Many of these by-laws focus on girls’ education and child labour issues....Sports, games and the arts were also key retention strategies in the GBS campaign....GBS facilitated meaningful participation and empowerment of girls and young people....[For example,] GEM club members have been involved in documenting Go to School, Back to School, Stay in School using photos and DVD/video to record progress and motivate further action. GEM members produced photo diaries containing lists of commitments made by various stakeholders and presented these diaries to senior policymakers in order to facilitate follow-up. In Lira, War Child Holland helped establish a Children's Parliament, in which four schools nominated 10 parliamentary candidates (5 of them girls) and conducted campaigns and elections, followed by parliamentary debates focusing on GBS issues."

The case study concludes with an exploration of the process of this effort, outcomes analysis and knowledge-building strategies, and future directions for CFS in Uganda.