Teacher: They tell us do what you can

Attractive and encouraging school mottos such as this one are a common phenomenon, in Uganda’s schools. This slogan is somewhat true, for schools in urban centers. But education is a complete opposite, offering poor quality service, in rural areas like in Northern Uganda. Picture by Ochan Hannington | 08 Feb 2018

Uganda’s pupil-teacher ratio is estimated at 46 as of 2016, according to United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics. But these are just numbers, representing the average amount of pupils per teacher in primary school. The reality in refugee settlement schools is a quadruple digit, threatening the quality of education in the refugee hosting districts. Insufficient education amenities as well as understaffing in Palorinya settlement of South Sudanese people are some of the issues – and the situation is reciprocated along the South Sudan-Uganda border area where refugee settlements are found. Inyakuni Kennedy reports.