Abstract
The Ugandan Government in 1997 introduced the Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy. The policy
allowed the abolishment of tuition fees to increase access to education for the most marginalized. Other
national programs and interventions exist to ensure that all children access quality education without
any form of discrimination. Additionally, the Government of Uganda is also a signatory to international
and local treaties that protect the right to education for all. Despite the UPE policy and other programs
supporting access to quality education, children from marginalized communities still face exclusion from
education opportunities. Gender, regional disparities, socio-economic status and disabilities are some
of the key forms of exclusion that children face.
To understand access to quality education in urban informal settlements in Uganda, the African Population
and Health Research Center in 2018 brought together state and non-state actors of education working
in the urban informal settlements through the urban education project. Through this project, the state
and non-state actors of education formed a Uganda Urban Education Group (UEG). Stakeholders in this
group engaged in different activities, such as forming and strengthening the UEG group for a collective
voice in advocating for access to quality education for children living in urban informal settlements.
Through this engagement and review of existing literature, the stakeholders identified a gap. The gap
in the evidence was in relation to how children in urban informal areas in Uganda access education and
where the children access education. It was after several consultations with the UEG members that the
team sought to carry out a research study in selected urban informal settlements in Uganda.
The study titled ‘The Urban Education Agenda in Uganda: A Call for Targeted Attention on Education
for the Urban Poor’ sought to answer the following objectives.
1. What are the schooling patterns among children living in urban poor households in Uganda –
including those with Special needs?
2. What explains the observed schooling patterns in small and large urban centers?
3. How do poor urban communities perceive and understand education as a right in the context of
urbanization in Uganda?
4. What available education opportunities exist for children with special needs and living in poor
households in Uganda?
5. What survival and educational mechanisms/initiatives did people in urban poor settlements adopt
during the COVID-19 pandemic?
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Data collection was carried out in two phases. The main data collection took place in October 2020,
while the school survey and the rapid household survey both took place in March 2021. The study was
conducted in 42 villages selected in seven parishes in Kampala and Mukono. Five of these parishes
were from Kampala, and two from Mukono Municipality. In selecting the study site, the research team
ensured that each of the study sites was classified as an urban informal settlement by the Uganda
Bureau of Statistics (UBOS). Additionally, the Urban Education steering committee from the Ministry
of Education and Sports (MoES) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) were also consulted in
deciding on the areas of study.
A total of five quantitative instruments were used. These included household amenities and schedule,
individual schooling history, parental and perception, rapid household and institutional tools, and 1,102
households with 2,581 children aged 3-19 years were interviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics
were used to conduct the analysis. Tables and graphs have been used to present the findings.
Qualitative tools were also used for this study. The following methods were used: Key Informant
Interviews (KIIs) with national policy actors, In-depth Interviews (IDIs) with local administration and Focus
Group Discussions (FGD) with parents. In analyzing the qualitative data, codes were developed and the
deductive method was mainly used.
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Key Findings
Household Characteristics
1. 65.3 % of households in Uganda’s urban informal settlements have more than five members who live
in the poorest wealth quintile.
2. More than half (53.9%) of the female-headed households were in the poorest wealth quintile
compared to their male counterparts.
3. Across the three wealth index levels (poorest, middle, wealthiest),more than half of the household
heads had attained a lower secondary or above in regard to education.
4. There were more girls (54%) in the selected households compared to boys (46%) that had school
going children aged 3-19 years.
5. Across the three wealth index levels more children were attending the primary level (67%), followed
by the secondary level (19%) and lastly, the pre-primary level 14%.
School Attendance
1. Before the closure of schools due to COVID-19, 99.6% of the children aged 4 to 17 years had ever
been to school.
2. Before the closure of schools due to COVID-19, 2.1 % of children were out of school, but after full
school re-opening, this increased to 9 %.
3. By gender, before school closure, more boys (2.4%) were out of school compared to girls (2.1%),
but after full re-opening, more female learners (9.2%) were not enrolled compared to (8.6%) boys.
4. At all the primary and secondary levels, there were more learners enrolled in private schools compared
to government schools during school closures due to COVID-19 and after full school re-opening. At
the primary level before COVID-19, enrollment stood at 68.1%, but after full re-opening, this went
down to 63.8 %. At the secondary level, it was 71.7% before the school’s closure, and surprisingly,
this remained the same after full school re-opening.
5. After full school re-opening, the findings show an increase in the learners from the poorest wealth
index level at the primary level moving to government schools from 33.9% to 43.9%.
6. About 42.3% of parents transferred their children after full school reopening due to the affordability
of school fees.
7. More children from the urban informal settlements for the period 2015-2022 have predominantly
utilized private schools compared to government schools.
8. Overall, 8.2% of children had repeated a grade, with more boys (9.3%) repeating than girls (7.3%).
9. About 28.4 % of learners did not progress to the next grade after full school re-opening.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio
1. The PTR at the primary school level was high (1:55) in government schools compared to 1:19 in
private schools.
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Urban Education Research Report - Uganda
Perceptions on Quality of Education
1. Slightly more than half (51.9%) of parents from the urban informal settlements felt that the quality
of education had improved since the introduction of the Universal Free Primary Education policy.
Stakeholders’ Understanding of the Right to Education
1. Notably, the concept of the Right to Education was well understood by all the stakeholders, including
the parents. The parents highlighted several ways in which they uphold the right to education,
which included providing uniforms and food for their children while going to school. Additionally,
they encouraged each other to enroll their children in schools while acknowledging the role the
community plays.
2. The mechanisms used to report violations of the Right to Education were better understood by
the policy actors and local administration as compared to the parents. Parents indicated using
more community-level-based methods, such as the village local council meetings compared to the
structures set up by the Ministry of Education and Sports and others.
Opportunities for Continued Learning During COVID-19
1. Overall, the poorest households (15%) accessed the least and paid (54%) more for these opportunities
compared to those households that were in the middle and wealthiest wealth index levels.
2. The main challenges in accessing learning opportunities included a lack of
resources to purchase learning materials, competing responsibilities at home
that limited the time available for study and a lack of study spaces at home.
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Conclusion
The urban informal areas in our towns and cities continue growing rapidly. This trend comes with an
increase in the population and, consequently, a growing demand for public services such as education.
In Uganda’s urban informal settlements, more children are utilizing private schools than government
public schools to access education. This pattern is associated with distance to school and hence the
reason for parents choosing private schools over government schools, which are already crowded.
Despite the UPE policy, there was an indication that children from urban poor informal settlements
largely do not benefit from the UPE policy, enhancing education inequalities and continuously denying
opportunities to the most marginalized children.
It was also evident that children from urban poor informal settlements were more likely to not access
learning opportunities during school disruptions such as that of COVID-19. Therefore, calling on the
government to develop measures and programs to cushion learners from such settings when such
instances occur. Moreover, girls are more likely to be affected by disruptions such as COVID-19 in
different ways. This includes being prone to teenage pregnancies and taking up responsibilities to take
care of younger siblings compared to boys.
The community plays a critical role in upholding the right to education and the community members
including parents trust the structures that are at the community level in addressing some of the challenges
they face in ensuring children from the urban informal communities access quality education.
Recommendations
1. The government should strengthen the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism that already
exists, despite the PPP being a model to ensure that the government increases access to quality
education for all. Some schools have been left out and hence the need to explore ways in which
private schools within the urban informal settlements could benefit from it. Additionally, there are
other PPP models that the government can explore, such as working with the private sector.
2. The government should build more public schools in informal urban settlement areas to accommodate
all learners. With Uganda increasing the number of cities, more people will continue moving into
these cities, and there is an opportunity for the government to plan and build more schools in the
urban informal settlements.
3. There is a need for sensitization among all education stakeholders on government policies that
encourage re-enrolment of pregnant teenagers to school.
4. The government and stakeholders in education should create awareness to reduce gender inequities
for girls and boys.
5. Develop and strengthen community structures in and within the communities.
