On Friday, over 300 learners from selected Nursery schools from all the nine districts of Karamoja gathered at Lomukura primary school in Kotido municipality to showcase some of their games in the learning through-play approach.
Kindergarten children in Karamoja sub-region have prepared for Uganda National Play Day organized by the Ministry of
Education in partnership with UNICEF, Plan International, and other agencies working to implement learning through play in Uganda.
On Friday, over 300 learners drawn from the selected Nursery
schools across all the nine districts of Karamoja gathered at Lomukura primary
school in Kotido municipality to showcase some of their games in the learning through-play
approach.
The activity organized by UNICEF and other partners was part
of the Uganda National Day preparations, for creating awareness among parents on how important it is to involve the children in playing both at
school and community as one way of developing their minds.
Rosemary Alweng, the Education Officer at UNICEF Moroto
zonal Office said they have initiated the learning through play for the
Nursery school learners presenting at the Uganda National Play Day
during the Play Day slated at the end of this month.
Alweng noted that many parents have a negative
attitude to spending money for early childhood education because they think
children just go for playing and learn nothing.
Alweng said that they are sending a message to parents to
consider supporting their children in playing while at home to improve the
child's mental growth.
Alweng said that they have trained the caregivers,
especially on the minimum package that goes for nine months to support the
children at the ECD center. The caregivers will also train the parents whose
children are enrolled in the center to give them knowledge and skills for
nurturing their children while at home.
Alweng said that they have supported the establishment
of community learning centers and provided materials that will facilitate learning.
She said that they are engaging the district leadership on
system strengthening to ensure quality services are delivered in the early
childhood centers.
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Alfred Logwe, the Principal Assistant Secretary of the
Amudat district urged stakeholders to prioritize early childhood
development as a cornerstone of their governance by investing in play-based learning activities for quality early childhood education.
Logwe challenged district education officers to
integrate play-based approaches into the school curriculum and teacher training
programs to empower them with knowledge on nurturing the environment.
He commended teachers for their tireless dedication to
shaping the minds of the young generation and fostering a love for learning.
Logwe appealed to the parents to spend more time with their
children and to allow them to prioritize play as an essential component of the child's
daily routine.
Raymond Korobe, the Nabilatuk District Education
Officer said that the government has already developed an ECD policy to ensure
that the parents contribute to the growth of children through play-based
approaches.
Korobe said that the real Ideal of ECD is playing and
socialization but unfortunately, some schools have not been able to impart it
to the learners, and teachers have neglected games and resorted to
formal teaching yet it is a policy to have the children taken through different
games as part of learning, which prepares them for primary education.
Korobe also noted that many Caregivers are discouraged in
teaching the learners because of the low pay, making it hard for them to
monitor the performance.
Korobe said that although the government is encouraging early
childhood education, the communities have not embraced it because they
lack money for school fees.
Korobe also highlighted that lack of infrastructure, lack
of access roads, water scarcity, and the insecurity that kept the
communities migrating from place to place has impacted negatively on the
operations of the early childhood development centers.
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Angello Max Lowari, the Kotido district education
officer said that the district is struggling to attract learners for the early
childhood development centers due to lack of facilities.
Lowari said that the district has 35 Early Childhood
Development Centers which have attracted 4,352 learners out of 22,000
children aged between 3 and 5 in the district.
He said that most children who miss out on the ECD program
are taken to kraals to look after cattle and bringing them back to school
becomes a challenge due to negative attitudes toward education.
Lowari said that lack of access to childhood development
centers has affected enrollment in the primary schools because the children who
would be at school are kept in the kraals.
He appealed to the government and partners to extend the centers to all the villages to cover all the school-going-age
children, now spending their entire lives in the kraals.
Lowari said that children who are enrolled in Nursery
education could embrace the value of education after going through mindset
development at a tender age.
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Meanwhile, the Kindergarten teachers also voiced out some of
the challenges frustrating their effort to deliver quality services to the
learners.
Agnes Lotukei, a teacher of Nursery Rene Nursery
and Primary School in Nakapiripirit district noted that the government has not
paid due attention to the early child development centers and the teachers
have been left to struggle on their own.
Lotukei said that sometimes they get discouraged by family
members who laugh at them for struggling with children for no or low pay.
She also noted that some schools are too distant from the
community and children are forced to walk long distances which frustrates the
learning process.
Lotukei observed that parents still have negative attitudes
toward Nursery education as many prefer waiting for the primary school cycle.
She said that only the rich can enroll their
children in Nursery education, with many still left out due to high poverty
levels in the households.
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Maureen Drileba, another teacher from Ride Foundation
Nursery and Primary School in Kotido district noted that the teachers are not
motivated citing that Nursery teachers are being overlooked and paid peanuts
compared to the primary section.
Drileba said that they need salary increments to motivate
them in their work in shaping the minds of the young generation. She observed
that the schools also lack playing and learning materials which would help the
pupils to enjoy being at school
.
She added that parents have not appreciated the
work of Nursery teachers; who are being undermined yet
they have taken up the key role of managing the children.
She appealed to the government to join hands with the school
directors to improve the welfare of the Nursery teachers so that they can
execute their duties diligently.
