Closing Time

My 1^st school year teaching in Uganda has come to a close! I want to talk about school only in this blog because I feel I’ve briefly mentioned it every now and again and I’d like to have one spot dedicated to only this topic.

The school year is divided into 3 terms. Term 1: Feb-April. Term 2: June-Aug. Term 3: Sept-Nov. I work at a Primary school which is like an elementary school. Classes are from P1-P7.

I spent this year trying to figure out how the academic system works here and what I want to do for next year. In the mean time, I taught my P4 class of about 50 pupils ranging from ages 9-13 English. They begin learning English in P1, but start being taught in it in P4. Since they’ve only really spoke and been spoken to in their local language, it makes it difficult when I know very little of the vernacular and I have a different accent than them. But some of them could pick me very well. Some unfortunately, did not. But they would have help from their friends.

My P4 class with my two co-teachers

During Term 1 and Term 2, student teachers come and teach for about a month. I would observe the ones in P4 during this time. I also gave a reading assessment to all the P4 pupils during term 1 and found out their reading level is VERY low. So I choose 10 that I could work with and did reading intervention groups with them during term 2. Term 3 was a little chaotic with things so I wasn’t able to continue this. But, I still taught letter sounds and how to blend and segment words in English class so everyone could get some tips (they all need it).

A school day looks like this: Assembly at 8, classes from 8:30-10:30, break 10:30-11, classes 11-1, lunch 1-2, classes 2-3:30, games 3:30-4. Some of them come in early and stay late for remedials. This schedule isn’t always so structured. Assembly can go over, maybe the pupils are asked to clean the compound (by slashing grass or picking up debris), staff meeting and going for mass can also interrupt classes. There is a time table for all subjects to be taught to each class (English, Science, Social Studies, Math, Religious Studies, Local Language, PE, Art, Library) but only the 1^st four “core” subjects are taught because those are what’s tested on.

Pupils pay school fees. A lot of them can’t afford it though and are sent home because of this. If they do manage to cough up small amount of shillings (a few dollars) for fees, then they might not be able to buy a uniform or shoes so they come barefoot and in their holey everyday clothes. The schools are also poor so their buildings are old, have holes in the floors and walls, doors and windows that don’t close or are broken, and aren’t able to provide lunch for the pupils. Teachers are sometimes not paid because of corruption in the government and usually they only became primary teachers because they didn’t have enough money to continue to university to get a degree so there is a strong lack in motivation by the primary school teachers. Only some of them really like their job.

It’s hard to get a lot of work or change to happen at schools, but here are some small things I was able to try out this year:

Positive Behavior System (PBS)

P6 student teachers rewarding their
"Pupil of the Week"

            My co teacher and I came up with a list of behaviors we want to see in our pupils. Every time a pupil shows a behavior in class, we gave them a paper to put into a bottle. At the end of the week, the pupils with the most papers was rewarded “Pupil of the Week”. We called it CRANE for Cooperation, Respect, Attentiveness, Nice manners, and Eagerness. Corporal punishment is still a big problem here, so this was to help reduce that happening and make school more enjoyable.

Base Pack Training

            A backpack full of fun games will make any pupil or teacher happy and motivated. So as an incentive to pupils showing good behavior, I taught the teachers how to play some fun games with them as a reward. They really enjoyed it too!

Everyone loves the parachute!

My Language Spelling Bee
            Some other PCVs partnered with the Ministry of Education or hold a Spelling Bee in most districts in Uganda. Since it was the first time this has ever been attempted, it was a bit difficult, but it was somehow managed. We held a spelling bee with the P3 pupils at my school. The top 5 winners got to attend the regional level spelling bee in another district. This was exciting because a lot of people never have the opportunity to leave their district and see other places. They got to meet pupils from other schools and have a nice lunch. The spelling bee was also in the local language so they got to learn how to spell in Runyankore which isn’t really ever written so it helped promote the value of their vernacular!

My school's P3 class
getting the top 5 Spelling Bee winners!

The regional spelling bee finalists! 

ReUsable Menstrual PadS (RUMPS)

            As I’ve mentioned, lack of money is a problem. So girls out in the village sometimes miss school one week every month because they can’t afford to buy pads. I held a workshop at my school with the P5, P6, and some P7 girls to teach them how to make cheap, reusable pads out of local materials. Not only do they save money, but they keep girls in school. Woman already have such a disadvantage over men in this country so this gives them the chance to stay ahead!

P5, P6, & P7 girls making RUMPS

Other Things

            I like to have fun so I also taught my pupils some games to play like Duck, Duck, Goose. I invited some of them over to my place as well and made them pancakes, watched cartoons, and had a dance party. In return, they have shown me their traditional songs and dances, brought me food items, and drew me pictures as a sign of appreciation. I also had a great time talking with the other teachers and getting to know more about them and Uganda. One of them even had me be her bridesmaid in her wedding! (Refer to my previous blog post from May)

Things might be slow going and very frustrating at times working in a school environment in Uganda, but all in all, I’d say I had a good year. It was difficult at first because I’m seen as a white person with a lot of money and was expected to hand it out, but that’s not the point of a Peace Corps Volunteer. Now that I’ve gotten used to things here and they’ve gotten used to me, I’m even more excited for next year. I have so many ideas of things I want to do and I’m much better prepared to make sure they actually happen! Or at least I’ll try ;)

And that’s just it. A lot of things fail for a variety of reasons here. Whether it’s because teachers are unmotivated to cooperate or they disassemble what you’ve done for purposes they deem more important, you definitely will have more failures than successes. But it’s important not to become discouraged, because even in failure, there is success. You’ve now learnt what’s realistic and what’s not possible. You’re not a super human and aren’t expected to change the world All you can do is your best and if you do that, then you should feel accomplished.