Supporting learners catch up through remedial classes

July 12, 2025

Children during an interactive class session.

In Uganda, particularly in rural schools, overcrowded classrooms, long walks to school and the lack of food available at school make learning a daily struggle for many children.

With limited resources, teachers often cannot give each student the attention they need. As a result, many students move through the early grades without mastering the basics of reading and mathematics. Without these skills, advancing to secondary school and eventually into higher education or a skilled job becomes nearly impossible.

“At first things were really very hard,” says Godfrey, the Head Teacher at Abalang Primary School in Kaberamaido District, noting that parents were reluctant to send their children to school on Saturdays. However, this mindset is gradually changing.

“Parents are seeing the improvement in reading and writing for their children and they are seeing that it can yield some good fruits for their children and it has really improved their performance,” Godfrey explains.

To encourage attendance, ChildFund offers a nutritious cup of millet and cornmeal porridge before Saturday classes begin, enough to help children concentrate.

Children enjoying delicious cups of porridge.

“When a child has an empty stomach, the brain cannot think,” says Carrolyn, who teaches reading on Saturday mornings. “A healthy mind moves with food in the stomach. Now when they come, they know automatically that they are going to eat and they will learn happily.”

The new textbooks, printed in partnership with Longhorn Publishers, are filled with colourful illustrations and graphics that make learning enjoyable. For children long accustomed to copying notes from the blackboard, these are in many cases the very first textbooks they have ever had access to.

“Reading and writing is the backbone of everything and our children love reading because they have these books. They see the pictures, they read and they love it so much,” Carolyn adds.

Alfred, who teaches Mathematics at the school says, “Some of them have passed their exams and some of them are now in secondary school.”

Alfred holds a one on one session with a learner.

He adds that since the program came to their school, the number of children transitioning to secondary school with good grades has improved greatly.

ChildFund in partnership with Longhorn Publishers, in June 2024 provided 43,504 textbooks, worth sh553m (USD 156,411) to 90,000 learners.

At least 72 Government-supported primary schools in 32 districts across the country received these textbooks, with the aim of improving literacy competence among learners.

The textbooks include English pupil books, early grade reading teacher’s guides and supplementary readers.