Early Childhood Development

Education experts have proposed that the only way to enhance quality Early Childhood Education is through investing in training of teachers in this field and meeting their remuneration.

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Uganda is currently in the hands of private proprietors. These are often called Nursery Schools or Early Childhood Development Centers.

However according to Dr Charles Luwaga, the programs and sponsorship director, ChildFund Uganda, investing in ECCE not only creates the greatest returns for society but also enables children acquire cognitive, linguistic, socio-emotional, and executive function/self-regulation skills as well as creating the human capital basis for sustained economic development and improved health and nutritional status across society.

“Government should take over, regulate, finance and provide quality assurance in Early Childhood Care and Education like it is for primary, secondary and vocational institutions,” Luwagga said.

He was speaking to Members of Parliament who sit on the committee on Education and Sports at Parliament of Uganda in August 2023.

ChildFund Uganda together with International Non-Governmental Organizations working in the areas of Early Childhood Care and Education were invited to Parliament’s committee On education and sports to aid Parliament’s decision following an earlier petition by the Pre-Primary Teachers Training Institutions Association Uganda (PPTTIA) regarding proposed changes in pre-primary education policies and regulations.

The other international agencies present at the meeting were UNICEF and Plan Uganda.

A cross section of members of Parliament who sit on Parliament’s Committee on Education interact with development partners. (ChildFund, UNICEF and Plan Uganda.)

In February last year, Faith Loru, the Napak district woman Member of Parliament tabled before parliament, a petition by members of the Pre-Primary Teachers Training Institutions Associations of Uganda.

The petitioners expressed frustrations faced by stakeholders in Early Childhood Care and Education in Uganda due to lack of proper policy and disregard of available legal frameworks in handling the matters.

Notably among them is that ECCE is not evenly accessed since it is predominantly privately led, and its provision is highly influenced by the income status since it is solely financed by parents.

They also highlighted the complete lack of standardized ECCE teaching-learning materials such as teacher’s guides, resource books, pupils books and the fact that the government has only one single ECCE training institution (Kyambogo University) that does not attract a good number of students on its program.

The petitioners also underscored the fact that Uganda does not have adequate trainers to train teachers and teacher trainers in ECCE pedagogy at all levels and that there aren’t enough caregivers even at minimum levels with certificate qualifications to manage the enormous number of children in need of Early Childhood Care and Education.

However Lukiya Kibone, the Education and Learning Specialist at ChildFund said there is need for Government to consider expanding the training, assessment and continuous professional development of Early Childhood Care and Education teachers to all government chartered public and private institutions as a strategic step that can significantly contribute to the improvement of Early Childhood development in Uganda.

Lukiya speaking during the engagement.

“There should be continued engagements between the private sector in the implementation of the teachers policy. Such engagements could include establishing a joint task force to develop the legal framework, conducting regular consultations and exploring partnerships that benefit ECCE institutions, educators and children,” she said.

Margaret Makoha, a member of the committee on education and sports and the chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum for Children compared the lack of investment in early childhood development to a house that is built on a weak foundation, saying it will ultimately collapse.