This section of the website looks at comparing two articles on a topic of our choosing and discussing the similarities and differences in England and Uganda.
Teachers
Jemma Armitage
It is my intention to compare Uganda and England’s education system unbiasedly and to take into consideration the fact that different cultures and circumstances create different systems. I will be comparing two separate articles, the first will be based on teachers in Uganda and the other will focus on teachers in England, I will then compare the two to provided evidence for why they have similarities and differences.
Firstly, the article on the BBC news provides a clear understanding that Uganda are struggling to provide enough teachers to educate the young due to the lack of money and the likelihood of not being paid at all. It clarifies that ‘40% of public school classrooms did not have a teacher teaching them’ (BBC News, 2014). It must be acknowledged that almost half of the children attending public schools that day would not have had an education (BBC News, 2014). This is detrimental and ‘traps people in very visible poverty’ as children cannot achieve entrance into secondary schools without education, causing their job opportunities to decrease further (BBC News, 2014).
Comparatively, the article provided by the Telegraph informs the reader that teachers in England plan to strike due to work and pay conditions. The strikes cause a disruption to many children’s education, with ‘more than one-in-five schools – almost 6,000 – were forced to shut’ when teachers had strikes previously (Paton, 2014). Teachers are demanding more pay to keep ‘in line with inflation’, also to ‘reduce workload’, and to improve the pension’s reform that increases their working life but decreases their overall pension (Paton, 2014). The article also opens up about the issue surrounding the role of the teacher; the Government are ‘keen to cut paperwork in schools to make sure teachers spend more of their time in the classroom’ (Paton, 2014).
To conclude, the comparison between England and Uganda in the way their teachers react to pay and conditions are in contrast but they are also similar in certain aspects. For example, the reasoning for why teachers do not attend work are contrasted between the two, this is because in Uganda teachers cannot afford to live off a singular salary so are required to work in other places whereas in England teachers do not attend work as they choose to strike due to the lack of pay. This shows a contrast as in Uganda they may not be able to strike or do not wish to as they require the money being provided, whereas in England they strike not because they cannot live off their salary but because they believe they are not getting enough for the job they are doing. However, they are also similar reasons for not being able to work, as teachers in England and Uganda both require more money in order to improve their quality of life. I concur that with this view, teachers in Uganda and England strike a comparative as they are unable to attend their jobs for different reasons, both causing a decrease in the attendance and education of the young.
References
BBC News, (2014). Tackling Uganda’s lack of school places. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25304848. [Accessed 28 Oct. 2014]
Paton, G. (2014). Teachers considering more strikes before general election – Telegraph. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11109099/teachers-condisering-more-strikes-before-general-election.html. [Accessed 28 Oct. 2014]
Lack of School Places
Daniella Tona
It is my intention to analyse two different articles unbiasedly. One will be focused on the lack of school places in England (The Guardian, 2014) and the other will be focused on the lack of school places in Uganda (Coughlan, 2014). I will look at each article in turn and then compare the similarities and differences of the topic between Uganda and England.
In my analysis, the article from The Guardian (2014) clearly shows that schools in England are beginning to struggle to cope with the number of students applying for a place. In recent years, there has been a lack of schools due to a range of circumstances. One circumstance is that; due to a withdrawal of funding from the government and Local Education Authorities (LEAs), small schools merged together to create one big school. The Guardian (2014) goes on to state that ‘the demand for primary school places at the start of the academic year… will be greater than the supply in more than a quarter of council areas in England.’ The literature also reveals that after conducting research with 131 Local Authorities (LAs), 32 LAs believe ‘government funding for additional primary places is insufficient to meet demand for 2015/16’. This article goes some way in proving that a lack of funding will have an impact on the number of school places available, despite the increase in demand for them.
In my exploration of the BBC article, Coughlan (2014) clearly shows that there are not enough schools readily available in a country like Uganda which has a fast-growing population. He states that ‘there are more Ugandans under the age of 18 than there are adults’. The schools which already exist in Uganda are few and far between. Many are of poor quality and children tend to have to walk long distances to get to school. Children who are able to go to school often find themselves without a teacher, meaning there is an emphasis on larger class sizes but with no increase in school places. According to the BBC article ‘40% of public school classrooms did not have a teacher teaching in them’ (Coughlan, 2014). This article appears to confirm the view that Uganda’s lack of school places is caused by economic issues within the school system.
To conclude, similarly in both England and Uganda there is a significant lack of school places. Both countries lack of school places could primarily be attributed to a lack of funding from the government; in England this is evident in the merging of schools and in Uganda this is evident in the lack of basic infrastructure and resources. The majority of reasons however, are different in each country. In England, the birth rate has risen faster than at any time since the 1950s (Harrison, 2013) so more school places are needed, whereas in Uganda, teacher absenteeism is a major issue (Coughlan, 2014) because it means there are fewer teachers to teach so less school places are available. From my analysis of the similarities and differences of the lack of school places in England and Uganda, I can deduce from my findings that both countries are in similar situations with their education systems but due to very different reasons.
References
BBC News, (2014). 'Tackling Uganda’s lack of school places.' BBC News Business. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25304848. [Accessed 27 October 2014]
Harrison, A. (2013) ‘Urgent need for 250,000 school places, spending watchdog warns’. BBC News Education. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21785796. [Accessed on: 21 October 2014].
The Guardian (2014) ‘Labour warn of looming school places crisis’. 6 April, 2014.
Education System
Sita Kakkad
The education system in both Uganda and England are very controversial, they are both heavily affected by cultural differences and the wealth of the country. In Uganda, there are more children under the age of 18 than there is adults in the country; this results in a high demand of schools to educate the growing amount of children being born in Uganda. Due to the lack of wealth in Uganda, teachers are often working more than one job to provide for their families, and if teachers are not paid on time, then they’re forced to prioritize the jobs that pay their full wage on time; which results in the children’s education being neglected. It is reported by BBC News that 40% of public school classrooms in Uganda remain without a teacher in them teaching. The government in Uganda claim to be supporting and funding a social enterprise called Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS) who are responsible for the quality of education, the efficiency, and accountability of the schools which they’re providing. Unlike England where education is free right up until a student goes to university, Uganda asks parents for a small fee towards their child’s education from the starting age of attendance. They ask for this fee because it helps to ensure the teachers are being paid, and gives the school a viable independent financial future. The country have made progress within getting children to attend primary school, it’s reported that 90% of children now attend. However, less than a quarter go on to further their education to secondary schools. This means there is a high percentage of children in Uganda that are actually capable of reading and writing. A lot of children in Uganda are forced to put work and money before their education as they have to put providing for their families first. Due to the lack of development in Uganda, the schools suffer with a lack of internet access, text books, and basic interactive boards. This lack of development means the children will suffer to reach levels of higher education, which will slowly result in lack of doctors, engineers, and higher skilled jobs if the provision is not there to educate the younger generation. England is much more developed than Uganda, and seizes to encourage young students to aim higher in their studies, by offering scholarships, apprenticeships, and obviously free education. The future of Uganda’s education system seems promising if the social enterprise (PEAS) are successful within their contributions and determination to get young children into the education system. A charity worker for Uganda explains that Uganda will not be dependent on the UK’s support by 2021, as they plan for the education system to be funding and supporting itself to create a more promising future.
References
BBC News, (2014). Tackling Uganda's lack of school places. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25304848 [Accessed 11 Nov. 2014]
Education.go.ug, (2014). Education in Uganda. [online] Available at: http://www.education.go.ug/data/smenu/43/Education+in+Uganda.html [Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
It is my intention to compare two different articles in this piece regarding the beginning of the education journey for children in both Uganda and England. I aim to fairly evaluate and compare the differences and similarities between the cultures and why this happens in the first place.
To begin with, the article in the Guardian provides us with the information of how the education system is run in certain rural areas of North Uganda like Katine sub-county; as they state they barely have any nursery schools. The article continues to declare that more and more villagers desire additional nurseries for their children. Katine is thought to have at least one nursery on the premises run by a charitable organisation (The Guardian, 2010). So far it is evident from my research that the problem is not that nurseries are not valued as we can establish there is a demand for more in the area. However it may be seen that it is not a priority for the Ugandan Government which may cause a contrast. It is also significant to take into account here that if there are hardly any nurseries on site for children how are they supposed to attend school and pick up the fundamental early years knowledge and skills that are presumably gained through a nursery education.
In areas like Katine, the majority of children are said to never attend nursery; they begin their education at the age of five or six at the nearest primary school (The Guardian, 2010). This may well be considered as a huge leap for Ugandan children as it is almost as though they are going straight into the deep end possible lacking the skills gained from nursery that helps them to then continue their education in primary school. Children lack scholastic materials, like books and pens, they often have to study all day on an empty stomach since no meals are provided at school and schools often have poor teaching methods (The Guardian, 2010). Now that I have established that Uganda has a lack of materials and resources, I am now moving my analyses to explore a similar concept in the English education system.
Comparatively, it is interesting to observe the UK’s take on the education system as Sir Michael Wilshaw wants to ensure children join reception classes with the building blocks for learning – such as letters and numbers and the ability to use a pencil and this should be learnt in good quality settings (BBC News 2013). It is clear to establish here that an early year’s education is viewed as playing a vital part in education as the article suggests that providing the children with the correct skills such as being able to write with a pencil; puts them in good stead for primary school.
In conclusion, when evaluating both articles some may perhaps suggest that there is a vast difference between both countries education systems. As it would be fair to say that the UK’s system could be considered to be further developed and more structured which could come under a cultural difference as Uganda is an under developed country. The evident problems that seem to be occurring in the UK are how well and intensely the children should be taught as opposed to the problems in Uganda that states some rural areas that have not even got a nursery building to begin with let alone the teachers to provide the children with intense learning. This could come under a economic factor as Uganda lacks the funding from the government for the nurseries.
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26853447
http://www.theguardian.com/katine/2010/feb/08/education-system-explainer
Beginning the Education Journey
Norelle Kolano
School Operations
Gurkiran Bains
Schools in both Uganda and England are very different in many ways. England is a highly developed country opening different doors to children in the world of education, whereas Uganda is not developed at all and only allows children to carry on with education depending of their family’s financial state. Uganda runs government schools which allow children to start at primary school, however in order to get into secondary school they must pass the exams required to get into secondary school, however if they fail to do so they cannot carry on with their education unless their parents can afford it, which leaves families in hard situations as parents can just about bring enough money in for food. Paying school fees is beyond many families, especially where they have a lot of children, however from 1998, the government in Uganda only allows 3 children from each family to attend school while paying only minimal tuition in certain schools, which are called the UPE schools (universal primary education) , meaning some of the children get left at home either because 3 of their siblings are already attending school, or they are waiting for their relatives to try to scrape together enough money to send them back to school due to exam failures or even to just start school for the first time. These reasons are also to do with lack of spaces in schools, as there are too many children but not enough spaces or teachers to educate the children. Yet the problems seem to get worse by the fact that at all schools there are many extra school requirements to pay for on top of fees.
The difference in England is that it’s a more developed country allowing parents to have a stable financial life in order to send their children to good schools and to be able to provide them with the equipment, books and extra support for them to succeed and pass there exams. However the actual school fee is paid by the government, it is only paid by the family if they choose to send their child to a private school. In England regardless of how many children families have they can all go to schools, there is not a specific number of how many children per family can attend school. Also another difference is that a normal primary school will still allow a child to carry onto secondary school even if they haven’t done so well in their primary exams, however it is a different situation for children that go to private schools which consists on paying a lot of money.
To conclude England is just way more advanced and financially developed than Uganda leaving families in both countries is very difference situations. It comes down to the children in Uganda to do the best they can with the education support and the chances they do get in schools in order to make and live a better life. However Uganda could be leading to a more better and promising future by charities helping them succeed.
References
http://www.outreachuganda.org/How_Schools_Operate.htm
http://www.salveinternational.org/salve-explained/education-in-uganda/