- Pupils from a Ugandan school have been visiting St Michael’s School this week
- Standard Bank organised the trip, which is intended to build links between the Uganda and Jersey
- Mifumi Primary School’s headteacher was impressed that the pupils had iPads
USING the latest technology during lessons is something that schoolchildren may take for granted but a headmaster and two students from Uganda – who had never seen an iPad before – say they would be grateful for just basic equipment.
The teenagers and their head teacher, who arrived in the Island on Sunday, say that the structure of education in Jersey is ‘superb’ and were surprised to see the students using iPads because many pupils back home cannot afford pens and pencils.
- There are almost 38 million people living in Uganda, which is a similar size to the American state of Oregon. In comparison, Oregon has a population of less than four million.
- In Uganda, there are seven primary school years – from primary one to primary seven – but many pupils drop out part way through before returning to education, so it is not unusual for teenagers to sit primary exams
- Primary school tuition has been free in government schools in Uganda since 1997 but pupils, especially those in rural areas, face serious challenges to finish their education. For example, they lack materials, such as 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.
- Besides government schools, there are many expensive day and boarding private schools at all levels, where wealthier or more ambitious parents send their children[/breakout]
It is the first time that the two students and the headteacher of Mifumi Primary School in eastern Uganda have travelled outside of their own country.
The aim of the visit, which was organised by Standard Bank, which sponsors the school, is to build links and understanding between the two communities.
The school’s headmaster, Bernard Onyango, said that he was impressed by the fact that every child had a seat in the classroom, as well as resources such as books, pens, pencils and iPads.
The two students, Olam Mosesand Adikini Sylivia (14), are among 700 students who attend Mifumi school, where many children cannot afford shoes and some are so hungry that they fall asleep in lessons.
Mr Onyango said that in some classes in Uganda there were between 70 and 80 children and resources were so stretched that they were not able to run any practical lessons.
‘Here in Jersey they have shelves, books and iPads. If we had some of those resources I would be very grateful,’ he said.
Miss Adikini said she has enjoyed her time in the Island and would like to come back to visit again. She added that although she did like school back at home, there were ‘a lot more’ children in her class than in Jersey.
On Monday the students and Mr Onyango visited St Michael’s and Grouville school, where they were able to experience what it was like to be taught in smaller classes.
The students and headmaster were accompanied by Beatrice Atyang, who works for the Mifumi School charity and Pamela Opoka, from Standard Bank.
Ms Atyang said that most people in their village do not even travel as far as Kampala – Uganda’s capital city – which is 255 kilometres away.
‘People do not leave the village. They live, study, die and then are buried here so this was a big opportunity for Sylivia and it will make a big difference in her life.’
The group, who are this week due to visit Mont Nicolle primary school, Jersey College for Girls and St Martin’s primary school, also visited schools in the Isle of Man last month.
The visit will end with a fundraising event at the Pomme d’Or Hotel on Friday, with all proceeds being donated to the Mifumi School charity.
COACHING cricket and helping raise the awareness of HIV and Aids in Uganda was an awesome experience says Islander Tim Kearsey.
The 40-year-old Level 1 cricket coach carried out a two-week visit to Uganda in March where, under the wing of the Cricket without Boundaries charity, he and his fellow coaches educated some 5,000 youngsters on the dangers of Aids and HIV through cricket.
Kearsey (40) said: ‘Uganda was the most memorable and awesome thing I have ever experienced and I was pleased to be part of it.
‘It’s a long mission to educate about Aids and HIV and the basic skills of cricket and hopefully the two weeks I was there will have an impact.
‘Ugandans are natural athletes, they have very good bowlers and they throw, catch and field the ball well but their batting lets them down because they have no patience at the crease.
‘It’s the same with their junior talents, the characteristics are the same – they all bowl fast, throw and catch the ball well but they’re not so good with the bat so we were doing our best to help them.
‘On the day we went to the Soroti district, near Sudan, we were involved with 1,200 youngsters and we managed to get nearly 100 teachers from the group which made it sustainable.’
Kearsey, who was working as a part of a team of seven coaches – including three Ugandans – said that 22 per cent of Ugandan youngsters are born with HIV and you knew who were affected just by looking at their faces.
‘We related ABCT to cricket by abstaining from playing a bad shot, be faithful to the rules in your team, protect your wicket and the game of cricket is a test to them.
