Browsing by Author "Amone, Charles"

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    Ethnic pluralism and the challenge of thematic curriculum implementation in Uganda
    (Informa UK Limited, 2019-09-30) Amone, Charles
    Uganda has been developing and revising its curricula since the time of British colonial rule. The latest revision of the primary education curriculum led to the introduction of the Thematic Curriculum in 2007. This curriculum requires the use of pupils' mother tongues as languages of instruction from Primary One to Three and then English from Primary Five to Seven. Primary Four is a transitional year. Several studies have indicated that the Thematic Curriculum has been a failure. Although various reasons have been advanced for the challenges of the Thematic Curriculum, the greatest setback seems to be ethnic pluralism. Using in-depth interviews with teachers, parents, education officials and pupils, I investigated how ethnic pluralism impeded the implementation of the Thematic Curriculum in Uganda. I found that most districts in Uganda are multi-ethnic and therefore multi-lingual making it difficult to choose the dominant mother tongue to use as a language of instruction. Even when the dominant language is identified, the pupils and teachers are in most cases from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. This study recommends the introduction of a national language to be used as medium of instruction at the lower levels of education in Uganda.
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    Knowledge and Misconceptions about HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) among the Post-Conflict Youths of Gulu, Northern Uganda. A Prospective Study Design
    (Pan African Medical Journal, 2012) Kitara, David Lagoro; Amone, Charles; Okello, Christopher
    Uganda has been reported as the most successful country in Africa in reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS from 18% to 6.4% over the last two decades. There is evidence to suggest that despite a significant decline between 1992 and 2002, HIV prevalence has stagnated over the last 5-9 years at between 6.1 and 6.5% and it is rising in some parts of the country such as Gulu. This rise are thought to be due to the high levels of stigma and superstition preventing HIV counseling and testing (HCT). WHO reports in 2009 showed that only 20% of Uganda’s populations knew their HIV sero-status. This study was designed to find out the knowledge, misconceptions, attitude and practices of youths of Gulu about HCT. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulu, Pece among the youths 15 to 35 years. An in-depth interview using a questionnaire was administered to youths of Commercial Road Sub-ward. Informed consent and ethical approval was obtained and 86 respondents were interviewed. Results: Ninety three percent of respondents had knowledge about HCT and 97.7% were able to mention two or more of its benefits. Most (88.4%) agreed on public disclosure of their HIV status and 84.9% would encourage others to undertake it. Only 36.1% of respondents had undertaken HCT while the rest had not undertaken it due to fear of stigmatization. There is adequate knowledge, good attitude but poor practice and misconceptions to HCT. The young adults in Gulu should be supported in a special program to enable them undertake HCT and access other services for HIV/AIDS prevention.
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    Modelling Transformation of Communities by Public Universities in Post Conflict Northern Uganda Using Economic and Demographic factors
    (East African Journal of Education Studies, 2024) Asaf Adebua; Oriangi, George; Abola, Benard; Amone, Charles; Ezati, Betty Akullu
    Scarcity of knowledge exists on how economic and demographic factors of surrounding communities influence the capacity of universities to transform them. This study examines the dimensions that contribute to community transformation in the context of the community surrounding Gulu University in post-conflict northern Uganda and the economic and demographic factors of the surrounding community that influence their transformation by Gulu University. The study employed a cross-sectional research design with a sample of 390 households. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data on household economic and demographic factors and data on dimensions of community transformation. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the contributions of the dimensions of community transformation, while logistic regression model was employed to determine economic and demographic factors that influence community transformation by Gulu University. The independent variables tested in the economic and demographic categories included age, gender, household size, occupation, alternative income, savings, credit, remittances, and education, while transformation formed the dependent variable. Findings revealed that the economic, physical, political and spiritual dimensions contribute more to the transformation of the community surrounding Gulu University, while the economic and demographic factors that had a significant influence on community transformation included occupation in civil service, business, and commercial farming (P=.004); and the level of education (P=0.044). The study concludes that the economic, physical, political and spiritual dimensions with their associated variables contributed more to community transformation. These can be used by other related studies to measure community transformation by universities in the context of developing countries. Furthermore, policies need to focus more on supporting the improvement of the business environment to promote commercial farming and university education since they have a higher multiplier effect on community transformation. Consequently, community members need to focus on business, harness commercial farming and achieve university level of education
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    Perspectives from the Local Community on Strategies for Community Transformation in Uganda’s Public Universities
    (East African Journal of Education Studies, 2024) Adebua, Asaf; Oriangi, George; Abola, Benard; Malinga, Geoffrey M.; Ezati, Betty Akullu; Amone, Charles
    Several Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rarely have a clearly defined strategy for transforming communities. This is partly because some are still built on colonial models, which place a strong focus on theory, rote learning, and memorisation, where learners duplicate the content during examinations with little or no impact on the community. As a result, the surrounding communities continue to grapple with high levels of poverty, illiteracy, poor housing, disease, and poor-quality health and hygiene. This study explores the strategies Gulu University is using to transform the post-conflict community of Gulu City, northern Uganda. A cross-sectional research design was used involving 390 households. Self-administered questionnaires were employed to collect data on community perceptions of the operationalisation of the different strategies employed by Gulu University to transform the community. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the most outstanding strategies and their associated variables, while chi-square test was performed to assess the relationship between community perception of the existence of Gulu University and the strategies of community transformation. Findings revealed that, first, Gulu University’s strategy of knowledge application has been perceived by the surrounding community to have worked well by increasing employment opportunities, providing young people with opportunities for meaningful livelihood activities, reducing crime, and fostering enterprise development in the surrounding community. Second, the strategy of partnerships and community projects has paid off by providing scholarships to help community members further their education. However, there is still more to be done in terms of knowledge generation strategy through skill training, knowledge transmission strategy through technology transfer, primary health care, better farming engagements, and innovative business services, as well as partnerships and community projects strategy via enterprise development. Furthermore, findings indicated that there was a significant association between community perceptions of transformation and the existence of Gulu University. The findings highlight potential areas of focus for Gulu University and other Ugandan universities for formulating policies that higher institutions of learning can employ to transform communities. Besides, future research should explore the dimensions of community transformation that influence the role of higher institutions of learning in transforming communities