The Status of Implementation of the Education Sector Early Childhood Development Policy in Uganda
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Date
2012
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Uganda National Commission for UNESCO
Abstract
Uganda is one of the many African countries that still has majority of her people living in poverty.
Although the share of Ugandans living in poverty decreased from 56.4 to 24.5 percent between 1992/3
and 2009/10 (MoFPED, 2012), there is substantial and growing urban-rural inequality and imbalance
between regions. Despite the impressive growth, Uganda‟s Gini coefficient has been rising over the
years, and stands at 0.426 (UNHS, 2009/2010), indicating a worrying trend towards increased income
inequality (Kaduru, 2011). This inequality may mean that some children who are born into poor
families are much more likely to have parents who have low levels of education attainment, low-quality
jobs, and low wages, thus such children are more likely to have less access to public services, such as
water and sanitation, health care, and education (Vegas & Santibanez, 2010). A number of interventions
have been tried in terms of poverty alleviation such as NUSAF, SACCOs; Youth credit schemes,
entandikwa, and PEAP. Even with these interventions, poverty still persists in many communities
especially in the rural areas where they live on less than a dollar a day.
One of the ways of poverty eradication and reduction of inequality among people is through the use of
early childhood development programmes which put children on equal footing prior to starting primary
schooling, regardless of the different conditions in life such as poverty, neglect and ignorance (Kisitu,
2009). This notion is expressed in a number of international declarations and frameworks like the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA) goal and the New Partnership for
African Development (NEPAD), all of which have provisions for inclusion of ECD as a priority area
(UCRNN, 2010). In 1990 at Jomtien in Thailand, 155 nations of the world agreed on a joint plan of
action to fulfill six Education For All goals. The first goal required nations to work towards the
expansion and improvement of comprehensive ECD by the year 2015. Similarly, the Dakar Framework
of Action adopted by the World Education Forum, Uganda, among other participants, committed
herself to attain the goals pertaining to the child with emphasis on expanding and improving
comprehensive early childhood care and education especially for the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged children. Therefore, any attempts to improve the status of ECD in the country will be an
effort that is geared towards the fulfillment of the Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
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Citation
Ejuu, G. (2012). The status of implementation of the education sector early childhood development policy in Uganda. Uganda National Commission for UNESCO.