Ugandan School System Explanation

 I get questions from time to time from sponsors about various things involving sponsorship, Vision of Destiny, Uganda, etc.  So, someone suggested that I blog the answers to these questions.  I have a list of about 25 or so questions that people have asked (and I'm sure others are asking themselves) that I'll be putting up a blog post about from time to time.

Here's the answer to the first one:

How does the school system work in Uganda?

Here's a brief explanation of how the school system in Uganda works.  You'll be able to see how it is a bit different from the U.S. school system.

Uganda has both private and public schools.  The public schools are the government schools where students can attend for "free."  I say "free" because these schools in the city still have fees and all (even in the remotest village) government schools will still have fees, just not tuition.  These fees will be in the form of building fees, lunch fees, etc.- whatever fee the school can come up with to add on to the little the government provides for each child.  Also, the student's family would still need to provide shoes, lunch, uniform, and books. 

Often these schools are not the best schools.  Children frequently are squeezed into inadequately ventilated rooms.  Sometimes there are no desks.  Students will sit on the floor (if there is even a floor) and teachers will rarely report to work.  The students beginning their educational career in these schools don't read and write well and the percentage of students actually completing primary school from these schools is very low.

That's where the privately run schools step in.  These private schools (especially if a school that performs well on national exams) are usually not cheap schools!  However, most parents feel that educating their children is a good investment and for those that can afford to do so, will send their children to the best schools.

The school year runs from late Jan./early Feb. to late Nov./early Dec. and is divided into three terms with about 3-4 weeks break between terms 1 and 2 and between terms 2 and 3.  The summer break coincides with the Christmas break!

Instead of having kindergarten up to 12th grade, Uganda has 3 years of nursery school (baby, middle, and top class), 7 years of primary school (Primary 1-7), and 4-6 years of high school (Senior 1-6).

Nursery school is not compulsory.  Therefore, all nursery schools are private schools.  Obviously, those students that don't attend nursery school, begin their school career already a great deal behind.  Schools (especially in Kampala) expect children entering Primary 1 to already be reading.  Children can begin nursery school as early as the age of 3. 

Students can begin Primary 1 after completing nursery school or at the age of 6.  However, again, those 6 year olds beginning without attending nursery school will be far behind.  Also, it's not uncommon to find a child at the age of 10 in Primary 1 if that is when his guardian is able to first send him to school or to find a 14 year old in Primary 6 because of missing a year or two due to lack of school fees.

At the end of Primary 7, students sit the Primary Leaving Exam (PLE).  This is a national exam which all Primary 7 leavers are expected to take and determines whether a student will be able to continue to high school and what high school will accept the student.  The better score you have, the better high school you will be admitted to.  The best score on the PLE is a 4.  The higher the number is of your score, the worse you have done.

Senior 1- Senior 4 is called O Level.  Students will study around 10 subjects (depending on the school, sometimes more).  At the end of Senior 4, students will sit another exam to receive their Uganda Certificate of Education.  Again, this exam determines the child's future.  It determines if and where they will be eligible to continue their last two years of high school.  Students who don't pass can either repeat the exam the following year or switch to vocational training.  The best score on the O Level exams is an 8.  The higher the number of the score, again, the worse you have done.

Senior 5 and 6 is called A Level.  Students are studying 3-4 subjects over these two years.  Schools will give the students the subjects to study based on how they performed on the O Level exams.  The subjects taken will determine what you do in university.  For example, a student wanting to study medicine in university, will take biology, chemistry, math, and physics (or a similar combination of subjects).  At the end of Senior 6, students will take their last national exam.  How they do on this exam determines whether they will be eligible to go on to university or not.  The highest score on the A Level exams is a 24 or 25 (depends on the year and the examination board).  The lowest score is a 0.  A 0 means the student has not passed the exam. 

University students will enter university and directly study their major courses, no taking two years of basics!  Students also can go from O or A level to a vocational training course and complete a certificate, go on to complete a diploma, and still be admitted to university.

Hope that explains a bit about how the Ugandan school system works!