First Lady Janet Museveni hails Estonia on Uganda’s e-learning transformation

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The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, has hailed the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) for its active role in supporting Uganda's education sector.

“I am pleased to note that the Estonian Centre for International Development has been actively involved in supporting Uganda’s education sector by sharing your experience in educational reforms since September 2022,” she said.

She made the remarks while meeting with the ESTDEV delegation, which was led by the Estonian honorary consul to Uganda, Girisch Nair, the centre’s executive director, Klen Jäärats, and its regional head for Africa, Katrin Winter.

The delegation had paid a courtesy call on the minister at State House, Entebbe, on Friday.

ESTDEV is a government agency under Estonia’s ministry of foreign affairs that specialises in international development co-operation.

It provides expertise, technical assistance, and capacity-building support to partner countries, particularly in digital governance, education, and public sector innovation, leveraging Estonia’s globally recognised experience in digital transformation and e-governance.

The minister and the Estonians discussed achievements from a partnership that began in 2022 under the AU–EU Digital for Development (D4D) Hub project.

Since then, Estonia has collaborated closely with Uganda’s ministry of education and sports to introduce global expertise in digital innovation, yielding tangible results across several priority areas.

The minister acknowledged that the partnership has strengthened the Uganda National Qualifications Framework—a vital policy tool aligning skills development with labour market needs.

The policy has contributed to teacher training through partnerships with NGO Mondo and Estonian institutions and supported digital literacy and digital economy initiatives.

NGO Mondo is an independent Estonian non-profit organization devoted to development cooperation, global education and humanitarian aid.

“Your support in digital transformation in education has gone a long way in enabling us to become more innovative in the way we teach and the way our learners access information, a strategy that is central to the Ministry of Education in this digital era,” she said.

The First Lady highlighted ongoing collaborations between Tallinn University of Technology with Makerere University’s School of Public Health to modernize the e-Health Master's course, and with Kyambogo University to implement a digital maturity tool for the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, enabling skills training for school management, teachers, and students.

She also acknowledged Katrin’s proposal that supports Uganda through the African Union-European Union D4D Hub project.

“The proposal assessed existing digital systems for learners and teachers, recommended uniform data collection mechanisms, and strengthened the way the systems exchange and use information,” the minister said.

She also noted that this proposal became the foundation of the collaboration, which has since produced successful Proof of Concept for education systems integration, such as the Education Management System, the Teacher Management Information System, the Teacher Effectiveness and Learner Achievement, and the technical documentation.

She noted, however, that the planned national rollout stalled due to canceled World Bank funding, though the ministry is actively seeking financing to support infrastructure such as servers, security, and connectivity.

Uganda commended

Jäärats commended Uganda for its rapid development and strong commitment to digital education following his five-day visit to the country.

“This is my first time in Uganda, and I am grateful for the warm hospitality from your team. I have been impressed by how fast Uganda is developing. People are embracing technology with excitement, and we are teaching teachers about digital skills. This is very important for Ugandan children, and we have to continue moving in this direction," he said.

Katrin said that they have been working with the ministry to manage education data.

“We know Uganda has information about schools and teachers, and this data can help guide better decision-making. We are committed to supporting these efforts and bringing resources and opportunities to make it happen,” she said.

Katrin also said the delegation aims to support Uganda in job creation and explore how the digital economy can be leveraged to generate employment opportunities for Ugandans.

“We have been working with the ministry to manage education data. We know Uganda has information about schools and teachers, and this data can help guide better decision-making. We are committed to supporting these efforts and bringing resources and opportunities to make it happen,” she said.

She highlighted that the partnership has delivered concrete results, particularly in enhancing teacher capacity.

Working with Estonian institutions and NGO Mondo, she noted that more than 400 teachers, including those in rural schools and technical vocational institutions, have received training in digital competencies.

This addresses one of Uganda's biggest challenges by preparing educators to teach effectively in a digital era, she said.

Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda, the permanent secretary of the ministry of education and sports, thanked the ESTDEV team for their continued commitment, noting their support in strengthening Uganda's qualifications framework.

Dr Safina Museene, the commissioner for BTVET at the ministry, said that the Ugandan delegation visited Tallinn University and Tartu Vocational College in Estonia to study the country's education system.

“Estonia has a comprehensive qualifications framework, which consists of four sub-frameworks: general education qualifications, vocational education and training qualifications, higher education qualifications, and occupational qualifications with sub-framework specific level descriptors," she said.

Also present at the meeting was Peter Ogwang, the state minister for sports, alongside other education ministry officials.