Newspapers bring new life to learning in a remote Karamoja school

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It was last year when I was posted as acting head teacher of Natapara-Kwangan Community School, says Abraham Lomuria.

“The school has classes up to Primary Three, but it is not yet well developed. We are six teachers in total, three under the government and three who are support teachers,” says Lomuria.

Save the Children has also been supporting the school by providing scholastic materials and supplying New Vision newspapers through Vision Group to be used as instructional materials to aid learning. 

Lomuria says the newspapers contain learning content such as mathematics. “Lower classes get learning content like counting and matching numbers, which is very useful to the children.”

“We appreciate Save the Children and New Vision for aiding learning for our school children through newspapers,” he says.

About 40 schools in the Karamoja region are benefiting from the Newspapers in Education programme, while 52 schools in the Acholi region are also beneficiaries.

Newspapers are used as instructional tools in many subjects and grade levels. Typically, most NIE use focuses on subjects such as English language, reading, social studies, mathematics and science.

In collaboration with Save the Children, New Vision is actively engaged in implementing the Newspapers in Education (NIE) programme across the 92 schools in Karamoja and Acholi regions, including training teachers on how to use newspapers to teach.

“The day before the training we got a call about it,” reveals Lomuria. “Before I joined the school last year, I had no idea how to help children use newspapers in learning, but the staff I found there showed me how. When they bring New Vision and we give the children the newspapers, they are able to learn something.”

“Today, after the training with the New Vision team, I have gained more knowledge on how to use the newspaper to teach children. The children, too, will learn how to use those newspapers and even share their stories in New Vision,” said Lomuria, who was among the 14 teachers from Moroto District who received training on Thursday, March 5, 2026, on how to use newspapers to aid learning.

The New Vision NIE team began the training of teachers on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, and will continue until March 13, 2026, in the Karamoja and Acholi regions.

Toto Magazine editor Grace Nampiima emphasised that teachers can use every part of the New Vision newspaper, including Toto magazine, to teach learners and make learning relatable, fun and exciting for children.

Toto magazine editor Grace Nampiima at the back, monitoring teachers generate teaching materials from the newspaper to be used in teaching pupils. (Credit: Jacky Achan)

“There is no limit to what creativity in using the newspaper to teach can achieve for your class,” she said.

The teachers, including Lomuria, agreed.

“We appreciate Save the Children, New Vision and the government for the support,” Lomuria said.

He was also appreciative of the community.

“They gave us about 20 acres of land freely to set up the school, and learning is now taking place there,” he said.

However, the school still faces several challenges, such as accommodation for teachers and food to feed the pupils, although other partners are providing some support, including food.

“We appreciate the Moroto district for posting us to the school. Though it has many challenges, we still have hope that the government will support us further, for example, by providing structures,” he said.

The district now has a plan and has promised the school one permanent classroom block, whose construction is expected to begin at the end of this year.

“We appreciate the government for that effort,” Lomuria added.

He also appealed for better motivation for teachers working in hard-to-reach rural areas.

“We teachers who are in deep rural schools like ours, which is about 20km from Moroto town, would like to see the government motivate us by increasing salaries and giving hard-to-reach area allowances so that we can afford at least a decent life,” he said.

“For instance, when you look at accommodation, we are paying for it ourselves. That allowance could help us pay for accommodation. Right now, we are sleeping in grass-thatched houses and in kraals. It is really a lot of suffering. We are pleading with the government to come to our aid.”