Newspapers to the rescue
Every week, Kamoru Community School receives 25 copies of Weekend Vision and Toto Magazine under the Newspapers in Education (NiE) programme, which is being funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through Save the Children, an organisation that saves and cares for children around the world.
Children attend a lesson at Kamoru Community School. (Credit: Ritah Mukasa)
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“Newspapers have become our books here because parents can’t provide for their children,” Gladys Acheng Achilla, teacher at Kamoru Community School located in Kapuyon subcounty in Kotido district, Karamoja sub-region, says.
The school is grappling with poor infrastructure and pupil absenteeism, which the teachers attribute to widespread famine in the sub-county. The majority of their 524 pupils are malnourished and are irregular at school because they have to walk long distances on empty stomachs.
Achilla says that last term, attendance was good because Good Samaritans donated five bags of maize flour to the school, which they used to prepare porridge for the learners. This term, Achilla and her colleague, Martha Achia, each pooled sh40,000 from their salaries and bought maize flour worth sh80,000, which fed learners up to last week, when it ran out.
“Many children used to survive on that cup of porridge until the next day,” Achia says, adding that the situation has worsened. Attendance has dropped. For example, on Friday, July 9, only 35 pupils managed to make it to school.
However, education-wise, Achilla, who teaches Mathematics and English in Primary Three and Four, says the school survives on the mercy of Good Samaritans such as Save the Children organisation, which donates newspapers plus scholastic materials, especially books, pencils, pens and crayons, but this term they haven’t provided. Therefore, children are using the old books, Weekend Vision, and Toto magazine to study.
Teacher Gladys Achilla says the school continues to grapple with child malnutrition among its learners. (Credit: Ritah Mukasa)
Classes end at 1:00pm but Achilla says, “Children remain behind to read and answer questions in the newspapers.”
Teachers also use Toto magazine to teach nursery (Early Childhood Development) classes, Primary One and Two. In the upper classes (Primary Three and Four), Achilla uses Weekend Vision as instructional materials.
About the NiE program
Every week, Kamoru Community School receives 25 copies of Weekend Vision and Toto Magazine under the Newspapers in Education (NiE) programme, which is being funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through Save the Children, an organisation that saves and cares for children around the world. NORAD is implementing a five-year programme from 2024 to 2028 called “Transforming the Future-For and with Children” in Acholi and Karamoja regions. The program aims to ensure that all children enjoy their rights to survival, protection, development and participation in a safe, inclusive, accountable and resilient environment.
