Toto Magazine has bolstered creativity in Napak School
Every week, the school receives 25 copies of New Vision newspapers and TOTO magazines courtesy of Save the Children, an organisation that saves and cares for children around the world.
Mario Abura, Head Teacher of Namekwii Community School, expresses his appreciation to Save the Children for donating newspapers to the school. (Credit: Ritah Mukasa)
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On the morning of Tuesday, July 7, 2026, the Primary One class at Namekwii Community School, located in Nawaikorot Sub County in Napak District, Karamoja sub-region, was filled with excitement as the children read out loud from the chalkboard, members of the extended family.
The list had: grandmother (Tata), uncle (Mamae), grandfather (Papa), auntie (Eya) and cousin (Kaya). They read them out in English and their local language, NgaKarimojong.
Their teacher, Zema Ilukol, looked on with a beaming face as the children read with precision, showing that they were not only enjoying the lesson but also grasping what she taught.
“I prepared this lesson using Toto Magazine of the third week of June, which carried an activity about family members,” she says. “I first taught them members of the nuclear family, including mother, father, sister and brother. Today we are on the extended family.”
To Ilukol, newspapers not only motivate children to learn, but they also help to plug the many gaps in the teaching and learning process, especially in hard-to-reach schools which grapple with inadequate teachers and instructional materials.
She says the parents cannot afford the basic requirements like pencils and books and worse still, some stop their children from going to school because they don’t value education.
“We have to keep enticing the kids to come to school, and Toto magazine is one of the enticements.”
They use the magazines to teach children to read, count, match and fill in the missing numbers.
“We no longer worry about teaching the ECD class because Toto has work for both the baby and Middle classes. It’s what we use to plan our lessons.”
Most importantly, Abura says, can now draw shapes, shade pictures, join the dots to form images, identify and name the different things in their community. Gloria Lopuka 10, and Trinity Sagal 11, both in Primary One, can now write their names and also read thanks to Toto magazine.
Teacher Zema Ilukol supervises a Primary One class as pupils engage with Toto Magazine. (Credit: Ritah Mukasa)
Pupils eagerly look forward to receiving Toto Magazine every week. (Credit: Ritah Mukasa)
Every week, the school receives 25 copies of New Vision newspapers and TOTO magazines courtesy of Save the Children, an organisation that saves and cares for children around the world.
Job Kelae, the Newspapers in Education (NiE) coordinator for Napak district, says these materials have created a positive impact in many schools. There is improved learning and teaching, especially in community schools where many children can now read and write.
The project has also bolstered creativity. Kids make stories out of the pictures. In all the 11 schools he visits weekly, he says; “Children ask me to take their pictures and also put their articles in the newspapers like the children they read about.”
Meanwhile, the NiE programme is being funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through Save the Children in partnership with New Vision. NORAD is implementing a five-year programme from 2024 to 2028 called “Transforming the Future-For and with Children” in the 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.
