Thursday 19 February 2015

RAKAI GIRL’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION REVIVED

A young girl, Teddy Ndagaano, who lives with her mother in kabaale A village, Rakai district will have another chance at education. The ………….year old (indicate age of the girl) Ndagaano sat for her Primary Leaving Examination at Kabaale primary school but with no hope of furthering her education. Because of the several house hold and her mother’s ignorance about her daughter’s right to education, Teddy was about to leave school as she couldn’t balance the twin tasks of house work and school work. In her words, (quote teddy instead of writing in reported speech) “we had to weave mats with my mother even at night in order to get some money to cater for our needs.” Teddy retorted. Teddy had to help her mother so that they are able to raise funds that would help them meet her educational as well as other needs. (Mention examples of other needs that teddy and her mother could be having).
It was amid this predicament that Mr. Mpesebwa, a counselor from Children of Uganda, went to the home of Teddy and her mother. In an hour’s dialogue, the counselor and teddy’s mother discussed issues like……………… (Mention some of the issues that were discuss). After speaking with the mother, Mr. Mpesebwa spoke to Teddy, emphasizing and highlighting the importance of education, but also advised that doing house work is equally important so should be balanced with school work.
It is no doubt that Mr. Mpesebwa’s visit was fruitful and had quite an impact on Teddy’s mother’s perception of the right to education and Teddy’s educational needs as according to teddy, her mother changed for the better. (Quote Teddy: “Two days later, my mother told me that I would start using evening time for revising my books and work on mats during weekends.” This is a clear indication that Teddy’s mother understood the value of education; much as weaving mats was crucial for the family’s income, she realized that education was equally important. She hence gave her daughter a chance to balance the two tasks.
Teacher's flower

Therefore the above story indicates that IDF funded COU has played a major role of promoting children’s rights and ensuring that children are not turned into labourers in the name of income creation. Teddy has obviously benefited from this project as she is very optimistic that she will pass her PLE and no doubt have a chance at higher education.