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EDUCATION
AND TRAINING:
ACCESS TO EDUCATION:
Street children like all children in Uganda, have the right to
education ( refer to the constitution of the republic of
Uganda, 1995, and The Children Statute , 1996). Education is
essential, particularly for street children, in order to
develop to their potential and improve in their social
economic conditions.
Primary education has often been quoted as one of the major
strategies used to prevent children from coming to streets,
and for re-integrating street children after they have been
resettled. All efforts must be taken by both Government,
concerned people, youths and parents, to ensure children go to
school and to help children continue their education, at least
up to the end of primary school. Efforts must be focused on
finding solutions for the underlying problems causing school
drop outs. There are different reasons why children are not
attending school such as Poverty, where the family cannot
afford to pay school fees and/ or other expenses such as
informs, school meals, scholastic materials, Poverty and other
circumstances, where children and adolescents are forced to
work instead of attending school ( supporting themselves or
supplementing the family income), Child-headed households,
where children and adolescents, especially girls, have
responsibility for younger children, Children having negative
experiences form school e.g. because of violence and
punishment or receiving abstract lessons which have no
connection with their daily life, Long absence form school.
FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL EDUCATION:
All efforts must first be undertaken to access, retain and
integrate as many children as possible in the formal education
system. Under the UPE programme, the government of
Uganda provides school fee support for four children in each
family. These four children are to be gender balanced to
provide equal opportunity, i.e. two girls and tow boys. For
many street children, access to Universal Primary Education (UPE)
is
difficult because registration requires parental assistance.
As a supplement, non formal education concepts can be applied
as an alternative for those who cannot be reintegrated into
the formal system. Non- formal education should be considered
for adolescents. Very young disadvantaged children must be
supported by the UPE programme or the parents and well
wishers. Both formal and non-formal basic education addresses
learning tools like reading, writing and numeracy, and
different domains e.g. knowledge, norms, and life skills.
Street children are not a homogenous group, therefore
non-formal education has advantages due to its freedom and
flexibility in designing programmes. This flexibility makes it
possible to adjust the learning / teaching programmes and to
tailor a training course specifically to the background and
needs of each individual child. it is very important to use a
child-centered teaching approach for street children, since
they have different backgrounds and many of them lack basic
skills.
When organizing the non-formal education for the street
children it is important to consider for each individual if
the learning programme should be full-time or part-time. Many
street children will only be able to participate part- time in
education and training due to their need of also having
sufficient time to make a living fending for themselves or
even for family members. Alternatively the child must be
provided with basic facilities e.g. food and clothes. Care
must be taken to avoid long term dependency.
TYPES OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
Education and training programmes can be divided into three
main types or levels:
Basic education which includes learning skills
such as reading, writing and numeracy as well practical and
life skills.
Vocational oriented
training which provides work skills required for an
occupation. The "Education for the street child project" shall
center on this by equipping former street children with
computer skills.
Entrepreneurial training which provides
knowledge of business, management, commerce, finance etc.
All three types of training can be organized as both formal
and
non-formal education. For every young children, including
young street children and resettled children, basic education
will be the primary form of education. These children should
be included, as much as possible, in the formal education
system supported by the project members, well
wishers or any organization.
For youths and adolescents, it is important to focus on work
skills training that can lead to income generating activities,
in addition to basic education. For this age group, non-formal
education and training could have an advantage, since
individualized training, tailored to specific individual
needs, is more essential.
Practical skills in formal education.
The school curriculum is most applicable when oriented as much
as possible towards the learning needs of the pupils (child
-centered). The ministry of Education and sports is in the
process of revising the national curriculum to integrate
practical and life skills into education.
The orientation of the primary school curriculum towards more
practical contents and the life environment of the learners
could help to ensure that skills learned in schools are more
relevant to the student's daily life. This orientation towards
more practical content s might have the potential to improve
the daily lives of young people in rural areas and result in a
decline in the present trend of the rural-urban migration.
5.LIFE SKILLS TRAINING:
Life skills include personal and social competencies needed by
every individual to function confidently and competently by
themselves and with other people. These competencies allow
them to be effective , active and constructive in society ,
e.g. coping with emotions ,stress and difficulties
,communication , planning decision making and problem solving.
Due to the lack of parental guidance and adult supervision in
their lives , life skills training becomes an important part
of work with street children.
In considering life skills, the learner is looked at in a
holistic manner, i.e. a variety of social and basic
educational aspects should be included in the learning
.cognitive and emotional need (e.g. self esteem ), behaviors
nom , social and sexual relations, health matters including
reproductive health, basic skills in reading, writing and
arithmetic (important for vacation skills) should be
considered for the training. However, the training should be
tailored as much as possible specifically
to street children.
NON FORMAL BASIC EDUCATION.
Children who have dropped out of school and can't be
re-integrated into the formal education system, need to be
initiated into appropriate learning alternatives, e.g.
Non- Examinable training courses providing basis skills
(literacy, numeracy and life skills classes outside school).
Non- formal examinable education for specific target groups,
such as "complimentary opportunities for primary education"
(COPE) of UNICEF, The target group for non-basis education is
out of school children and adult illiteracy. The objective for
the children is to provide the first stepping stone back into
formal education or: if that is not possible, to give a child
useful skills for the future life and raise of their self
esteem.
Many street children have either been out of school for a
longtime, have never been in school, or have had negative
experience from formal school lessons. For these children, a
learning group must first be initiated to accommodate their
therapeutic learning needs ( learning how and why to learn).
instead of formal school lessons, a learner centered method
should be applied. Practical activities wit ha high degree of
child participation can be used full method ("learning by
doing") as an alternative to the often used "talk and chalk"
method.
The learning method," generative topics" may be suitable. The
learners themselves determine the contents of the lesson. The
teachers serve as a catalyst who helps the learners to expose
their knowledge and experience. This knowledge forms the basis
" topic", which serves to generate broader knowledge, target
with other learner' knowledge and teachers'. This teaching
method is based on dialogue between teacher
and learner. The teacher is first of all a good listener and
learns
him/herself form the learners. Good communication skills are
essential for this type of learning experience. Since this
method demands an active role for the learner, it may be most
applicable for children who have first gained some basic
skills and have established some level of stability and
structure in their daily lives.
The "teachers" for such alternative education need to be well
trained, especially for those working with street children.
Their function is quite different from the educational role of
the teacher. They are instead, facilitators for the learning
process.
7.VOCATION ORIENTED TRAINING OR ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING a
major problem for street children is lack of income generating
skills
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