Advancement of Education

Advancement of Education in support for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Uganda

Set Them Free International implements the following activities with a strategy to increase the enrollment of children in universal educational schools; make their stay more comfortable at school and to ensure improved quality education services accessed by learners.

1. Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children with access to Education through Child Sponsorship by linking sponsors with children in disadvantaged communities.

This project is aimed at supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children with access to Education through child sponsorship programmes. Education for a child is the foundation to progress, but it is often interrupted by extreme poverty, conflict and other crises. As a result, individuals and their communities often can't reach their full potential.  Most young boys and girls have dropped out of school due to inability to access school fees and scholastic materials. This leaves them in a worrying state.

Nevertheless, Set Them Free International seeks to empower young men and women to ensure that they obtain a better future which will be achieved by providing to orphans and vulnerable children school fees support and basic scholastic materials like pens, books, uniforms, pencils, colors, sets, etc through sponsorship to enable them access education in various schools. Below are Photos of children supported by Set Them Free in Uganda:

Children registered for sponsorship in Busukuma Subcounty, Wakiso District	Children provided with scholarstic materials books and pencils to facilitate their  learning	Orphaned children supported at Hope Nursery and Primary School	Provision for library reading materials to schools has enabled children to read

2. Promoting sustainable self-reliant schools through provision of material support to disadvantaged schools particularly in remote communities.

This project is aimed at promoting sustainable self-reliant schools through provision for reading text books, teaching materials, school furniture (desks and chalk boards) and construction of pit-latrinesto disadvantaged remote primary schools. The major challenge and root cause of poor education in developing countries is due to the persistent disparities such as poor access to school facilities such as reading text books; less availability of teaching aids; few classroom furniture; incomplete infrastructures with muddy floors; inadequate first-aid basics; no uniform characteristics and the poor general education attainment.

Incomplete Classrooms in Wakiso	Incomplete School Structure in Wakiso	Children Studying under trees in Wakiso

Another cause hindering education attainment in most developing countries is the plight of orphans and vulnerable children and girl-child dropping out of school linked to high levels of poverty, longtime sickness and HIV/AIDS among families in rural areas, so this has led to the inability of parents and guardians to fully support their children to access education. Despite the fact that there is free primary education under Mellinium Development Goal 2, pupils at schools are still expected to pay for meals, uniforms, scholastic items such as books, academic trips, and sometimes contribute a subsidized school fee for maintenance, hence leading to the poor parents failing to send their children to school.

Failing to invest in these disadvantaged primary schools has long term consequences to a healthy population and a secure future human resource. This project approach is  based  on  the  concept  of  article  26  of  the  Universal Declaration of  the Human  Rights subsection 1; Everyone has a right to Education. Set Them Free International will target mainly poor remote primary schools in its areas of operation (i.e. Uganda). And it will work to promote access to school facilities and well-equipped libraries in these schools. These initiatives will go along way in training teachers and librarians on how to efficiently run and develop their institutions potential. The project will introduce a number of innovations on the basic sustainable self-reliant schools and development approach. It will take a new more coordinated approach by working in partnership with the government, donors and non-government service providers and through district education boards, and the sub-county coordination committees. Once established and institutionalized, these schools after implementation of the project will be well equipped as well as have a comfortable environment favouring education for the pupils and it will lead to improved and quality education services accessed by the poor orphans and vulnerable children, the girl-child, children in special circumstances among others.