Equipment and Resources:

As well as being economically evident, the differences between nursery classrooms in the UK versus Uganda are visually clear, even through the number of students. In the UK the size of nursery classes is often small and divided between rooms and teachers, whereas in Uganda the available space and staff are so meagre that classes are often overfilled. While schools having a large number of students is a very positive step it means that the school’s space and resources can be stretched very thin. In contrast, equipment like books are in abundance in the UK, and more can be brought in with very little difficulty. In Uganda, schools often only receive enough resources for the number of students through generous donations, as the government rarely fund enough to supply whole schools due to lack of available subsidy.

Appearance and Building:

Another difference is the appearance of the classrooms themselves. In the UK, in order to engage and enthuse the children, classrooms are often colourful and decorated with posters and other effective learning aids. While schools funded by Parenta Trust aim to make this a reality in Ugandan classrooms as well, not all schools are quite so fortunate. The differences even run as deeply as the buildings themselves, in that the materials and resources are simply not available in Uganda as they are in the UK to build classrooms to the high quality that would be expected here. The walls are often unpainted and the floors uncovered, which is the opposite of the comfortable, vibrant appearance of classrooms in the UK.

Despite all of this, Ugandan students and teachers simply feel privileged to be able to have access to education at all, no matter how humble their buildings and classrooms seem to us in the UK.

Would you like to find out about child sponsorship?

In fortunate countries like our own, schooling is regularly taken for granted, and the advantageousness of the fact that it is obligatory is almost overlooked altogether. In less fortunate countries than this, however, the dream of compulsory education is still far away from becoming reality. In countries like Uganda, as few as 17% of children are not part of youth employment. In many cases disadvantaged families simply do not have the money to pay for their children to go to school, particularly as the majority of Ugandan families have many more children than the UK average.

This is where sponsorship becomes invaluable to the young people of Uganda. Without a sponsor, it is very likely that the child would never have the opportunity of an education, which would severely hinder their prospects in later life. Without sponsorship and without schooling, children would likely be put to work in order to bring in an income for their family which, while it is a short-term help, is not a long-term solution to the enormous issue of poverty in Uganda and similarly underprivileged countries.

Sponsoring a child enables them to strive for more out of life than manual labour, or marrying and starting a family at a very young age. The gift of sponsorship is the gift of education, and this means that these children are able to set bigger and better goals for themselves, such as completing their education, moving on to university, and even getting a well-paying job in the future. Sponsoring a child opens a vast number of doors for them which would be otherwise closed, and kickstarts a real and genuine chance to change a child’s life, and the lives of their families, for the better.

Would you like to find out more about sponsoring a child through Parenta Trust?