JET Vocational and Secondary Education Report
Visit to Jinja July 2015
It was wonderful to be back in Jinja and to visit the various projects again to see how everyone was
getting on. It is a privilege to now be a Trustee and to report back. It was also great to see Dave, Emma
and Nelly again.
Mutai
We made two visits to Mutai, one to observe lessons and the second concerning the audit. We seem to
be ahead of things here as Emma the head teacher told us that very soon the government is to insist
that all schools offer vocational subjects.
Unfortunately I was not able to observe a Tailoring lesson as the teacher had been called away on family
business. According to Dave and Emma he is excellent and has made a very good start to the subject
here, he is very knowledgeable about the subject and open to ideas from us. The pupils all seem to like
him and have made a very good start to their learning.
On our first visit the room was open – which was very good as they are often locked up, and some
students were using the tables. The assistant teacher showed us round, she is also the Librarian and the
Hair and Beauty teacher. Some finished work was displayed around the room which looked of good
quality, especially considering the short time the subject had been up and running. They had been
making children’s clothes, samples of shirts, dresses, blouses, skirts and shorts.
There were several a homemade posters around the room, covering Rules of the Room (which i might
have ordered slightly differently!), Small Equipment, The Sewing Machine
The sewing machines all looked in good condition, and there were two large high cutting out tables. The
cupboard was very well organised and is kept locked unless a teacher is in the room, they are quite well
equipped although could do with more tape measures as she wants them to be able to measure
themselves ready to start making clothes to fit. Dave said that these are easily available in Jinja; they
also don’t have much fabric so we bought some to take in on our second visit. She also mentioned a few
other things such as interfacing, pattern paper etc which is not readily available which I will price up now
we are home.
During our visit there were three adult learners in the room, showing that it is being used by those
outside school. It would be good to know how often this happens and how much they are paying; ideally
we would eventually like the vocational subjects to be self funding.
As mentioned above the assistant tailoring teacher also teaches Hair and Beauty, this subject had been
added by Emma the head teacher without funding from us. She had a longer list of equipment needed
for this subject, most of which Dave said is readily available in Jinja and Nelly will talk to her hair dresser
friend. This is a subject that is also open to people outside the school and should eventually be self
funding. The equipment they do have is stored with the Science equipment and one of the science
rooms is used for teaching. Dave’s parents and sister are all Physics teachers and they were looking at
the Science provision for us.
The constructions area looks good, they have been learning how to make bricks and build with them.
There is a blackboard on the outside wall of the adjoining classroom which is put to good use both for
teaching and as a notice board!
Agriculture is also well underway, although I am not entirely sure how much student input there is at
present. Once the cows give birth the idea is to get more students involved learning about feeding and
raising the calves. They could also be helping with the crops and perhaps learning how to prepare and
cook them.
Sally and I also met the Art teacher, as Sally had some paints and brushes to give out that had been
donated. He was extremely pleased as so far most of the Art teaching is theory or just using pencil. We
explained that more paints were on the way on the container and asked if there was anything else he
needed. Larger paper and more brushes were purchased which we took in on our second visit.
The second visit was mainly taken up with the audit meeting which will be mentioned in Sue’s report.
One point though was that if we had realised how much in debt they were we would have waited before
implementing the vocational subjects. Emma the head teacher needs to be more honest with us before
we agree to put in more subjects.
Sally, Karen and Bernie were also able to look round but none of us were really able to observe any
lessons. Bernie ended up taking a Maths lesson to show the Maths teacher new ways of teaching, but
he didn’t take full advantage of this.
Actions/Recommendations
Draw up lists of equipment needed for the Tailoring and Hair and Beauty courses. Items readily available
can be purchased when necessary – eventually these should be self funding.
I will sort out any resources I have at home and send on the container, books and posters etc.
Price up drafting paper, interfacing etc and see if it can be delivered before the container goes out
I took photos of the parts of the sewing machines and will try to make up resources with these, possibly
could be taken out on the next trip.
Dave is hoping to get HYT to help with the teaching and resourcing of construction.
Check on exactly how much student input is happening with the Agriculture course.
Check what Dave’s parents thought about the Science provision
Check new specifications of the Ugandan curriculum when the new changes are finally implemented.
Kakira Senior School
We were fortunate to be able to visit the Senior School at the Mahdvani Sugar factory; we had seen the
Nursery and Primary school but not the Senior one before. The teachers met with their respective
subjects and managed to observe lessons or talk. I met with the Art teacher, who showed me lots of
finished work. There is no specific Art Room, and all the work is kept in a draw in a cupboard shared with
PE staff. The subject is compulsory in S1 and then an option as are all vocational subjects; he seems to
have about 10 pupils in each year group S2 and above. It seemed a real shame that none of the excellent
work I saw was displayed around the school especially as most of the rooms and corridors were bare.
I think he was hoping that we would put in a good word for the subject with the school as he feels it is
sidelined by the more academic subjects. The results have been excellent and I was very impressed with
the work I saw.
Actions/Recommendations
It would be useful to see a lesson here to compare with Mutai. We could help with books and equipment
and suggestions on displaying work, they may well want to implement more vocational courses if it is
instructed by the government
Mama Jane
The Tailoring room is still being very well used and they had made more children’s clothes for us to buy.
They are continuing to improve and we donated some more fabric, the only thing I feel that would really
improve their work now is ironing at each stage of making, collars, hems etc needed pressing. Obviously
we need to consider electricity for this, perhaps something to think about for the future.
They are also still making the shopping bags with the donated sugar bags.
Mirembe
We were not able to see the Mirembe girls in situ and there was not much evidence of their work
available. They are still making the shopping bags with the sugar bags donated by the Mahdvani factory,
and I purchased some more fabric for them to continue with this.
Actions/Recommendations
Check out other items that could be made with the sugar bags such as iPad cases, to be sold at the
Mahdvani lodges. I need to make some samples and patterns.
Both these homes could start teaching food preparation and cooking so that the children can look after
themselves when they leave
The extra land owned by Mama Jane is supposed to be used for vocational courses. We can look into this
more thoroughly next time