This research was conducted in Luwero, a rural district in central Uganda, over a period of three years, half of which entailed fulltime engagement in a participatory action research process with VEDCO, an indigenous NGO. The study focuses on the educational processes involved in the translation of Uganda's environmental policy into action at community level. It looks at community-based education and development activities run by VEDCO among smallholder farmers. The study addressed four objectives. For the first objective I developed a conceptual framework through a review of theories informing education in general and environmental education, adult education, community education, and community development in particular. The second objective was to conduct a situational analysis to identify contextual issues related to policy implementation at community level. The third objective was to engage in a participatory action research process with the NGO in the farming community in response to the identified contextual issues, and the fourth was to explore and comment on environmental education methods used within a community context. PRA techniques, interviews, and other participatory data collection methods were used to generate the data. The study reveals contradictions that limit NGO capacity to make appropriate use of participatory education processes in implementing policy-related training at community level. Elements in the National Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture, for example, conflicted with the principle of sustainable development underlying the policy. VEDCO itself was changing from a social-welfare-oriented organisation into a commercial enterprise pursuing economic goals, which conflicted with its social goals. The capitalist development ideology of the donor was being adopted by VEDCO, which contradicted the goals of people-centred development. This was exacerbated by VEDCO's dependency on donor funds for its activities. Contextual issues like people's history; poverty, gender and inconsistent land policies further complicated the policy implementation processes. There were also inconsistencies in the epistemological assumptions and didactic approaches evident in the implementation. The study shows that the intended emancipatory education processes are more often supplanted by technicist methodologies. Thus, it exposes the underlying historical, ideological and epistemological tensions and contradictions within the field of education, particularly in relation to the `paradigmatic' orientations (neo-classical, liberal and socially critical/emancipatory) outlined in the literature. Conclusions are made at two levels: in relation to the study goals, of examining policy implementation at community level and in terms of the study's contribution to the understanding of current education theory in the context of sustainable development among communities.

This research study sought to understand “how the implementation of universal primary education (UPE) policy in Ugandan primary schools is managed”. Furthermore, in exploring the challenges faced as they relate to UPE planning and organising, the research sought to provide evidence-based solutions in form of recommendations to address the planning and organising challenges identified. Considering the above, in order to understand how the implementation of UPE policy in Ugandan primary schools is managed, as part of the methodological procedures, the research process adopted by the researcher followed a qualitative study approach using a case study research design (collective) as the research design or strategy, and constructivism (interpretivism) as the research paradigm. As part of the triangulation of data, a review of relevant literature was conducted in combination with semi-structured individual interviews and focus group discussions with the purposively selected UPE stakeholders responsible for the management and implementation of the UPE programme in Uganda. The participants included: UPE school principals (school or implementation level); UPE policy makers (Ministry of Education and Sports officials at national level), and district education officials and local government representatives (district level). Inductive thematic analysis was used for data analysis of this research. The main findings concerning the strength of the current UPE planning and organising framework, among others, were: UPE management and implementation is executed at the national, district and school levels and each UPE stakeholder has a role; UPE implementation management is decentralised and authority is delegated to local governments; and UPE management and implementation constitutes of guidelines and directives. On the other hand, the findings concerning the UPE planning and organising weaknesses (challenges), among others, were: inadequate financial resources in form of low UPE capitation grants; the misuse and misallocation of UPE funds; the lack of consultation and involvement of frontline UPE stakeholders and the civil society in the planning and formulation of UPE policies and the lack of qualifications and skills of the UPE stakeholders responsible for the management of the implementation of the UPE programme. Considering the research findings, under decentralisation, the top-down UPE management and implementation framework that constitutes the current UPE planning and organising framework, has failed to address key UPE management and implementation challenges especially at the school level. Therefore, based on empirical and literature review findings of this research study, the management of the implementation of the UPE programme in Uganda, although it has registered some successes, it is still constrained, faces both monetary and nonmonetary challenges and is, therefore, internally and externally inefficient. In this regard, in order to address the challenges, the researcher proposes recommendations for the national, district and school levels for consideration and adoption by the Ministry of Education and Sports in order to address the bottlenecks impeding the efficient management and implementation of the UPE programme in Ugandan primary schools. In determining the recommendations and what constitutes a successful UPE planning and organising framework, the researcher considered among other things, the participants’ suggestions, and trends or lessons from international best practices. / Educational Management and Leadership / D, Phil. (Education Management)

This study examines the current pastoralists' education situation in Uganda in the context of the education policy established, and non-formal education interventions being conducted among the Bahima and Karimojong pastroralists by both Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations, as an attempt to address the problems and issues of illiteracy and pastoral development. It is evident that education for pastoralists in Uganda creates a social consciousness with values, norms, knowledge and skills, which have a complex and dynamic relationship among the pastoralists. The problems of investigation in this research focus on information available on the functioning of pastoralism for effective provision of non-formal education programmes to the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists; and how effectively the providers of non-formal education programmes can integrate the nomadic livelihood in the provision of non-formal education The literature review has focused on the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists, but attempts have also been made to draw relevant lessons from other nomadic groups like Gypsies, travellers, and occupational travellers. The review has been intended to sharpen specific aspects related to pastoral and national education practices that can enable appropriate and strategic provision and implementation of non-formal education programmes to occur among the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists in their pastoral context. Qualitative research methods used in the study were fundamentally relevant and suited for locating the meaning that semi-nomadic Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists placed on events, processes and structures of their lives, their perceptions, assumptions, prejudgments, presumptions, and for connecting these meanings to the social world around them. Presentation and analysis of data is divided into three sections including a recast of the items in the interview schedules, a summary of the research findings presented on a conceptually clustered Matrix Sheet, and a presentation of the data analysis resulting form the data displayed on the Matrix Sheet. Recommendations of the study have been clustered under the following three thematic categories: · Relevance of non-formal education programmes to the Bahima and Karimojong pastoraslist, · Factors for implementation of non-formal education programmes, and · Strategies for implementation and sustenance of non-formal education programmes among the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists. / Educational Studies / MED (COMPARATIVE EDUCATION)

This study examines the current pastoralists' education situation in Uganda in the context of the education policy established, and non-formal education interventions being conducted among the Bahima and Karimojong pastroralists by both Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations, as an attempt to address the problems and issues of illiteracy and pastoral development. It is evident that education for pastoralists in Uganda creates a social consciousness with values, norms, knowledge and skills, which have a complex and dynamic relationship among the pastoralists. The problems of investigation in this research focus on information available on the functioning of pastoralism for effective provision of non-formal education programmes to the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists; and how effectively the providers of non-formal education programmes can integrate the nomadic livelihood in the provision of non-formal education The literature review has focused on the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists, but attempts have also been made to draw relevant lessons from other nomadic groups like Gypsies, travellers, and occupational travellers. The review has been intended to sharpen specific aspects related to pastoral and national education practices that can enable appropriate and strategic provision and implementation of non-formal education programmes to occur among the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists in their pastoral context. Qualitative research methods used in the study were fundamentally relevant and suited for locating the meaning that semi-nomadic Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists placed on events, processes and structures of their lives, their perceptions, assumptions, prejudgments, presumptions, and for connecting these meanings to the social world around them. Presentation and analysis of data is divided into three sections including a recast of the items in the interview schedules, a summary of the research findings presented on a conceptually clustered Matrix Sheet, and a presentation of the data analysis resulting form the data displayed on the Matrix Sheet. Recommendations of the study have been clustered under the following three thematic categories: · Relevance of non-formal education programmes to the Bahima and Karimojong pastoraslist, · Factors for implementation of non-formal education programmes, and · Strategies for implementation and sustenance of non-formal education programmes among the Bahima and Karimojong pastoralists. / Educational Studies / MED (COMPARATIVE EDUCATION)