School age in Uganda?

[Guest]

.

[wthepoo]

Hi,

sorry, once again, to open a new thread (Henry, this time I even used the forum search first but could not find an answer elsewhere) but I stumbled upon this loan from Uganda:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=55582

"Milly Lwanga is the leader of a group of five women. She is 47 years old and is married with five children. Her children are ages 15, 20, 23, 25, and 27 years old, and are all in school. Milly lives in Lower Nsooba, which is a semi-urban slum on the outskirts of Kampala that is prone to flooding during the rainy season."

I am almost embarrassed to admit my ignorance... but just "almost"! Can someone more knowledgeable than myself tell me if that is normal for Uganda - and if so, why? I guess that it's unlikely that we are talking about university - at least not for all those children of 20+?! Are they enroled in school so late? Do they only have a couple of lessons a day - or is it something like professional or trade school/evening classes? Any ideas?

Thanks, and best wishes,
Wolfgang.

[Turtle]

I was curious about this one, too, when I read it on a few...and I think not just from Uganda. 

According to a survey of the Ugandan education system by the European Union, there are many stages of schooling:

Preschool
Primary Education
1st Cycle of Secondary Education (general education)
2nd Cycle of Secondary Education (vocational or technical education)
Technical colleges
Universities
Non-formal institutions (I presume these are much like undertaking an apprenticeship with the carpenter down the road??)

(http://www.uis.unesco.org/template/pdf/scb/StateReports/InformationAndMonitoringSheet/Uganda.pdf)

Wikipedia tells me that primary school lasts for 7 yrs, 1st cycle secondary for 4 yrs, 2nd cycle secondary for 2 yrs, & post-secondary education usually lasts 3 to 5 yrs.  Only around 40% of kids attend primary school, it's not too common to go on to secondary schooling, & upon secondary graduation, it can be very difficult to gain entry in to further education (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Uganda)

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1585/Uganda-EDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html:
Kids start primary school (not preschool) at age 6yrs - this quotes primary school attendance at about 80%, but agrees that not so many go on to secondary education (about 25%).  "Ugandan females are classified as a "disadvantaged" group, along with orphans, migrants, poor students, and the disabled", so enrollment of girls is somewhat less common, though increasing due to public policy & changing social attitudes.

Soooo....if a kid starts school at 6yrs, they should finish primary school by about 13yrs, 1st cycle secondary by 17yrs, 2nd cycle secondary by 19yrs, & will probably be done studying at the university or other higher level by age 22-25yrs.  I guess this gels pretty well with the Western education system??


As related to Kiva entrepreneurs....I guess it's possible that some of the children in their early-20s are still in school, but my guess is that when a write-up states that all children are in school, that this refers in fact to all children who are of school going age, rather than all of them.  This also fits with a couple of write-ups, I think from Uganda, that I've seen saying that the entrepreneur has children aged, for example, 1, 5, & 8yrs, & all are in school.  I always took this to mean that the 5 & 8yr olds are in school & the entrepreneur has the intention of sending the 1yr old to school when s/he is of age, too.

Sorry to ramble, hope this answers your question a bit!

Peace to you.

[wthepoo]

Sorry to ramble, hope this answers your question a bit!

Brilliantly, thank you very very much!!! Yes, it's pretty much like the European or at least the German system, so that's what I was basically assuming in the first place.

Your explanation probably is a good or even the best one - I could come up with no better, at least -, but it still leaves me wondering because it's so strange to say that "all children are in school" if only say 2 or 3 of 5 are. And I would also love to know so much more (especially if it's university/technical college for some of them).

But well, I guess we have to be happy with what they give us (often a lot of personal information, already); and if i joined a loan like this, I would probably ask in a comment for a clarification in a possible update (very nicely, of course).

Thanks again, good to know such things (I could not find it in Wikipedia [English or German] or the CIA Factbook).
Best wishes from Berlin,
Wolfgang.