Africa-Press – Uganda. On July 21, Janet Museveni, the minister of Education and Sports delivered the closing remarks for the Global Education Summit side event, “Joining Forces to End Violence in and through Schools.” Co-hosted by the governments of Kenya and the United Kingdom, the event brought together senior representatives from government, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (GPeVAC), and leading global education advocates to discuss how we can work together to end the violence that undermines education and ensures every child is safe to learn.
On July 22, African leaders held another meeting, the African Conference on Violence against Children, under the theme: “Towards an Africa free from violence against children”. Leaders from several African countries encouraged education decision-makers to prioritise the prevention of violence against children in schools.
The government of Uganda should be commended for the great strides made in this regard: Article 34 of Uganda’s Constitution provides for protection of children from abuse, and the recently passed child policy and the 2016 Children Amendment Act protects children from all forms of violence. But is Uganda “walking the talk” on ending violence in schools?
The minister wisely noted that “violence is not educative…it is destructive.” Indeed, the past 18 months of school closures have been destructive, as police and other media reports have indicated skyrocketing cases of violence against children during the lockdown. But as the country opens conversations on schools reopening, what can we do to ensure that children do not face violence as they return to school?
In violence-free schools, teachers adapt creative teaching methods to ensure that learners understand their lesson, they never use a stick to intimidate children but instead support them to be their best. This type of learning recognises the contribution of all stakeholders including parents, teachers, and the learners. The children have a high stake in their learning under the guidance of the adults.
As our children navigate their learning both at home and in schools, small actions can contribute to this movement of creating violence-free learning spaces:
• Awareness raising activities should highlight the impact of the added stress of lockdown on increased rates of violence. Parents should be encouraged to use non-violent means of disciplining their children. •Hold appropriate agencies accountable against the frameworks and plans that were spelled out to ensure child protection during the Covid-19 period. •The school community should deliberately work towards transforming the operational culture of the schools to nonviolent ones.•Teachers can use creative methods of teaching children that allow for child participation, inspire imagination of learners, improves on teacher-learner relationships, and supports their mental wellbeing.•Headteachers can ensure they put in place child- friendly policies that provide for the safety of children, these can be policies against bullying, sexual violence, corporal punishment, among others.•School administrators need to embrace the culture of positive discipline for instilling good behaviour in learners.•School administrators need to encourage child participation by creating avenues for them to raise their voices and have input in matters that affect them directly.•Parents and community members should engage in school activities and hold schools accountable against policies, values, and standard they set out to achieve.•Ensure expeditious reporting, tracking, referral, and response (RTRR) of all VAC cases.
Ms Hope Wambi works with Raising Voices
