Ugandan adolescents struggle with key life skills – report

A recent assessment of Ugandan adolescents has revealed that many struggle with key life skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, self-awareness and respect.

The three-day contextualized assessment, which began on May 3, has shown that a large number of adolescents are unable to complete tasks or recognize names.

While some respondents are able to identify a problem and come up with a possible solution, most cannot identify multiple approaches to problem-solving, assessors told this publication on Friday.

“Some of the adolescents, especially a few girls we assessed were a little shy, but when you interact with them further they get a little more comfortable and then open up,” Ms Mwajuma Mbabazi, an assessor, said.     

Mr Hassan Twaha, another assessor said: “In Oyam District, most adolescents are used to Lango names. For example, they did not know that Bahati was a person's name and thought it might be an animal.”

Ms Winifred Joy Okello, another assessor, said the adolescents from the Loro sub-county appeared uncomfortable answering many questions.

“When you ask them too much, many of the adolescents get tired, others get annoyed,” she said.

Mr Twaha said two adolescents they assessed from a child-headed household at Ateb ‘B’ Cell in Oyam Town Council took them by surprise. This family of three children is headed by a 17-year-old boy.

“After the assessment, the elder one told us that their father just disappeared and they always hear rumours that he is in Nwoya District, and it has taken three years. This means he (his father) disappeared when this boy was 14 years old. So, he has been looking after his two other siblings since their father and mother disappeared,” Mr Twaha added.

A total of 1,050 Ugandan adolescents are taking part in a new education assessment aimed to measure whether young East Africans are acquiring the necessary skills to navigate today's world.

The participants are aged between 13 and 17 and are from both in and out of school. They are selected from 75 enumeration areas in Oyam, Jinja and Kasese districts.

The assessment tool was developed by the Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) network under its Action for Life Skills and Values in East Africa (ALiVE) initiative.

Uganda is implementing a new lower secondary curriculum that is competency-based, designed to equip learners with the skills and values they need to face challenges with positivity and creativity.

Report indicates that these competencies are not only needed in the workplace but are also crucial to support academic achievements and promote the holistic development of individuals and society.

To facilitate this transformative process in the region, RELI launched the Assessment of Skills of Life Skills and Values in East Africa project in 2020. The project aims to develop a standard framework to measure skills, raise public awareness, and strengthen local capacities to assess and nurture life skills and values.