As in many other countries, most Ugandan education focuses on academic achievement leaving those students who do not excel in class work with limited opportunities to explore other talents.
These young people often drop out of the education system without any skills for the future and become unproductive in their communities.
In Bwindi, they do not see the value of the National Park and the tourism it provides to the local community and can be a danger to the wildlife through poaching, encroachment and setting fires.
The owners and directors of the Bwindi Community Vocational College (BCVC), Mr Agaba Adams and Mrs Twongyeirwe Mwajuma Adams, conducted research into the causes of student dropouts and found these to be:
- Lack of packed lunch to eat at school
- Sickness
- School-related issues (such as corporal punishment, buttering)
- Early pregnancy/marriages
- Lack of school fees – education in Uganda is not completely free of charge
- Walking for very long distances to and from school.
There was no vocational training institute within the sub-counties of Kanyantorogo, Kayonza and Mpungu. A high percentage of students, particularly from disadvantaged families, Batwa (Pygmies) and the disabled, drop out of school which leads to an unproductive community. We wanted to change that.
In considering how poverty could be eradicated and development achieved, we started BCVC in 2012 by renting a house and offering a single course in Information Communications and Technology (ICT) to 30 students. Today, we offer six courses at both certificate and diploma levels.
The long-term objectives of our College are to:
- allow continuity of education for students who drop out (no matter the education level) and for adults who never attained education to acquire new skills
- ensure the education needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programs
- ensure marginalised groups, particularly girls, the disabled, pygmies and ethnic minorities, have access to and complete life skills education that leads to self-reliant jobs
- solve unemployment by creating job makers, not simply job seekers
- reduce illiteracy levels by including adult education in their programs.
