![[Uganda] Karamojong children at Nakapiripirit primary school in northeastern Uganda. [Date picture taken: June 2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/2006740.jpg.webp?itok=GORRiMi4 "The students cannot afford to pay school fees.")
Alice Oryem Akabo, headmistress of Atanga girls school, is in a quandary - she wants the 228 girls in her school to get an education but has no money to run the facility.
"I have to run the school," she said. "I need these students to pay school fees of about 45,000 Uganda shillings [US $25] a term. But if you send them away to collect the money, they may not return because their parents have no money." The school, near Atanga internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camp in the northern Pader District, comprises two blocks, built by an Italian NGO.
Richard Onen, the deputy headmaster of Laroo boarding school in neighbouring Gulu District, has similar problems. "We have 673 children but have not received any funding from government since the school was opened in July," Onen said, adding that none of the children is expected to pay fees because the school is a vocational institution.
Made up of modern structures built in a joint venture between Belgium and Uganda, Laroo school is a beautiful facility, offering vocational training and accelerated learning for children in a region ravaged by 20 years of war.
Most of the pupils at Laroo were born in captivity, are former abductees, lost their parents in the war, are child mothers or have returned from captivity while pregnant.
There are 96 staff members at Laroo, but only 30 are on the government payroll. "It is not known how the rest will be paid unless something is done soon," Onen said.
Kony's son's school
For the children at Laroo, it is all confusing. "We are running the school with no money at all," Onen said as some of the children looked on, unsure what it all means. "Government has kept on promising [to help us]."
The children include Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony's seven-year-old son, Francis Ocan. Behind their seemingly innocent faces are stories of war and gruesome memories of atrocities committed in a conflict that has targeted children to fight or provide sexual gratification to rebel commanders.
While the children try to put the past behind them and learn vocational skills, the memories remain. "Before I was abducted, both my parents had been killed. My father was killed by the rebels while my mother was killed by the government soldiers at his home in Pabbo," said Phillip Ojok, 17, who was abducted in 1998 and spent three years as a rebel fighter.
"Now, I want to change my life after completing my course as a block layer," he added.
Other children, who had either been rebel fighters or wives to rebel commanders, told IRIN that they hoped the peace talks in Juba, southern Sudan, would succeed in closing a chapter in their lives they were struggling to forget.
"I hope the talks are successful because we have suffered enough," Robert Owili, who does not know his age, said. "We were made to commit many atrocities like torturing people and looting at night. I need to change my life. After learning to be a driver and a mechanic, I want to be able to fend for myself," he added.
Sarah Acora, 17, and Agnes Apio, 18, are mothers who hope the skills they are learning will enable them to be self-sufficient and to fend for their children, whose fathers were rebel commanders killed in the bush during battles with the government army.
"I don't know what my future will be because I failed to get basic education, though I always dreamt of being a health official and helping people in our community," Sarah said.
For Onen, the children's dreams are music to his ears - but only if they can successfully complete their courses. "The teaching staff lack tools for lessons," he says.
Promises of money
At a recent meeting at Atanga, the parents promised to pay up. But Akabo doubts they can fulfill the promise. "I know very few people here can afford the fees," she said. "At the moment only 57 school girls have paid the fees - and they were sponsored by some embassies," referring to foreign missions in Uganda that sponsor 56 students.
The students do not have enough desks and many sit on mats during lessons. Of the 15 teachers, only five are paid by the central government. The rest are meant to be paid a monthly salary of 50,000 Uganda shillings ($27)] from the fees collected - if the students pay up. The salary is much less than the 400,000 shillings ($220) that central government pays secondary school teachers.
Living in an IDP camp, the parents have no source of income, said Akabo. Their sources of livelihood have been completely destroyed - especially in Pader District, the worst affected by the 20-year war between the Ugandan army and the LRA.
"I fear the situation here might have a negative impact on the future of the children," said Akabo.
Across northern Uganda, the war has forced 80 percent of the population to flee their homes and live in camps. It has also disrupted government programmes to boost education.
"What the population needs most is peace and they want us to put in place basic facilities like schools and medical centres, but we are at a point where we cannot afford any development project in the district," Gulu district Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Langoya Otto, said.
"Our local sources of revenue have all been destroyed by the war," he added. Atanga school, for example, had not been included in any district plan because Gulu could only raise 7.4 percent of its annual budget, he added.
vm/eo/mw
"I have to run the school," she said. "I need these students to pay school fees of about 45,000 Uganda shillings [US $25] a term. But if you send them away to collect the money, they may not return because their parents have no money." The school, near Atanga internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camp in the northern Pader District, comprises two blocks, built by an Italian NGO.
Richard Onen, the deputy headmaster of Laroo boarding school in neighbouring Gulu District, has similar problems. "We have 673 children but have not received any funding from government since the school was opened in July," Onen said, adding that none of the children is expected to pay fees because the school is a vocational institution.
Made up of modern structures built in a joint venture between Belgium and Uganda, Laroo school is a beautiful facility, offering vocational training and accelerated learning for children in a region ravaged by 20 years of war.
Most of the pupils at Laroo were born in captivity, are former abductees, lost their parents in the war, are child mothers or have returned from captivity while pregnant.
There are 96 staff members at Laroo, but only 30 are on the government payroll. "It is not known how the rest will be paid unless something is done soon," Onen said.
Kony's son's school
For the children at Laroo, it is all confusing. "We are running the school with no money at all," Onen said as some of the children looked on, unsure what it all means. "Government has kept on promising [to help us]."
The children include Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony's seven-year-old son, Francis Ocan. Behind their seemingly innocent faces are stories of war and gruesome memories of atrocities committed in a conflict that has targeted children to fight or provide sexual gratification to rebel commanders.
While the children try to put the past behind them and learn vocational skills, the memories remain. "Before I was abducted, both my parents had been killed. My father was killed by the rebels while my mother was killed by the government soldiers at his home in Pabbo," said Phillip Ojok, 17, who was abducted in 1998 and spent three years as a rebel fighter.
"Now, I want to change my life after completing my course as a block layer," he added.
Other children, who had either been rebel fighters or wives to rebel commanders, told IRIN that they hoped the peace talks in Juba, southern Sudan, would succeed in closing a chapter in their lives they were struggling to forget.
"I hope the talks are successful because we have suffered enough," Robert Owili, who does not know his age, said. "We were made to commit many atrocities like torturing people and looting at night. I need to change my life. After learning to be a driver and a mechanic, I want to be able to fend for myself," he added.
Sarah Acora, 17, and Agnes Apio, 18, are mothers who hope the skills they are learning will enable them to be self-sufficient and to fend for their children, whose fathers were rebel commanders killed in the bush during battles with the government army.
"I don't know what my future will be because I failed to get basic education, though I always dreamt of being a health official and helping people in our community," Sarah said.
For Onen, the children's dreams are music to his ears - but only if they can successfully complete their courses. "The teaching staff lack tools for lessons," he says.
Promises of money
At a recent meeting at Atanga, the parents promised to pay up. But Akabo doubts they can fulfill the promise. "I know very few people here can afford the fees," she said. "At the moment only 57 school girls have paid the fees - and they were sponsored by some embassies," referring to foreign missions in Uganda that sponsor 56 students.
The students do not have enough desks and many sit on mats during lessons. Of the 15 teachers, only five are paid by the central government. The rest are meant to be paid a monthly salary of 50,000 Uganda shillings ($27)] from the fees collected - if the students pay up. The salary is much less than the 400,000 shillings ($220) that central government pays secondary school teachers.
Living in an IDP camp, the parents have no source of income, said Akabo. Their sources of livelihood have been completely destroyed - especially in Pader District, the worst affected by the 20-year war between the Ugandan army and the LRA.
"I fear the situation here might have a negative impact on the future of the children," said Akabo.
Across northern Uganda, the war has forced 80 percent of the population to flee their homes and live in camps. It has also disrupted government programmes to boost education.
"What the population needs most is peace and they want us to put in place basic facilities like schools and medical centres, but we are at a point where we cannot afford any development project in the district," Gulu district Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Langoya Otto, said.
"Our local sources of revenue have all been destroyed by the war," he added. Atanga school, for example, had not been included in any district plan because Gulu could only raise 7.4 percent of its annual budget, he added.
vm/eo/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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