JICA Monthly Report Dec 2021
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| FGD with girls at Kasaana primary school in Mubende |
Data collection Exercise from the three Districts for Baseline Survey
n Wakiso 29th, 30th November and 1st
December 2021
n Butambala 28th, 29th,30th November
and 1st December
n Mubende 2nd to 3rd December 2021
<Progress>
Baseline data was
collected from the respective schools, government officials and the school
community members namely members on school management committee and parents and
teachers’ association. This included an online questionnaire administered to
153 girls from the different schools, Focus Group discussions (FGDs) with the
students both boys and girls, and the school community members, Key informant Interviews
(KIIs) with the students, leaders, School Management Committee members and the
government officials in each district. Observation checklists were also used to
collect baseline data on the current situation of the water, sanitation,
hygiene (WASH) facility of all of the selected schools. The facilities
included; the toilets, washrooms, changing rooms and the water sources. School
enrollment checklists were also used to find out the enrollment of girls as compared to
boys and establish if there are any girls' dropouts related to menstruation.
The survey findings were put together and quantitative data was analyzed using
STATA in order to relate with the findings from the qualitative data. A draft
report was finalized and submitted to GBN.
In Mubende; KIIs
were conducted with the district Inspector of schools, head teachers of studied
schools and chairpersons school management committee.
Children Focus Group Discussions were
conducted in Kasasa, and Kasaana primary school, and online questionnaire and
Key Informant Interviews were conducted in the following primary schools;
Kasana, Christ the King, Ikula, Kasasa, CAWODISA.
FGDs
were conducted in Kiwala and Nkokoma primary school, and online survey and KIIs
were conducted in the following schools; Kiwala, Nkokoma, Kitagobwa, Lwamasaka
and Ntolomwe.
In Wakiso; KIIs with Municipal education officer, Assistant municipal education officer, head teachers of the schools under study and the respective members of the school management committees were conducted.
FGDs were conducted in Maganjo UMEA and
Ssanga primary schools and online survey and KIIs in Jinja Karoli, Maganjo,
Ssanga, Kitungwa and Lwadda Primary Schools.
<Positive influences/ Changes>
In
Mubende, the Head teachers of the respective
schools would mobilize their staff and the students as well which made the
exercise easy to conduct. In addition, the district officials were positive
about participating in the survey and gave the necessary support that the team
needed.
In
Butambala, communication from the District
Education Officer to the school head teachers made mobilization of students,
school management committee and community members much easier.
In
Wakiso, the head teachers of all the schools
welcomed us and even those that had experienced a similar project with Save the
children loved the fact that they were to receive a sewing machine in case the
project commenced in their schools which they didn’t have. The Head teachers
were supportive and the government officials as they were willing to
participate and guide the team accordingly which made it easy for the project
team to have access to the required information.
The
project was welcomed in all the three districts of Mubende Waksio and Butambala
with high hopes of bringing positive changes to girls stay in schools. It was
noted that it would support schools that had bigger enrolment as well as those
that lacked support from other donors.
<Problems / Challenges>
Ø The school enrollment information which would be used to complete
the checklist was not readily available at the time of data collection in some
of the schools and the team would call back to be given such information on the
agreed dates.
Ø Mobilizing teachers was challenging since the schools were closed
due to COVID-19 lockdown. Many of the teachers had relocated during the school
closure period seeking for income generating opportunities for survival. We
however coordinated with the Head Teachers who called the teachers on scheduled
times of visits.
Ø COVID-19 was one of the challenges but this was addressed by making
sure members observed standard operating procedures. The use of Sanitizers,
face masks and avoiding crowds were emphasized in all the three districts.
<Lessons Learnt>
Ø It was discovered that all schools that were visited did not have incinerators.
Thus, girls who used disposable sanitary pads thrown away the used sanitary
pads in the toilets. Such used pads piled up inside of the toilets and it is
necessary to make the processes of taking out the pads from the toilets and this
would call for an extra fee.
Ø Some teachers were not aware that menstruation was one of the
contributing factors to absenteeism by girls. In most cases the girl will not
openly state that she missed school because of menstruation due to stigma
associated with it and at times girls would be subjected to beating for dodging
class in case they failed to present the medical receipts from the health personnel.
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| Meeting and KII with Ngando Subcounty SAS in Butambala |
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| KII meeting with the headmaster of Bule Primary school in Bulo Subcounty in Butambala |
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| FGD with girls of Kiwala UMEA Primary School in Butambala |
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| FGD with boys at Kasasa primary school In Mubende |
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| FGD with Girls at Ikula Primary School in Kigando subcounty - Mubende |
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| Conducting key informant interviews with Head teacher Sssanga primary schools -Gombe division Wakiso district. |
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| Focus group discussion with girls Magonjo UMEA -Nabweru division -Wakiso district. |
Mrs. Mariam, the Senior Assitant
Secretarry - of Ngando sub county
Mr Idris Walugembe, the town clerk Gombe town council
“There is need for a mind shift about MHM among the males in the community. This can easily be achieved by engaging the religious leaders who have a voice that can be respected, MHM issues require mind shift from all stakeholders especially in this Muslim community. You need local leaders and religious leaders all on board. Otherwise, you are welcome to work with us"
Head teacher Maganjo UMEA - Nabweru Division -Wakiso district.
“I’m happy that this has come in time when schools are soon opening and that it will address the Water and sanitation needs that are being emphasized by government in this COVID-19 prevention period” (key informant interviews)
