Education
The Woman MP for Ngora district, Jacqueline Amongin, has entered into a partnership with Vision Group to promote education in her district.
Under the partnership, Vision Group through, the Newspapers in Education (NIE) project, will supply newspapers to 58 primary schools in the district for one year.
New Vision and Etop newspapers will be used as instruction materials by the schools.
Amongin is the founder of the Jacquiline Amongin Educational Foundation which is working with the Vision Group under the project.
The agreement was yesterday signed at the Vision Group boardroom in Kampala.
Robert Kabushenga, the managing director of Vision Group, signed on behalf of the company. Present was Ben Opolot, the managing editor of English newspapers at Vision Group.
Amongin, also Uganda’s representative to the Pan-African Parliament, said she wanted to motivate boys and girls to be in school.
“The girls are normally taken off for marriage when they should be in school. Even when they go to school, some are defiled along the way. The foundation is intended to support and protect the girl child,” Amongin said.
According to the World Association of Newspapers, schools that have been getting newspapers have high enrolment rates and retention of pupils because children always look forward to reading newspapers.
Amongin said the drop-out rates for girls in UPE schools was high and that a lot of support is required from the community, teachers and parents to keep them in school.
Kabushenga commended Amongin for the role she was playing in taking newspapers to people. “This is good because it is taking newspapers to people who cannot afford them. We shall ensure the project succeeds.”
NIE is a project that promotes reading and critical thinking. This is the second MP after Bernard Atiku of Ayivu County in Arua district, to sign an agreement to promote quality education in their constituency. Primary schools in Ayivu County have been getting copies of the New Vision since last year.
Etop newspaper has past PLE papers so it will enable pupils in Ngora to compete with those in Kampala schools.