By Benedict Mukoni,……………
School Administrators and their senior women teachers from the 16 targeted Bakhita Partnership for Education (BPE) Schools in Uganda, convoked a four days empowerment workshop at the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU) Secretariat from 12 – 15, 2024.
BPE is a program under the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU) in partnership with the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network of Africa (JENA). It aims at ensuring 100 percent retention and improvement of access and quality of education for girls in the targeted countries and schools.
The workshop was conducted under the theme “Conducting school-based workshop on leadership development, like skills and gender-responsive methodologies for personal formation and school change culture.”
According to the national coordinator, BPE, Sr. Scovia Kiconco MMS, the head teachers and senior women teachers were invited because they are responsible for journeying with the 20 students who are supported by the program in each of the 16 targeted schools. “We want the 16 targeted schools to be equipped with leadership skills and other skills to continue supporting girl child education.”
The two facilitators; Sr. Specioza Kabahuma, DST who is the former BPE coordinator and Mr. Vincent Freedom Kaheeru, the National Director of Profiles International, Uganda facilitated the participants with the following leadership skills; communication skills, public speaking, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, organizational and personal administration, gender-mainstreaming, safeguarding and protection, resource management, delegation and empowerment and stakeholder engagement.
The participants will share the knowledge and skills they have gained with their fellow teachers and the community which they represent. This is because BPE students come from the community and therefore, they need to be aware of the skills in order to support the girl child education. This will be done in their respective targeted schools.
The overall objective of the programme is to ensure 100 percent retention and improvement of access and quality of education for girls in the targeted countries and schools. The Bakhita Partnership for Education works to ensure that every girl child receives quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest and the most vulnerable in these countries.
