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UCatchUp Amolatar and Kwania
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Challenge
In Uganda, many children complete the early grades of primary school without mastering reading and maths. To support these learners in catching up to grade-appropriate numeracy and literacy levels, VVOB partnered with the Ministry of Education and Sports in 2020 to embed the UCatchUp programme. This school-based, government-led remedial education model is based on the Teaching at the Right Level approach, where learners are grouped by their current learning level and are taught using play-based activities.
Since the programme’s start in 2020, UCatchUp has been implemented through Ugandan education systems, structures, government bodies and implementing partners such as Teaching at the Right Level Africa (TaRL Africa). Results show that learners in the western districts Isingiro and Kasese, and the northern districts Adjumani, Madi Okollo and Terego have been building their foundational numeracy and literacy skills through the programme. However, in the northern districts of Amolatar and Kwania, which were formerly not included in UCatchUp, the 2023 National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) found foundational learning outcomes of Primary Grade 3 (P3) to Primary Grade 5 (P5) learners to be below Uganda's national averages. Across Amolatar and Kwania, roughly one in three P3 learners (30.6% in Amolatar and 36.7% in Kwania) meets the expected numeracy proficiency level — meaning around two in three do not. For English literacy, the picture is more acute: fewer than one in five learners (7.8% in Amolatar and 19.8% in Kwania) meet the proficiency benchmark, compared with more than half (53.9%) nationally.
Goals
To improve the foundational literacy and numeracy skills of around 59,833 P3–P5 learners across 111 government and government-aided primary schools in Amolatar and Kwania districts through the implementation of UCatchUp. The project will strengthen the capacity of district and Primary Teachers’ Colleges, so that government systems progressively take over the responsibility for teacher support, mentoring and quality assurance.
Project Partners
- Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
- National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC)
- Loro Core Primary Teachers’ College
- Leb-Lango Language Board
- Teaching at the Right Level Africa (TaRL Africa)
Approach
For previous UCatchUp projects, VVOB has collaborated with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), and Teaching at the Right Level Africa (TaRL Africa) to contextualise the approach and develop standardised, approved teaching and learning support materials (TLSM). Under this project, VVOB will work with NCDC and the Leb-Lango Language Board to ensure that materials are translated into Leb-Lango, the predominant local language used for instruction in both districts.
- Mentoring remains a key component of UCatchUp and is important for classroom teacher morale. Two categories of mentors will be engaged: school-based mentors (111 Deputy Headteachers) and 29 external mentors (Coordinating Centre Tutors and Inspectors of Schools). These mentors will regularly observe UCatchUp sessions to provide feedback and advice to teachers.
- All headteachers of the 111 participating schools will be oriented on UCatchUp principles and on their role in planning, supporting and monitoring implementation of the model. Headteachers will also be briefed on mobilising School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs).
- 33 UCatchUp Master Trainers will be recruited from the Primary Teachers’ College and selected districts (including Inspectors of Schools, Coordinating Centre Tutors and Teacher Educators from the Primary Teachers’ College in Loro). These master trainers will be trained on the TaRL methodology, complete practice classes and will be responsible for giving UCatchUp training to other teachers and mentors. Teachers are trained in a cascading approach, where the master trainers equip primary school teachers of grades P3, P4 and P5, to deliver UCatchUp in their own classrooms. In schools with many learners per teacher, lower primary teachers (P1 and P2) are trained as well, so that UCatchUp classrooms stay a manageable size.
Loro Core Primary Teachers’ College is a key institutional partner of the project and supports quality assurance, mentor development and the integration of remediation approaches within government teacher professional development structures.
Learning and evidence
The project will also contribute to the existing evidence on cost-effective remedial education in Uganda. Implementation data, learner assessments and operational learning will be used to strengthen the UCatchUp model and inform decisions on how to institutionalise and scale up future projects through government systems.
By the end of the programme
- 816 teachers, mostly of grades P3 to P5, across all 111 government and government-aided primary schools in Amolatar and Kwania will have been trained and will have the knowledge, tools and mentoring support to deliver learner-centred, level-appropriate literacy and numeracy instruction through UCatchUp.
- District local governments, Coordinating Centre Tutors and Loro Core Primary Teachers’ College will have stronger capacity to sustain the main UCatchUp activities, so that the approach can become part of Uganda’s education system.
- At national level, MoES staff and departments (Teacher Education, Basic Education, Education Standards, National Curriculum Development Centre, Uganda National Examinations Board, Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education) will have been oriented on UCatchUp and engaged through field visits, working groups and evidence-sharing events, positioning them to institutionalise and scale the model nationally.