We need to embrace & support vocational training to reduce youth unemployment

Youth need to change their negative attitudes towards work & should embrace vocational training to reduce unemployment in the country. There is need for both development partners to be active on training that give the youth skills to start their own small & medium enterprises where they earn a living & increase their incomes at household level. 

These are words from Hon. Margret Mugisa Muhanga the member of parliament representing Burahya county in Kabarole district on 18^th February 2017 when she was hosted alongside Mr. Gusalire Benjamin a programs manager at Youth Encouragement Services (YES) a non government organization in Fort Portal during ToroDev’s supported radio program ‘Orukurato’ that is aired live every Saturday 8-10 pm on Hits Fm.

‘’Our children do not have interest in vocational training because parents dream of their children finishing university with a degree ready to look for white collar jobs. They should be encouraged to acquire these life time skills designed to offer training to improve individuals at all levels based on ones interest and also an important area in developing an individual & the economy since there are practical skills offered’’, said Hon. Margret Muhanga.

Hon. Margret Muhanga Mugisa Member of Parliament Burahya County

Hon. Margret Muhanga urged government to increase funding for existing  vocational institutions to support them raise their standards hence equipping children with knowledge & skills to start & run private enterprises and called upon parents to have positive thinking on vocational training to reduce the  unemployment ailment in the country.

‘’Vocational skills offers self employment among youths due to skills they gain from different vocational programs more especially in practical courses such as electrical engineering, fashion design, hairdressing, carpentry, tailoring, etc which help them to start their own enterprises hence being job creators rather than job seekers’’, said Benjamin

Meanwhile Rev.Kintu  willy Muhanga the  Mayor Fort Portal  Municipality has acknowledged that commitment and hard work of teachers & parents contributed much to the good performance of PLE which saw Fort Portal municipality emerging overall winner in the whole country. The mayor urged other leaders to shun from politics & get committed to work for the development of their communities citing an example of the education sector which needs team work and cooperation of all stakeholders.

Rev. Muhanga said these when he was hosted on 15^th February 2017 alongside division councilors; Enock Byakagaba Bazaar ward, Happy Julius  Rwengoma in west division & Stephen Ruyonga  Nyakagongo in East division to talk about the current education policy, whether it is relevant to the needs of Ugandans & challenges faced on  ToroDev’s supported ‘Manya ekiragiro Kyawe’ program that is aired live every Wednesday 8-10pm on KRC Fm.

Rev. Kintu Willy Muhanga Mayor Fort Portal Municipality

‘’As a municipality we have worked with  all stakeholders to supervise, monitor & hold regular meetings with heads of schools something that we boost of to have yielded results in the recent released PLE results, we call upon parents to fulfill their responsibilities especially supporting their children in their education needs to improve performance especially in the education sector’’, said Rev. Muhanga mayor Fort Portal Municipality.

‘’We have tried to support School Management Committees (SMC) & Parents Teachers Association Committees(PTA) in planning meetings & supervision as you can see the step we have taken as Fort Portal municipality topping the whole country in PLE results for 2016’’, said Stephen Ruyonga councilor representing Nyakagongo in East Division.

On the achievements for the municipality since he was elected in office, the mayor said Kabundaire- St.Paul-Kahungabunyonyi, Binanata - Kikongoro roads have been constructed, Kitumba & Rwengoma roads have been completed with first class murram. On the health sector he said through their lobbying, Kataraka health centre 111 has been supported with increased supply of drugs for our people to access health services and currently we are working in close coordination with the municipal water engineer to connect people of Kyegobe with safe and clean water.

‘’We have embarked on sensitizing people on the dangers of littering garbage in town and allocated a vehicle which collects garbage twice a week to improve on the hygiene & cleanliness  in the town’’, said Enock Byakagaba councilor representing Bazaar ward.

During the two hours live talk show on each radio station, listeners  participated & over 50 people called in & others sent sms;  ‘’we are facing shortage of water supply in some parts of the town, can the mayor explain the causes and the plans they have to rectify the problem?’’, said Edward Twinamasiko a caller from Rwengoma, ‘’our children are seriously affected in their education by the fact that they do not access lunch at school and others do not access parked lunch, can the leadership of  Fort Portal municipality plan with management committees in schools to see that every child accesses lunch while at school?’’, said Tonny Kalyegira a caller from Boma, ‘’we request the mayor to work hand in hand with his cabinet to initiate & complete projects that will bring development in our communities’’, said Gilbert a caller from Kataraka in Fort Portal municipality, ‘’ we expect the member of parliament to table a motion in support of vocational training for our children to acquire practical skills and become self supportive in her term of office’’, said Greg Musana a caller from Busoro Sub county in Kabarole district.

We take a great opportunity to thank SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA, radio stations & other partners for the continued cooperation to have these programs running.

Supervision, Monitoring & Coordination with School Management Committees & PTA yields results

Rev.Kintu  willy Muhanga the  Mayor Fort Portal  Municipality has acknowledged that monitoring, supervision & coordination of SMC's & PTA plus commitment and hard work of teachers & parents contributed much to the good performance of PLE which saw Fort Portal municipality emerging overall winner in the whole country. The mayor urged other leaders to shun from politics & get committed to work for the development of their communities citing an example of the education sector which needs team work and cooperation of all stakeholders.

Rev. Muhanga said these when he was hosted live alongside division councilors; Enock Byakagaba Bazaar ward, Happy Julius  Rwengoma in west division & Stephen Ruyonga  Nyakagongo in East division to talk about the current education policy, whether it is relevant to the needs of Ugandans & challenges faced on 15^th February 2017 during ToroDev supported ‘Manya ekiragiro Kyawe’ program that is aired live every Wednesday 8-10pm on KRC Fm.

‘’As municipality we have worked with  all stakeholders to supervise, monitor & hold regular meetings with heads of schools something that we boost of to have yielded results in the recent released PLE results, we call upon parents to fulfill their responsibilities especially supporting their children in their education needs to improve performance especially in the education sector’’, said Rev. Muhanga mayor Fort Portal Municipality.

‘’We have tried to support School Management Committees (SMC) & Parents Teachers Association Committees(PTA) in planning meetings & supervision as you can see the step we have taken as Fort Portal municipality topping the whole country in PLE results for 2016’’, said Stephen Ruyonga councilor representing Nyakagongo in East Division.

While talking about the achievements in the municipality Rev. Muhanga said Kabundaire- St.Paul-Kahungabunyonyi, Binanata & Kikongoro roads have been constructed, Kitumba & Rwengoma roads have been completed with first class murram. On the health sector  with our lobbying efforts, Kataraka health centre 111 has been supported with increased supply of drugs  for  our people to access health services and currently we are working in close coordination with the municipal water engineer to connect people of Kyegobe with safe and clean water.

‘’We have embarked on sensitizing people on the dangers of littering garbage in town and allocated a vehicle which collects garbage twice a week to improve on the hygiene & cleanliness  in the town’’, said Enock Byakagaba councilor representing Bazaar ward.

During the two hours live talk show  listeners  participated & about 30 people called in & others sent sms;  ‘’we are facing shortage of water supply in some parts of the town, can the mayor explain the causes and the plans they have to rectify the problem?’’, said Edward Twinamasiko a caller from Rwengoma, ‘’our children are seriously affected in their education by the fact that they do not access lunch at school and others do not access parked lunch, can the leadership of  Fort Portal municipality plan with management committees in schools to see that every child accesses lunch while at school?’’, said Tonny Kalyegira a caller from Boma, ‘’we request the mayor to work hand in hand with his cabinet to initiate & complete projects that will bring development in our communities’’, said Gilbert a caller from Kataraka in Fort Portal municipality.

We take a great opportunity to thank SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & other partners for the continued cooperation to have these programs running.

ToroDev's Impact story July-December 2016

One of ToroDev's Impact story for 2016

  

In 2016 ToroDev under ICT4Democracy in Eastern Africa, with support from SIDA-Swedish International Development Agency project directly engaged twenty two (22) leaders of Rwenzori Journalist Forum (RJF) and indirectly reached out to 781 members of RJF on their Facebook page to see how best the journalists can keep following up the pledges the newly elected duty bearers make whenever they come for the radio talkshows, as a result of this over 20 duty bearers pledges have been captured for future reference and follow up.

 More so, thirty (30)  duty bearers were engaged live on radio talkshows to present their work plans  and also to plan with  the local citizens  on how they will work together to improve service delivery in their respective areas.

Hon. Lawrence Akugizibwe, Member of Parliament representing  Mwenge North - Kyenjojo district  on Jubilee radio

The orientation and training of Sixty Four (64) newly elected district councillors from sampled Kabarole and Ntoroko districts was another milestone. It was done to enable them be more acquainted with their roles and responsibilities and how best they improve service delivery  advocacy using ICT  tools like social media, phones, Radios etc.  To ensure that there is improved standards of education especially in poor performing UPE schools; ToroDev in partnership with Kyenjojo district education department inducted 235 SMC & PTA members from 19 UPE Schools from Kyenjojo District. The capacity aimed at highlighting the roles and responsibilities of SMC’s & PTA members especially those who were serving their first term so that they can play their school management and oversight roles well to improve performance in their schools.  

Mr. Orono Francis Xavier Facilitating the District Councilors Capacity Building Training in Ntoroko District

 Furthermore ToroDev directly built the capacity of over 90 Citizens’ Advocacy Forum members in online and offline advocacy, conducted five (5) workshops to identify citizens’ priority service delivery needs for 2017/2018 budgeting in 3 districts. A total of twenty (20) CSOs were engaged during the workshops in Kabarole, Kyenjojo and Kyegegwa districts. ToroDev went further and supported 3 district budget conferences   under CSOs-District Forums. This led to increased number of CSO’s participation from 8 in 2015 to 20 in 2016 meaning more citizens’ service delivery issues were captured in the district budget frameworks.

To give  a chance to  youths and women  from hard to reach areas to record  their pressing service delivery issues, ToroDev held five (5)  rural radio debates in 4 districts of the Rwenzori Region and a total number of 120 women and  60 youth  were engaged from  hard to reach areas.

Rural debates have contributed to the empowerment and sensitization among the marginalized groups of population that include youth and women to participate in governance issues, advocacy, demanding accountability, information access, monitoring service delivery and participation in local government planning and budgetary processes. “Rural debates have helped women and other marginalised group of people to express themselves on issues affecting them & also taking part in governance issues of their communities. ‘’We thank ToroDev for the chance they always give us to also share our issues on radio, most issues do not reach our leaders because those we entrust sometimes do not do what we tell them we hope that when you air them on radio they may respond and with time our health sector will improve since it is a sector affecting us more as women’’. Said Joan during rural debate in Katooke-Myeri, Kyenjojo district.

ToroDev supported accountability talk shows on two local radio stations where duty bearers of all levels have been hosted to give accountability for improved service delivery. “Radio talk shows have helped to bridge the gap between duty bearers and us citizens, when leaders & technocrats are hosted on radio, we get chance to engage them on issues we feel vital from our communities. Please continue to bring them live to give us accountability & their plans and this will help our communities to develop”. Said Twinamasiko Julius a caller from Kabarole distinct.

Increased participation of duty bearers’ presence on electronic platforms like broadcast radio from 5 to 10 monthly.  A total of 24 live radio discussions/talk shows were held bi weekly since July 2016-December 2016, 960 citizens questioned duty-bearers on radio and expressed their priority service delivery needs. At least 5 key service delivery needs in the Health and education sectors addressed in 2 districts of Kabarole and Ntoroko, western Uganda, needs like late coming of health workers in Myeri and Kibate health centres

  

There has been incredible improvement in service delivery among different sectors as a result 21 advocacy forums.  For example  an issue of Gravity flow scheme where some villages that were supposed to be connected on the gravity scheme were left out on top of the contractor delaying the work that was meant to take 6 months but on the 12^th month work was still incomplete. The local people with the help of the forum leader petitioned the district chairperson who travelled to the site and ordered for all the anomalies that had been done to be worked on and now communities have access to safe & clean water. ‘’We are grateful to the district chairperson for hearing our cry and coming to check on what we are complaining about, as we talk now there is good work being done and some people are now accessing safe and clean water even those in Bwanika village who used to see pipes passing through their land now have been connected to the scheme’’, said Mr. Rwaheru Gilbert the coordinator of Kicwamba forum for development and service delivery advocacy.

Engineers working on the gravity scheme in Kicwamba Sub county

 “As forum members we visited Myeri Health centre II to find out the challenges that the health centre faces so that we can present these challenges to the leaders, we discovered that there is shortage of medical supplies, there is no standard maternity ward, few health workers etc, we had a meeting with the In-charge of the Health centre and he  explained that the Project of maternity ward will begin this financial year, 2017/2018 and 8 million shillings is allocated towards the construction, we also presented the issues to the sub county leaders who promised to address them during their council meetings, we shall keep reminding these leaders until we see change in place” Said Hon. Muzoora Godwin forum coordinator.

 “We received an outcry from concerned citizens of Bufunjo Sub County in Kyenjojo District complaining about Mr. Mugisha Tumwine Salongo, the laboratory assistant at  Bufunjo health centre III  after seeing him  fighting with  fellow staff.  According to eye witnesses & other staff members, Mugisha used to attack fellow workers, abuse them publically and this was the third time seen fighting fellow staff”, we engaged duty bearers and the disciplinary committee wrote to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kyenjojo district and as we talk Mr. Mugisha has been transferred to another place of work, Said Andrew Tumwesigye the leader of Bufunjo People’s Forum.

These achievements/impacts; both online & offline, rural radio magazine/debates, consultative meetings with duty bearers, trainings & knowledge sharing workshops, online social platforms, radio talkshows, etc have all been used together with the involvement of citizens in promoting sustainable and consistent democratic & accountability engagements and also sharing information vital for development of communities.

As ToroDev we very much appreciate the continued financial & technical support from SIDA-Swedish International Development Agency for the impact/successes in the year 2016.

Children urged to spend their leisure time developing their talents

Given the increasing unemployment in Uganda, parents need to support their children to utilize their leisure time profitability by doing hands on skills in order to identify their talents which can be developed for future success. Most children especially on weekends spend much of their leisure time in sports betting and other unproductive work which have not benefited them to compete with the current situation in the country.

These and more were words from Mr. Gaaki Stephen a teacher at Kyebambe model primary school in Fort portal when he was hosted alongside Mr. Ganjangu a member of school management committee & Phiona Kanyunyuzi a pupil at Kyebambe model primary schools to discuss live on the topic; ‘Role of parents in supporting their children to attain quality education’. The debate was live on ToroDev supported ‘Orukurato’program that is aired live every Saturday 8-10pm on Hits Fm a local radio station in Fort Portal.

Mr. Gaaki Stephen, a teacher at Kyebambe Model Primary School 

Mr. Gaaki said parents are the first teachers of their own children, to nature and give them good education background by supporting them to do a number of activities that may not necessarily focus on passing national examinations but supporting a child in case he/she failed to advance in academics. He further said parents need to talk to teachers to understand their children better and teachers need to learn the children they teach such that they can share with parents to help the child become a better person in future by doing hands on skills work if the child’s talent is focused there instead of forcing them to read and pass national exams which make them unemployed after such a long period of time when resources have been wasted.

Phiona Kanyunyuzi the education consumer encouraged parents to support their children with school requirements and also talk to teachers whenever they visit school to know the progress of their children in academics and also create time for them over weekends to learn hands on skills where they are taught because when they make products and sale they get money to support their parents to buy some scholastic materials.

Meanwhile Mr. Ganjangu said children should be helped to change their mind set of focusing on passing national exams but be given knowledge and skills to help them cope with prevailing situations in the world. He called upon government to refocus on the current curriculum and also support vocational training in order to make children job creators other than job seekers hence reducing unemployment situation in Uganda. He further said teachers need to help parents by advising them on the talents of their children such that parents can support them to be people who can be self supportive.

children  learning in class 

Children during their leisure time

 ‘’When parents are called at school they are told about how fees has been increased and the proposed building plans the school has other than discussing the performance of their children and how to improve it better, as school management we need to advise parents on their children and also look for ways to develop the identified talents in these children to make them successful citizens in future’’, said Mr. Ganjangu.

Hand crafts made by children at school

He further said we need regular meetings of parents and teachers in schools to discuss a number of factors affecting performance in schools like talent development, infrastructure, absenteeism, drop-out, issues of lunch, etc if we are to improve the education standards in our schools.

During the 2 hours live discussion, listeners participated through call-inns & sms platforms; about 30 people called in due to limited time and these are some of their contributions; ‘’Schools need not to concentrate on academics only but also identify talents in the children they teach and support them together with parents to develop them’’, said Mr. Byabasaija a caller from Kasunganyanja in Kabarole district,  ‘’some teachers have overstayed in some schools and this has forced them to do whatever they want without control and in the long run performance has been affected negatively. There is need to increase supervision in schools and effect transfers for better performances’’, said Charles a caller from Katooke in Kyenjojo district, ‘’Parents have undermined their roles towards education that’s why children are performing poorly and others have dropped out from school’’,  said Henry  Kamugisa a caller from Kasenda in Kabarole district.

We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all other development partners for the financial and technical support to run these programs.

We need to build strong SMCs leadership in schools to improve academic performance

ToroDev is this month of February 2017 discussing the education sector and is hosting different people including duty bearers, technical and other citizens to talk about different topics under education sector. On 5^th February 2017 during the ‘Listeners forum’ program that is aired live every Sunday 8-10pm on Jubilee radio we hosted Mr. Tumwesige Adolf an economist and an advocate of education. Adolf said parents need to play their roles especially providing basic care and guidance to children to have good morals that will help them progress in their education.

He said our schools in this country are faced with  challenges like limited supervision of SMC’s, existing gaps between schools and communities, oversight roles by some committees in schools, school drop-outs, absenteeism of teachers & children, etc all these have affected school development plans that would be accelerating improved performance in schools and  to the learners.

Pupils studying under a structure

Pupils studying under a tree

Mr. Tumwesige while commenting on the vocational and technical education said the government has not supported it, yet it is the key where students will gain skills to be job creators and earn a living by increasing their house hold incomes without waiting for white collar jobs that have worsened the unemployment syndrome in the country. He said if students are given skills through effective teaching, this can help to improve on economic development. ‘’Government should totally accept, commit and support the operation of vocational and technical education in the country by increasing funding of education sector to curb some of the ailments that exist currently’’, said Adolf Tumwesige

Students in a science labaratory

 The two hours live talk show was joined by listeners through whatsapp, facebook & call-inns and about 35 called in; ‘’ teachers are not motivated by the salary they earn and the working conditions in this country and to some extent this has accelerated absenteeism that has affected schools performance, government need to plan on the issue of motivation of teachers’’, said Monica a caller from Rwengaju in Kabarole district, ‘’government should focus on construction and equipping of science laboratories for our children to pass science subjects that will help them get jobs easily’’, said Moses a caller from Hakibale sub county in Kabarole district, ‘’parents should support government to provide scholastic materials to their children so as to make them compete with others to increase performance’’, said Lawrence Asaba a caller from Kyegegwa district.  

 We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all other development partners for the financial & technical support.

Kabarole district Woman Member of Parliament calls government to construct science laboratories & support vocational skills training to improve the education sector

The Kabarole Woman Member of Parliament Hon. Sylvia Rwabwogo has called upon parents, families & guardians to positively support education of their children both at home and at school. She said when schools and families work together, children do better and stay in schools longer and this positively influences the child’s education outcomes, we need to be active as parents and caregivers if we are to reduce on the number of failures in secondary schools in Rwenzori Region & Uganda as a whole.

Hon. Sylvia Rwabwogo said these while appearing live on ToroDev supported weekly radio program “Orukurato” on 4th February, 2017 which program is aired live every Saturday 8-10pm on Hits Fm. Hon. Sylvia further said that our country is still facing challenges on attaining the policy of having a secondary school in every sub county something that has made children move long distances to access education which to some extent has affected their performance. ‘’We have many schools without science laboratories and our children have failed to compete with those schools that are well equipped with laboratories, I do appeal to the ministry of Education to construct science laboratories in schools where they are lacking to improve on the performance of science subjects for our children which are marketable in Uganda today’’, said Hon. Slyvia Rwabwogo. Government through the ministry of education should be strict on school inspectors to improve on teacher’s supervision hence reducing absenteeism of teachers and students.

Hon. Slyvia Rwabwogo Woman Member of parliament Kabarole district

While commenting on the operation wealth creation; a government program to increase income at household level Hon. Slyvia said the program has not achieved it’s intended objectives and called upon officials heading it to involve experts who will teach local farmers modern farming methods and also urged government to consult the beneficiaries whenever they are to supply them with seed which should be quantity, quality & timely. Mr. Kyaligonza emphasized the need to guide farmers on seasons of planting and also asked government to create avenues where farmers can sell their products at a profit.

During the two hours live discussion listeners participated through call-ins and sms platforms; about 30 people called in. ‘’ Government need to construct science laboratories in most schools and also support vocational skills training in the country to improve performance of science subjects which will make our children job creators not job seekers in future’’, said Robert Mugume  a caller from Buhesi in Kabarole district, ‘’As parents we need to improve on how we are fulfilling our roles and responsibilities especially supporting our children to access education& supervising them to improve in their performances’’, said Margret Kobugabe a caller from Kabende in Kabarole district, ‘’the government should put in place close supervision to students and teachers in order  to reduce school drop-out & absenteeism of teachers in order to improve education performances in our schools’’,  said Francis Asaba a caller from Kihura in Kyenjojo district.

 We are grateful to SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all other development partners for the financial and technical support to run these programs.

School curriculum, pupils feeding & working conditions contributing to poor performance in schools

Poor performance in schools especially government aided schools have been blamed mostly on inadequate supervision in schools but should be looked at beyond supervision. Despite teachers and supervisors playing their roles, the school curriculum, feeding of pupils while at school and even home, poor remuneration of teachers & poor working conditions are all factors which should be keenly looked at if we are to improve performance in education as a sector. These were words from Hashim Nsangiva the head teacher Green circle school when he was hosted on 25^th January, 2017 alongside Jane Kwebiha the headmistress Kahunga Bunyonyi Primary school and Amos Kahuma the headteacher Kitumba primary school.

The headteachers were hosted live on ToroDev supported weekly program ‘Manya Omwebembezi wawe’ that is aired live every Wednesday 8:00pm-10:00pm on KRC Fm to discuss the topic; What are the existing Education policies in Uganda & what are the challenges?

Mr. Kansengerwa Kaahwa Abooki the moderator of 'Manya Omwebembezi Waawe' progogram on KRC Fm

‘’ As school heads we try our best to enroll pupils and do supervisory role to improve academics but with many schools operating in difficult conditions, cannot afford scholastic materials, poor infrastructure, failure of parents to do their roles/responsibilities, etc , the system has been weakened hence questioning the state of service delivery in the education sector something that cannot be handled by an individual but combined efforts from all actors in education if we are to realize positive change’’, said Amos Kahuma the head teacher Kitumba primary School.

‘’For schools to perform well parents, teachers, pupils/students, infrastructure, positive attitude attitude towards education need to be checked if we are to improve the education system in Uganda. Parents who have tried to support their children have helped to improve on academic performance in the country, if we appropriately use the resources available to play our roles as teachers we can still bring positive change in education sector something that will automatically bring academic progress in the region’’, said Jane Kwebiha Head mistress Kahungabunyonyi  primary school.

We have tried to come up with record performance trucker to enable us follow our students when they live primary to secondary in order to know their progress. Parents, SMCs, school heads should play their roles of monitoring & supervising teachers and also parents need to have positive attitude towards education by sending their children to school, providing school requirements, providing them with lunch regularly while at school, etc in order to realize quality education that will make them responsible citizens in future, said Hashim Nsangiva the headteacher Green Circle primary school.

During the two ours live discussion about 35 listeners participated through call-ins and sms plat forms; ‘’Our children walk long distances to go to schools yet the government policy says there will be a secondary school in every sub county. Many sub counties do not have these schools and to me performance is affected’’, said Jane Mbabazi a caller from Kyenjojo district, ‘’poor infrastructure combined with inadequate classrooms where you find 9 pupils on one desk yet the policy says 3 per desk is also affecting performance because of that congestion and teachers are not motivated’’, said Safali James a caller from Busoro in Kabarole district, ‘’I want to know if the fees charged is schools especially UPE level is uniform to all schools in the country and also suggest that co-curricular activities be made compulsory in primary schools to help children remain fresh in academic work’’, said Patrick Mwesigwa a caller from Bugaki in Kyenjojo.

 We take this opportunity to thank SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all our partners for financial and technical support.

ToroDev M&E team held evaluation talk show on KRC radio

Toro dev held an evaluation talk show on KRC radio on 18^th January,2017 with the aim of getting views from listeners within the Rwenzori region who aim seeking to strengthen the quality of their programs and improve outcomes for the people we serve such advocacy forums, duty bearers’ youths, women and all people in Rwenzori region. Evaluation program was basically to answer questions from listeners about our program’s effectiveness, so that their views can be used to improve program services that are always aired live every Wednesday.

‘’Evaluation is done to strengthen programs conducted and, consequently work with the people to improve outcomes from those programs and  also see on the activities we handle so that we can develop ways on  how these programs can be  made more effective to our people we serve hence planning with them the ways on how best services can be strengthened and improved not forgetting possible challenges which people are facing,  trucking whether the program has been aiming at achieving some thing developmental to the people in Rwenzori region, etc’’, said  David Kugonza documentation and communication officer ToroDev

ToroDev staff during the evaluation talkshow in KRC Fm studios

During this evaluation talk show listeners were give time to air out their views through calls and  sms platforms; Thirty five ( 35)  people called in and about 12  sent sms online platforms, out of these few women about 5 were able to share with us what they thought would be considered in our programs this year 2017 and in future. These are some of their comments/submissions;

“More leaders should be mobilized to come on radio to give listeners accountability & also share their work plans for the public to understand what they have done or plan to do, we have bad roads and we do not know what they are planning’’, said Julius from Mugusu in Kabarole district.

“Leaders should be united together so that they  have a spirit to work for the people with the aim of improving service delivery and this will increase on lobbying mentality amongst themselves’’, said  K.K Francis from Bukwali in Kabarole district.

“We request those organizations that can help to translate the constitution in our local languages to do it such that everyone can understand what the law of the country talks about, this will also help us to know our human rights & responsibilities as citizens as we advocate for improved services in our communities’’, said Tadeo a caller from Rwengaju  in Kabarole district.

“Radio talk shows has helped to bridge the gap between duty bearers and us citizens, when leaders & technocrats are hosted on radio, we get chance to engage them on issues we feel vital from our communities. Please continue to bring them live to give us accountability & their plans and this will help our communities develop’’, said  Twinamasiko Julius  a caller from Kabarole distinct.

“Toro dev should put more emphasis on bringing experts from the health sectors to talk on health care programs more especially on people with disabilities. We need to be guided as PWD’s on how to benefit from government programs like anyother citizen in the country’’, said Norah from Gweri Kabarole district

We take this opportunity to thank SIDA, NED, SPIDER, ICT4DEM, CIPESA & all other development partners for the financial and technical support to run these programs