Who we are

An independent not-for-profit organisation operating in Uganda since October 2019, Uwezo Uganda actively seeks to contribute to a society in which all children are learning and realising their full potential.

We work towards this by demonstrating how to improve learning outcomes and keeping communities and leaders focused on learning through assessment, research, innovations, partnerships and advocacy.

For 10 years, we generated and disseminated independent assessment data, and contributed to amplifying the evidence of low learning outcomes and the fact that schooling does not equate to learning as a program under Twaweza East Africa.

Our Vision

A society in which all children are learning and realising their full potential

Our Mission

To promote support for quality education for all through assessment, research, engagement and influencing, in collaboration with other stakeholders

Latest News

Taking part in the 2025 Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) Conference


On 23-26 March, 2025, we participated in the 2025 Comparative International Education Society (CIES) 69th Annual Conference that took place in Chicago, USA, under the theme: Envisioning Education in a Digital Society. Together with counterparts in the Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) Africa, Action for Life Skills and Values in East Africa (ALiVE) and People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network we presented on the following panels:

a)       A panel discussion on ‘What works in adolescent skills: How evidenced, localised solutions are equipping young people with the skills that Africa needs’ that took place on 23rd March 2025. The session emphasised the need for evidence-based, local solutions to teach young people 21st-century skills. It focused on training teachers, updating curricula, and involving governments to prepare young people for work and life. Continuous evaluation and feedback were also deemed essential for effective, lasting life skills education. Our presentation on the panel was titled ‘Building capacity to assess and nurture adolescents' life skills [& Values]: Insights from an East African initiative’ can be accessed here

b)      A panel discussion on Equipping Learners for a Dynamic Digital Future: Insights from Integrating 21st Century Skills in East Africa’s Education Systems that took place on 26th March 2025. The panel focused on developing and implementing frameworks through ALiVE that have potential to strengthen teacher education, curriculum and assessment systems in East Africa to cultivate the skills and values that young people need to thrive. The full panel presentation can be accessed here

Thanks to everyone who participated in our sessions, as well as those whose sessions we had the privilege to attend and learn from. Strengthening our education systems to create environments where all children can develop foundational literacy, numeracy, life skills and values – essential for further learning, work, and a meaningful life – demands collaboration and shared insights. We are truly thankful for this experience. Looking forward to reconnecting at the 2026 CIES conference in San Francisco!

 



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Uwezo Uganda Unveils a New National Learning Assessment Report

On March 18, 2025, Uwezo Uganda released its latest national learning assessment report, based on a survey conducted between July and August 2024 across 29 districts in Uganda. Titled ‘Are Our Children Learning? Learning Recovery and Challenges for Uganda,’ the report assesses children’s reading and numeracy skills in 2024, offering a comparison with findings from 2021, when Uwezo last conducted a similar assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated school closures. The report was officially launched by Dr. Cleophus Mugenyi, Commissioner for Basic Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, on behalf of the State Minister for Primary Education. During the launch, Dr. Mugenyi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to implementing the report’s recommendations.

 

The findings reveal a concerning decline in children’s average reading proficiency—both in English and local languages—compared to upper primary learners in 2021, likely a lingering consequence of reduced school attendance during the pandemic-related closures. On a positive note, the report highlights improvements in numeracy skills. It also underscores a gradual recovery from the prolonged school closures of 2020–2021. Pre-primary enrollment is steadily rebounding, and children aged 6–10, the target group for lower primary education, are showing English reading and numeracy levels that align more closely with those recorded in 2018, with fewer children classified as non-readers or non-numerate.

 

The report emphasises that enhancing literacy and numeracy at foundational levels is crucial for progress. It advocates for expanded access to Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs and stresses the need to tackle persistent challenges that hinder learning outcomes. Key recommendations include allocating resources to recruit more teachers, particularly for lower primary grades, and ensuring their equitable distribution across government-aided primary schools. Additionally, the report calls for targeted initiatives to support children who have fallen behind in literacy and numeracy, enabling them to catch up and fully benefit from their primary education.

 

The complete assessment report is available for download at: https://uwezouganda.org/download/Uwezo_Uganda_2024_Assessment%20Report_Launch%20Version.pdf

 

A summary of key findings can be accessed at: https://uwezouganda.org/download/Uwezo_Uganda_Key_Facts_Launch%20Version.pdf

 



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A Bittersweet Goodbye: Azamu Mulikiriza’s Journey Moves Forward

On Friday, 28th February 2025, we bid a heartfelt farewell to Azamu, our esteemed Accountant for five years since 2020. A pillar of dedication, excellence & selflessness, Azamu's impact is immeasurable!

Amidst the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Azamu remained a pillar of dedication, commitment, and hard work, ensuring financial stability and accountability during the uncertain times. His unwavering commitment to excellence has played a crucial role in shaping our financial systems, ensuring transparency, and supporting the growth of the organisation. Despite the difficulties faced in the early years, including navigating economic uncertainties, Azamu handled every challenge with resilience and professionalism, earning the respect and admiration of colleagues. His expertise and attention to detail have not only strengthened our financial systems but have also inspired colleagues with a strong work ethic and team spirit.  Azamu’s unwavering commitment, professionalism, and dedication have left a lasting impact on the team and the organisation as a whole. As we bid farewell, we extend our deepest gratitude for his invaluable contributions. While we will miss his presence, we celebrate the legacy of hard work and dedication he leaves behind:

‘The past five years with Azamu have been truly remarkable. He has played a key role in ensuring tasks are completed efficiently. Even during challenging moments when things seemed stuck, he had a way of making things work seamlessly. His willingness to help has always stood out—whenever you knocked on his door, he was ready to assist. [Colleague]

When I received the email, I was truly shocked and wondered why Azamu was leaving. Every requisition from him was always meticulously quality-assured, making approvals seamless and effortless. His dedication, selflessness, and unwavering positivity—always carrying a smile even in the most challenging moments—have been truly admirable. [Board member]

Thank you for being our guiding voice (pastor) during meetings; there is no doubt that you have fulfilled your expectations. Most importantly, we deeply appreciate your patience, especially when we faced technical issues—you would stay online until everything was resolved. [Board member]

Azamu, you have been a true gift to Uwezo. We are grateful for your invaluable time and service over the past five years and wish you abundant blessings as you embark on this new chapter. [Colleague]

In his farewell speech, Azamu expressed deep gratitude to the staff for their unwavering support throughout his tenure:

 “This was such a very difficult decision for me to make and I required a great deal of faith to take this step. Before joining Uwezo, I prayed for the opportunity to be part of this organisation, and I am grateful that I was given the chance. I thank the management for giving me a chance to serve.  The team has been very supportive anytime I needed help from them.  I have made brothers and sisters with whom we have shared and learnt a lot. The supportive culture at Uwezo Uganda is really good and I thank my colleagues for making my work easy and successful.

I want to thank Uwezo Uganda Board members.” We are blessed as Uwezo for the Board members who are responsive and always available. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to Uwezo Uganda’s Executive Director whom I had the privilege of reporting to, your continuous guidance and support has been instrumental in my growth and improvement as an accountant and this has made my work possible and a success.

Azamu, we wholeheartedly wish you success in your future endeavours. Your contributions have left a lasting mark, and you will always be a cherished part of our family. We hope this new journey brings you nothing but the best!

 



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Launch of Uwezo Uganda 2024 National Learning Assessment Report

We are delighted to invite you to the launch of the Uwezo Uganda 2024 National Learning Assessment Report titled Are our children learning? Learning recovery and challenges for Uganda, taking place on the 18th March 2025. 

You can access more of our reports at https://uwezouganda.org/publications/reports

 




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Latest Activities

Uwezo Uganda Teams Up with Power Teachers Africa

For the past 15 years, Uwezo Uganda has been at the forefront of citizen-led assessments, gathering essential data on children’s learning outcomes throughout Uganda—an approach that has gained traction among similar organisations. In March 2025, we were thrilled to join forces with Power Teachers Africa (PTA), who tapped into Uwezo’s assessment tools to establish baseline data on children’s learning in Mbale. Uwezo Uganda went out of its way to support this effort, training volunteers on how to use these tools effectively and keeping a watchful eye on the assessment process.

 

Power Teachers Africa, a Uganda-registered not-for-profit, is committed to delivering affordable, teacher-focused motivation programs to government schools across Africa. Their work tackles pressing issues like teacher absenteeism and turnover while boosting learning outcomes. Beyond that, PTA strives to spotlight the value of incentivising teachers, rallying stakeholders around this cause for better education.

 

The baseline study sample included 100 children, aged 6 to 16, across five classes (Primary 2 to Primary 6) at Bumbobi Primary School. Using Uwezo’s tools, these children were assessed on basic literacy and numeracy skills. PTA’s overarching goal is to elevate learning outcomes, and to gauge the impact of their efforts, they’ll conduct a follow-up assessment later this year, again with Uwezo’s backing.

Curious about Uwezo’s assessment methods? Dive into our past reports here:

https://uwezouganda.org/publications/reports







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Uwezo Uganda Participates in the Language, Development and Advocacy Network (LDAN) Inaugural Workshop

By Judith Nyakaisiki

 

On 5th February 2025, Uwezo Uganda participated in the Language Development and Advocacy Network (LDAN) Workshop. The Workshop aimed to:

 

     - Advance ideas, connections and proposals highlighting the roles of languages and communication in

        development

     - Ensure that issues of concern represent broad, diverse, equitable and inclusive perspectives, and

     - Engage with organisations and communities from different world regions working within this field to

       collaborate, advise, learn from, shape and help steer this area of interest, including developing policy,

       research and practice priorities; informing researchers, decision-makers and practitioners; all while

       encouraging local perspectives, priorities and proposals.

 

Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, Uwezo Uganda Executive Director, was one of the panelists at the workshop. Her presentation centered on the relevance of LDAN to a developing country context such as Uganda. She mainly focused on the issue of using mother  tongue / local language as a medium of instruction and how this relates to learning outcomes. She shared that, in Uganda, there is an existing language policy, which requires the use of pupils' mother tongues or a common area language as a medium of instruction from Primary 1 to Primary 3.  She argued that while the policy is well-intentioned, it is faced with a number of challenges in practice and has not yet translated into desirable learning outcomes. For example, due to the linguistic diversity of Uganda even within smaller geographical areas, choosing to use one local language as a medium of instruction in one given village may exclude some learners who do not speak the language, thus, affecting their learning.

 

In all this, she noted teachers to be a key factor, yet they have hardly been well-supported to implement the language policy. A recent spotlight study report on basic education completion and foundational learning in Uganda highlighted a scarcity of curriculum documents and teacher guides. Where these existed, they were all in English, inserting more pressure on the teachers to be language interpreters while delivering the curriculum (Nakabugo et al 2024)[1].

 

In her final submission, Dr Nakabugo argued that, improving children’s learning outcomes requires much more than simply having in place a language in education policy that requires the use of local language as a medium of instruction. Other factors, such as support to teachers, availability of resources, the support to learners and parental and community awareness of the value of the policy need to be considered.

The full presentation can be accessed here





 



[1] Nakabugo, M.G., Kisa, S., Ayikoru, J., Kaburu, A., and Urwick, J. (2024). Spotlight on basic education completion and foundational learning: Uganda. Paris: UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report Team and Association for the Development of Education in Africa. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54676/LHPP9242

 

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Uwezo Basics Assessment of Learning Outcomes 2024

Uwezo Uganda is gearing up for the assessment of basic numeracy and literacy skills to be conducted in 29 districts previously assessed in 2021 per the link- https://uwezouganda.org/district-partners. Assessment in the same districts will enable us undertake a comparative analysis and deeper understanding of the post COVID changes in learning outcomes. The assessment planned for July-August 2024, will obtain data at school and household level as well as involve generation of child (4-16) assessment data.

 

Our previous learning assessment reports can be accessed here: https://uwezouganda.org/publications/reports/

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Our Address

map-pin Uwezo Uganda, Corner House, Suite B1, Plot 436/437, Mawanda Road Kamwokya, Kampala.
P.O Box 33275, Kampala, Uganda
phone +256-393-193-441
info@uwezouganda.org