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In West Nile, the Classroom Is Where the Funding Cut Lands First

Settlement schools are absorbing more pupils on smaller budgets, and host community children are in the same rooms.

By Emmanuel DrakuWest Nile6 min read
Pupils sharing crowded benches in a settlement primary school classroom in the West Nile region of Uganda
West Nile. 21 July 2026.
AccountabilityEducation

Uganda's settlement model keeps refugee and host community children in shared schools. That is its strength, and it is also why a funding shortfall is felt on both sides of the register.

Ratios that do not work

Head teachers describe classes well beyond any workable pupil-teacher ratio, with lessons split into shifts and the youngest classes taught outdoors when rooms run out.

We are not short of children who want to learn. We are short of rooms, desks and teachers on payroll.
Head teacher, settlement primary school, West Nile

District education officers say the most durable investment is a teacher on the government payroll rather than a short-term stipend, because the stipend disappears with the grant cycle.

Sources & further reading
  1. Uganda refugee response - UNHCR
  2. Ministry of Education and Sports - Government of Uganda
  3. UNICEF Uganda - UNICEF
Emmanuel Draku
West Nile Correspondent, Arua

Emmanuel Draku reports on refugee hosting, education and service delivery across the West Nile region.

  • Refugee hosting
  • Education access
  • West Nile
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