Officials from the Directorate of Education Standards (DES) in Uganda's Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) recently participated in a study tour to South Africa joinly arranged by Link Community Development (LCD) and the Basic Education Department Republic of South Africa's Directorate of Africa and the Middle East.  The study tour was organised in line with LCD's policy of active promotion of learning between the countries in which it works in order to achieve the widest impact and ensure that  lessons learned - both positive and negative, can inform development across our programme countries and ultimately across the wider African continent.

The study group comprised of two officials from the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports Directorate of Education Standards (DES), Mr Mutazindwa H.A - The Acting Director (DES) and Mr Joseph Kajumba – Principal Inspector Technical Education Standards.  They were accompanied by Dr Derek Nkata - Programme Director LCD Uganda.  LCD's Ugandan Head Office is located in the DES building in Kyambogo, Kampala, enabling the development of a close partnership between LCD and the Directorate of Education and Sports / Ministry of Education and Sports.  

The officials focused on the following areas during the visit: 

• School safety and security
• Handling of emergencies at school level
• Technical vocational education and training (TVET)
• School Performance Review (SPR) being implemented in by LCD in Limpopo Province
• Meeting with education officials at the national, provincial and district levels to share experiences and learn from each other.

The first three days of the visit were spent with the Basic Education Department providing an opportunity to engage with the provision of education at the national level.  The officials held meetings and shared experiences with their counterparts from a number of Directorates within the Basic Education Department including: Education Management Information System (EMIS), Systemic Evaluation, FET Curriculum and Development Support, National School Nutrition Programme and School Safety and Enrichment Programme. 

The remainder of the tour was spent in Limpopo District where the officials interacted with officials from the Provincial Government: Department of Education including Mr Boshielo the Head of Education Department and Ms Dederen, the Senior General Manager Curriculum Development and Support.  

The officials also met the Director and staff from the Education Directorate in Waterberg District and had an opportunity to visit  and number of schools in the LCD South Africa programme including:  

• Mamagela Primary School in Waterberg District where they met with the Principal and educators
• Dimakatso Primary School (see picture) in Soshunguve Gauteng Province which has an active link with a school in the UK
• Pretoria Technical High School that is providing training in technical education.

The officials also had the opportunity to get to know more about the work of LCD South Africa from Nkosana Kubeka the Programme Director for LCD's Child Friendly Schools (CFS), Peer Education, Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and HIV/AIDS programmes. 

On the visit the DES Director, Mr Mutazindwa H.A said of the study tour "It was a very rewarding experience and opportunity to share experiences between our two countries. We do not need to go far to find who to share experiences with given there are countries like South Africa."