Uganda/OER

by James Kay, Sero

Useful new (November 2013) country profile for Uganda by eLearning Africa at http://www.elearning-africa.com/eLA_Newsportal/uganda-country-profile/

Overview

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. The official languages are Swahili and English. Uganda has a total area of 236,040 km² and a population of 30,900,000 (2007 estimate) which gives a density of 119/km². Despite its abundant natural resources, Uganda became one of the poorest countries in the world during the turbulent regimes of Idi Amin (1971–1979) and Obote II (1980–1985). In 1987, the new government, led by President Yoweri Museveni, embarked on an economic recovery programme aimed at reducing poverty and restoring fiscal discipline and monetary stability by rehabilitating the economic, social and institutional infrastructure. The recovery programme encompassed civil service reform, revised investment and incentive structures, and made a rapid move to a market-determined exchange rate. The Ugandan economy is largely informal, with 88 per cent of the labour force working outside the formal sector. Uganda is predominantly a rural country – only 13 per cent of the population live in urban areas. Life expectancy at birth is 42 years, which is low compared to the sub-Saharan average of 46. Adult literacy rates, at 78 per cent for men and 58 per cent for women, are high for the region. The infant mortality rate is 83 per 1 000 live births. Fifty per cent of the population have access to improved water sources, which is high for the region.

Source: Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) - Educational Technology Initiative: report on Uganda (PDF – 25 pages)

Further information

For further general information see Wikipedia:Uganda/OER.

Education in Uganda/OER

For a general description of education in Uganda/OER see Education:Uganda/OER.

e-learning

For a description more focussed to e-learning see E-learning:Uganda/OER.

Internet in Uganda/OER

Internet World Stats reports the following statistics for internet in Uganda:

2000 - Internet users = 40,000 (0.1 %)

2006 - Internet users = 500,000 (1.7 %)

2007 - Internet users = 750,000 (2.5 %)

2008 - Internet users = 2,000,000 (6.4 %)

2010 - Internet users = 3,200,000 (9.6 %) (http://www.internetworldstats.com/af/ug.htm)

OER Initiatives in Uganda/OER

Institutional OER initiatives

Kyambogo and Makerere Universities, Uganda, are part of the TESSA network. At Kyambogo University, TESSA resources are being used by students on the Diploma in Education Primary External. Informal student self support groups have grown up and are developing a focus on supporting the use of TESSA activities during semesters, with the facilitators able to access TESSA resources. (1)

References

Reports

1. "Building an Effective ‘Open Education Resource’ (OER) Environment for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: The TESSA Experience" by Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, 2008 (http://www.oerafrica.org/ResourceResults/tabid/1562/mctl/Details/id/36709/Default.aspx)

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