Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK)

  • P Project/Program

I Inactive

Key Information

ABEK, the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja programme, was launched in 1998 to hold classes where children graze their family’s livestock and perform other tasks such as cooking and tending to younger siblings.  In 2015 a new initiative was implemented in which girls received goats as an incentive to attend school. Goats are considered a form of wealth in the Karamoja region. The Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK) programme seeks to address the primary educational needs of the children from the Karimojong communities. It is a non-formal learning programme implemented by the district local government of Kotido and Moroto. The programme seeks to close the gap between the formal system and the semi-nomadic lifestyle where households’ economies rely substantially on the contribution by children. The program reported to have given out 2,000 goats to girls. More recently, renewed violence in Karamoja region has left children out of school. The program has also been revised to address anti-Karimojong bias entrenched in the formal education system and integrate new understanding on drylands pastoralism in the face of climate change.


Lead Implementing Government(s)

Uganda

Location(s)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Uganda

Government Affiliation

Government-affiliated program

Years

1998 - 2019

Ministry Affiliation

Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)

Funder(s)

COVID-19 Response

Not changed

Geographic Scope

Sub-national

Meets gender-transformative education criteria from the TES  

Unknown

Areas of Work Back to Top

Education areas

Attainment

  • Primary completion
  • Secondary completion

Other

  • Remote Learning

Quality

  • School facilities

Skills

  • Literacy
  • Numeracy

Cross-cutting areas

  • Climate change
  • Gender equality
  • Other cultural practices
  • Social and gender norms and beliefs

Program participants

Target Audience(s)

Boys out of school, Girls out of school, Youth

Age

Not applicable or unknown

School Enrolment Status

Some in school

School Level

  • N/A

Other populations reached

  • Community leaders
  • Fathers
  • Mothers
  • Other caregivers
  • Other community members - female
  • Other community members - male
  • Other family members

Participants include

  • Indigenous

Program Approaches Back to Top

Access to school

  • Alternative learning centers/mobile schools/home schools

Curriculum/learning

  • Increased availability of learning materials

Facilities construction/improvement

  • Construction/improvement of classrooms

Food/nutrition

  • Community food production
  • Other nutritional supplementation
  • School feeding

Tutoring/strengthening academic skills

  • Literacy - outside the classroom
  • Numeracy - outside the classroom

Program Goals Back to Top

Education goals

  • Improved academic skills (literacy and numeracy)
  • Increased literacy
  • Increased numeracy
  • Increased re-enrolment in school among out-of-school children
  • Increased school completion (general)
  • Increased years of schooling

Cross-cutting goals

  • Changed social norms
  • Improved health - other