Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2012 undergraduate Shea Houlihan interviewed Mr. Richard Olweny, a former official at the Ministry of Education and Sports. Mr. Olweny has taught science and math to students in Primary 7 (ages 11 to 15 years old) at OCER since February 2012. In this interview, Mr. Olweny discusses the violent history of Gulu and the role of OCER in the region.

Can you tell me about your journey to your present position, and how you were inspired to do the work that you do? How long have you been in northern Uganda?

My name is Richard Olweny—my last name means that I was born during the time of war. If you are a boy, you are given this name. I was born during the wars of Idi Amin [third president of Uganda and military dictator, 1971-1979]. I started teaching in 1996, Gulu Primary Teachers’ College. From 1996 to 2012, I was with the government. I was in the Ministry of Education and Sports. I have lived here all my life.

Describe to me the state of education in this community, Gulu, from your point of view. What are the positive aspects? What are the challenges?

In Gulu, there are many challenges. There is a lack of infrastructure, such as poor teacher accommodations; too few textbooks and scholastic materials; and too few teachers. In northern Uganda, we have poor and rich parents. Those who come from rich families go to good schools. By law, we require universal primary education, but still there are parents who are unable to send their children to primary school here in the north.

What does OCER offer that other schools in northern Uganda cannot offer? What do you think educators elsewhere in Uganda can learn from OCER’s example?

OCER is quite different from other government schools. First, we have fewer children admitted here, whereas government schools admit everyone. Here, even though there are some who have been affected by the war, the children are disciplined. In government schools, discipline is much more difficult to achieve. For example, in 1997 there was a child from the bush who fought me, his teacher. He had been an abducted child—that was my first exposure to a child with a completely different attitude. Secondly, this place takes in people from different parts of the country. In Gulu, government schools teach only Gulu children. Not like OCER.

I understand that many students, if not all students, at OCER have been directly or indirectly affected by two decades of violence. Does this affect your classroom teaching and, if so, how?

It has obvious effects. Take for instance the child who was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), stayed with them for a year, and fortunately came back home. The child is traumatized; his mind is not settled and will not be settled. When they are abducted, they are forced to do bad things, and that takes a while to grow out. That’s why most children are traumatized. It takes them time to understand.

In the class, we have children of mixed ability—those with high, medium, or low proficiency for learning. That doesn’t even count those who have been traumatized. It depends now on an individual teacher to help all these categories. You have to go to each of those students and respond. You have to act as though you are in their shoes. You may have been affected yourself, so you can respond appropriately. You need to show that you are concerned about the problem that he or she is facing.

Around 2002, we had a training session with the Norwegian Refugee Council to help us teachers to handle students of different abilities. We learned some things. A child may sometimes pretend they are tough; this training helped us to be lenient and kind.

Are you ever worried, for yourself and your students, about violence spilling over from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or South Sudan?

No one can say the war is not over. It is ongoing, even though we have a bit of peace now. But if the government doesn’t work hard to defend us, the LRA may come back—they are deep in South Sudan, but they can come back.

Broadly speaking, what do you think is the role of education in peacebuilding and reconstruction?

During the LRA insurgency, most of the school-age children did not go to school. In particular, schools in rural areas were closed. Those who don’t have education may join the insurgency because they don’t have many chances for jobs in peacetime. School can transform society.

What are your hopes for the children who you teach?

You hope and dream that the children excel. Your product should be a good citizen in the future, to transform society. Our hope too is that OCER will continue to grow. This school’s location is great—it is designed to help this region to transform society. As students from different families come here, they will have the unique experience of being exposed to children from different parts of the country. It has been placed here to helping special needs children.

I think OCER can also help bridge that north-south divide. As a child from the central [region] comes here, they share ideas and resources. They share stories and experiences. In the end, these children will have friends across the country. As citizens, they will not have a problem. Leadership itself will be easy because they have learned from each other. Especially as compared to government [educated] children.