In the effort to strengthen Uganda’s education sector and combat declining literacy levels in Uganda , the Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) in partnership with the Rotary Club Of Sonde have embarked on an ambitious initiative to establish community libraries across the country, starting in the Goma Division of Mukono municipality Mukono District.
This project is aiming at creating accessible spaces where students, parents, and community members can read books for free; helping to build a sustainable reading culture that extends beyond the classroom.
Caroline Nakidde Kavuma the Academic Registrar at UNITE explained that teacher training institutions bear a special responsibility because they produce the very educators who shape young minds. “These schools are the ones that produce teachers for the students, that’s why we have decided to start community libraries and stock them with books,” she said.
The initiative kicked off with a partnership between UNITE and the Rotary Club of Sonde at St. Charles Lwanga Bukerere Primary School, a government aided school and the library will serve as a hub for after school and weekend reading sessions ensuring children maintain their literacy skills during holidays and free time.
“We want the children to continue reading even during the holiday; we would like children to continue reading even at the weekend so that there is that continuity.” Kavuma emphasised. “Reading requires practice, without practice you cannot teach children to read.”
She added that the library will engage volunteers, including retired teachers and parents, who can come in to tell stories an activity that helps children develop vocabulary and language structures in both local languages and English.
The She made this communication while celebrating the national DEAR Day (Drop Everything and Read), observed March every year, as part of a government programme to promote literacy in schools, Organized by the Rotary Club of Sonde at St. Charles Lwanga Bukerere Primary School and the event brought together pupils and teachers from more than five primary schools which includes St. Charles Lwanga Bukerere Catholic Primary School, St. Beatrice Buwava, Jinja Misidye Church of Uganda Primary School, Law and Joy Primary School and Kiwango Umea Primary School.
The chief reader for the day was Mr. Alex Kibuka, Principal of Uganda Martyrs’ College Sonde, who read aloud, interacted with pupils and asked comprehension questions. Students from his school also demonstrated good reading practices.
Kavuma noted that the facility will help children develop a reading habit, especially during free time and weekends. She urged parents and teachers to encourage learners to read more saying it broadens their minds and exposes those to new ideas.
Alex Kibuka stressed the lifelong importance of reading. “This day is important especially in the life of young persons, it teaches them to practice reading because every message that is important has to be written down right from the holy books of the Quran and the Bible,” he said.
He warned against excessive phone use urging young people to develop a strong reading culture instead of merely watching content. “Many have dropped reading not deliberately but I think they are misled by their phones. There is a lot of material available for them. “You need to choose what type of material will benefit you Some of it may be poison,” Kibuka cautioned.
He also called on schools to put more effort into teaching local languages first noting that mastering the mother tongue makes learning English much easier due to similar vowel sounds.
Teddy Namirembe a primary one and two teacher at St. Charles Lwanga Bukerere Primary School, welcomed DEAR Day, particularly for lower primary pupils. “Reading is very, very important in lower primary, if a child leaves lower primary when she or he has not grasped the reading skill, it is going to be a problem a very big challenge in upper classes,” she said.
Namirembe appealed to the government to extend the observance of DEAR Day and urged fellow teachers not to rush pupils but to guide them properly in pronunciation and sentence construction. “Put a variety of reading materials for these children to keep on practicing the reading skill a learner who doesn’t know how to read is very, very difficult to teach” she added.
David Nsalasata, President elect of the Rotary Club of Sonde, thanked the government for establishing DEAR Day saying it helps discover learners’ abilities broadens knowledge and promotes a reading culture.
“Reading is very important. It expands your mind, it exposes you to very many different situations, which enrich your experiences in life,” he said.
Rotary’s focus on education and literacy aligns perfectly with the club’s community work, Nsalasata attributed.
“As the Rotary Club of Sonde we are a community club We believe that with time, we should be able to go school by school, educating children, even old people, if we meet them, in issues of education and literacy, so that we make our community a knowledgeable community.”
He appealed to parents and teachers to buy interesting storybooks for children and identify suitable materials to spark their interest gradually.
The UNITE-Rotary partnership signals a growing collaboration between higher education institutions, service clubs, and schools to address literacy challenges. Organizers promised to expand the community library model and continue empowering both students and adults through sustained reading programmes.
As Uganda strives to improve educational outcomes, initiatives like these underscore a simple truth, literacy is the foundation of learning, and consistent practice whether in school at home or in community spaces is the key to unlocking brighter futures for the nation’s children.
