River Flow International

Location : Kampala Email : info@riverflowinternational.org

ABOUT US

River Flow International–Science Teachers’ Initiative (RIFI-STI) is a registered Non-Government Organisation (NGO) made up of experienced science teachers working together to improve the quality of education in Africa and promote the use of scientific knowledge, innovation, and research in solving socio-economic challenges. We do this by developing practical reading/learning materials, promoting numeracy and literacy, retooling teachers in practical science teaching and increasing access to inclusive quality education. It was launched in 2017 by Hon. Rosemary Seninde, by then the Minister of State for Primary Education. RIFI-STI works closely in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to improve the quality of education. By 2019, its programs expanded to include environmental education, health, and HIV/AIDS, WASH, and child protection. It’s now expanding to South Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia.

OUR VISION

Transforming scientific knowledge into skills for socio-economic development.

OUR GOAL

To promote the use of scientific knowledge and skills in solving socio-economic challenges.

OUR STRATEGY

Publication, training, self-help projects, advocacy, partnership with education stakeholders

Our background

The policy of the government of Uganda has been to enable all learners at the Ordinary level to acquire scientific literacy and skills to effectively contribute to the personal, community, and national development of the country. Despite the government’s efforts to improve science education in the country, through projects like SESEMAT, the construction and equipping of laboratories, and increasing the salaries for teachers of science, the quality of science education remains wanting. Performance in science has been poor over the years as evidenced by the Pupils’ Leaving Exam (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results, and National Association for Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) reports. This was to a great extent due to poor teaching, demonstrated by theoretical handling of science concepts which makes science abstract and difficult for learners. Studies have highlighted obstacles that have contributed to this situation which include but are not limited to;

- Poor foundation for science education right from the primary education level.
- Poor instruction methodologies.
- Lack of sufficient and relevant instructional materials.

To bridge this gap, RIFI-STI has resorted to projects like PPAS to develop practical teaching/learning materials, Capacity Building (CB) to retool teachers in the practical teaching methodology, 3Ls to improve literacy skills among the young learners and a Teacher Support Center (TSC) for teachers to get timely assistance from education specialists.