Summer Holidays

Have you ever wondered why our summer holidays are so long? The 6 week holiday was established during the Victorian period when nearly 70% of the population earnt their income from the land. The 6 weeks enabled children to help their parents harvest crops ready for sale at the market. Many school summer holidays are now being reduced to 4 weeks as children are no longer required to help harvest crops.

In Uganda there is still an important link between school holidays and the agricultural calendar. Pupils at Halcyon have just returned from a three week holiday.  None have been on ‘holiday’ as such. I asked one of my pupils, Dan, what a typical ‘holiday’ was like. Dan returned to his village (Over 80% of the Ugandan population live in rural villages) to help his parents harvest their Casava (an East African staple crop that looks like a turnip but tastes like chalk) and ground nuts (pea nuts). Each morning his Dad ensured he woke early to do his reading for school before prayers. Dan then helped his parents along with his four siblings, harvest until lunch. As not all villages have bore holes he and his brother walked the 5k to Serere to get water. After a week of harvesting, the family re-ploughed the land before sewing in the new Casava and ground nut seeds.

Dan gets to return to school with a tub of ground nut paste which he will add to his beans to vary the taste. His parents are able to take the crops to market and sell these at a profit as they have not had to pay labourers to help with the harvesting.

It is a cultural norm to have many children in Uganda. In fact Uganda has the fastest growing population in Africa. With such low incomes and high education costs I have asked why this is the case. Many attribute it to the need to gain help with harvesting. There are other less economically motivated reasons but this one always crops up in conversation.

The role of the child is very different here to in the UK. Children are expected to look after their younger brothers and sisters. Other than farming, they must take a far more active part in domestic chores. During school holidays children take over selling at market stalls and in shops. Children are also required to support their parents financially once they have a job.