On 30th April 2026, Uganda took a landmark step for its youngest citizens. The Ministry of Education and Sports officially launched the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy, a national framework designed to ensure that every child in Uganda has access to quality care and learning from the earliest years of life.
LABE was there.
A team from LABE, led by Executive Director Stellah Tumwebaze, joined hundreds of stakeholders who gathered in Kampala to mark the occasion, a moment that affirms what LABE has believed and worked towards for over three decades: that the foundation we build for children in their earliest years shapes everything that follows.
A Walk That Set the Tone
The launch was preceded, on 29th April, by an ECCE Walk through the streets of Kampala. Participants marched from the Ministry of Education and Sports headquarters at Embassy House to Nakivubo Blue Primary School.
Led by Hon. Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Minister of State for Primary Education, the walk drew government officials, teachers, civil society actors, development partners, parents, and community members. It was a visible, public declaration that early childhood education is a national priority, not a side concern, but a commitment.
What the Policy Means
Addressing long-standing concerns about academic pressure placed on young children, Dr. Moriku Kaducu emphasised that the new policy reorients early learning around social development alongside academic instruction, a philosophy that will feel familiar to anyone who has visited a LABE Home Learning Centre.
The launch on 30th April was held alongside an ECCE Models Marketplace at Nakivubo Blue Primary School, where government agencies, civil society organisations, and education partners showcased practical, community-grounded models for implementing the policy. The marketplace, organised in partnership with NECDA Uganda, underscored that translating national policy into real impact for children, especially in rural and underserved communities, requires collaboration, innovation, and organisations that already have roots on the ground.
Why This Matters to LABE
LABE has worked in early childhood development since 2012. Across seven districts in West Nile and Northern Uganda, our Home Learning Centres, Parent Educators, and intergenerational FABE model have been doing precisely what this policy calls for: reaching children and families in their communities, building parenting knowledge, and laying strong foundations for learning.
The ECCE Policy gives national weight to this work. It affirms that play-based, community-centred, family-involved early childhood education is not a grassroots experiment; it is the direction Uganda’s education system is moving.
We welcome this policy. We are ready to contribute to its implementation. And we remain committed to ensuring that children in the most remote corners of Uganda are part of the bright future it promises.