Volume 1 - Issue 2 – June 2026

Transformative learning among the Batwa: effects of an integrated literacy, numeracy, and civic education intervention in South-West Uganda

Charles Kyasanku, Edwardi Kansiime, Alfred Buluma

Uganda's Batwa Indigenous community has faced severe marginalisation since being forcibly displaced from their ancestral forests in the early 1990s, when Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks were established. This displacement deepened poverty, discrimination, and inequality, drastically limiting education; pre-intervention child enrollment was around 10%, with adult literacy far below national averages. This study evaluates a community-based intervention combining functional adult literacy, civic education, and transformative teaching methods, grounded in Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory. Conducted in Kisoro and Rubanda Districts, the programme sought to shift perspectives among Batwa adults and host communities, promote gender-inclusive education, and build community resilience. Using a mixed-methods, pre-and post-intervention design, researchers gathered data through focus groups, interviews, observation, and baseline/endline assessments. Results showed significant gains: adult literacy rose from 34.5% to 70%, and civic knowledge improved sharply, with understanding of civic institutions increasing from 15% to 70%. Dialogue-based sessions addressing patriarchal norms also produced measurable gender equity progress. However, numeracy improvements were modest, indicating a need for more contextually relevant mathematics teaching. The findings support culturally responsive, integrated interventions for addressing overlapping exclusion barriers and recommend embedding similar approaches into national education policy prioritising community ownership, collaboration across stakeholders, and sustained funding to break cycles of intergenerational marginalisation.