In the programme Show me the money we meet Aminah Mukasa and Mr Ntairaho. Aminah has been a headteacher for five years. When she assumed the headship of Masindi Secondary School last summer, the school's finances were in dire straits - pupils weren't paying fees, teachers' salaries were months in arrears and the new science block was still incomplete after two decades. The school has 891 pupils and only 280 girls. Mrs Mukasa lives in a middle class suburb in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, with her husband and children. She drives a car and describes the school's catchment area as a slum.

Mr Ntairaho, 36, has been headteacher of Kamurasi Demonstration Primary School since 2000. Before that he was a deputy headteacher for eight years. The school has 1091 pupils, including 76 orphans and 145 special needs children. Mr Ntairaho, as he likes to be called, lives in a small trading post. He has four children who attend private schools. He travels around by motorbike.

The headteachers appear regularly during the series in programmes about refugees, early pregnancy, school fees and teacher truancy. Looking forward to a well-earned holiday, here they discuss their experience of being filmed and the challenges they will continue to face.

Mrs Mukasa
"I agreed to the film because it's a good way of advertising Masindi Secondary at an international level and I thought the film crew would bring something to the school to improve its infrastructure. Having white people around means a lot. I feel proud having European contacts and think it helps my students to not fear whites."

Mr Ntairaho
"One day when I had five appointments in one day with different members of the crew I regretted my decision. But all the same I have enjoyed the experience."

Mrs Mukasa
"It's been interesting but taxing. It has also raised expectations, especially my teachers', which has created a big problem for me. However, I don't regret the experience and I would love to do it again."

Both headteachers have a problem retaining teachers, who do other jobs to make ends meet. A primary school teacher earns 130,000 shillings (£43) a month, while a Grade 5 secondary school teacher nets 280,000 shillings (£90).

Mr Ntairaho
"Someone working in the market can do better than a teacher. From their salaries, teachers need to rent a house, support their family, educate their children and pay for their own further education. This has really affected the teaching profession - they don't have time to plan because they are always working. This was not the case in the past."

Mrs Mukasa
" It's the biggest administrative challenge we face. We've convinced parents to allocate some little money so we can give the teachers a bonus. But the government is against this because it puts the burden on the parents."

Mr Ntairaho
" We are not allowed to tax parents in primary schools because it’s free education. It's a challenging as a human being because my teachers often ask me if they can leave early to grow food in the garden. How can they teach if they have an empty stomach and children yawning at home? Teacher morale has gone down because they used to receive incentives on top of their salary. I try to share their problems and convince them it's worth staying."

Mrs Mukasa
" It's very demoralising for a teacher to see an ex-pupil earning a higher salary than them. This is when they start to look for greener pastures. Many have gone into politics -I'd consider doing that, too."

Since the advent of universal primary education in 1997, the number of school going children has doubled in Masindi. This has caused the teacher to pupil ratio to soar making it hard for teachers to teach.

Mrs Mukasa
"UPE (universal primary education) has eradicated illiteracy. Before only half of the population went to school, now it's around 90 per cent. "

Mr Ntairaho
"It has become a relief burden. Before, many children could not join school because their parents were poor or they were orphans. Now they are all in school. And UPE has given older children the chance to come back to school. I know of a father who is studying with his children and I have a mother in primary 6 (Year 6 equivalent) whose daughter is in primary 2 (Year 2)."

Mrs Mukasa
"UPE has compromised the standard of education and not just at primary level. The students we admit are somehow half-baked and not the right quality for secondary education because they don't get the right package at primary school. "

Mr Ntairaho
"We used to get $1,000,000 shillings per 1,000 pupils but now we get $0.4m shillings. The education budget has been affected by the war against The Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. The primary syllabus is not fully covered now and we don't hold monthly exams."

Although UPE has been successful in getting children into school, there is still a big fallout after primary school. Only 25 per cent of girls receive some secondary education.

Mr Ntairaho
" Last year 100 per cent of my pupils passed their Primary Leaving Examination but five could not continue their education because they are total orphans."

Mrs Mukasa
"Why did you not approach me?"

Mr Ntairaho
" I do approach secondary heads specifically about those who are really poor. But the problem is that the children come from a long distance and it's hard for them to travel even further. We also have a problem with parents who don't value education because they survived without it."

Masindi District has thousands of people who have been displaced by a 19-year war between The Lord's Resistance Army and the government. Mr Ntairaho is conducting a survey on behalf of the district education office to estimate the number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Masindi, so UPE money can be distributed fairly between districts.

Mr Ntairaho
" I found a 16-year-old boy sleeping on the street. He had boarded a bus from Gulu and come to Masindi not knowing anyone. He's now at my school and my neighbour is looking after him. At first, the other children feared him because he walked around with a razor blade. The children in the north are trained to carry razor blades so that they can cut the ropes if they are abducted. I don't want to have too many IDP at my school because they are traumatised and I have 145 disabled children to look after."

Uganda's rate of AIDS infection has dropped from 18 per cent to six per cent since 1986. Two years ago the government launched a strategy, called The President's Initiative on AIDS Strategy for Communicating to Young People (PIASCY), which requires primary schools to teach children how to stay safe. But around 7 per cent of the Masindi adult population is HIV positive - and many pupils and teachers have dropped out of school because they are ill or caring for sick relatives.

Mr Ntairaho
" Parents can't afford to pay for their children's education or food, so the children have to find money. Boys run boda-bodas (bicycle taxis) but girls fall victim to sugar daddies who offer gifts in return for sex. If the men are under age you have to compromise. If you put them in prison for defilement, they won't be able to support the girl and her child."

Mrs Mukasa
" We have been running Aids awareness clubs for some time. But now the government is emphasising PIASCY, it's become like a song. The kids have got used to the message of abstinence - and failing that using condoms - but they don't value it. There used to be more condoms available but students think they are risky so they don't use them. They also think they are for prostitutes, not for someone you love."

Mr Ntairaho
"PIASCY is really working. It's helping children to accept those who are HIV positive and it has changed the attitude of some parents, as I have not had so many complaints from pupils. We tell parents about the programmes and advise those who live in one room not to have sex in front of their children. We have a senior woman teacher who gives the girls advice about periods and we test girls we think might be pregnant each term. And there's a suggestion box in the classroom so pupils can tell me if they have a complaint against a teacher or another pupil. "

Mrs Mukasa
" I think we save one out of a hundred pupils from Aids. Some people are becoming Born Again Christians because they believe that, in time, Jesus will heal Aids. The government is offering free drugs to people who register as HIV positive, but many people are still not revealing their status because of fear. And some people take revenge. They think, 'I'm sick so why can't I finish off so and so'. As a professional teacher and mother, I believe in abstaining from sex until you can find a faithful partner."