With another year coming to an end, education experts will find plenty to study as they look at plans for 2017. Last week, Uwezo released the findings of their 2015 survey. MOSES TALEMWA and MILCAH KATIITI studied the report.
Early each morning, Filbert Akinyi (not her real name) wakes up to attend school at Kikuube primary school in Hoima, he has a smile on his face. The eight-year old, now promoted to P3, is one of many pupils who enjoy learning at the school, based just outside Hoima municipality.
“I plan to become a pilot, so I can fly planes to far away countries he muses. “But I have been told I need to improve my reading skills to make it.”
His is an example of a learner who is looking to excel in a rapidly changing world. Hoima is about to start producing petroleum, and it is clear that the place will change substantially, attracting some of the best brains.
Thus it is not surprising that Akinyi’s parents are anxious to get the best for their son. The school’s performance in last year’s PLE exams showed that there was a lot to be achieved before its graduates are deemed the best in the country.
Some of Kikuube’s learners were part of 164,129 learners reached by a 2015 survey on numeracy and reading by Uwezo, the assessment arm of Twaweza East Africa. According to one of the assessors, Farida Nassereka, the survey assessed 97,757 children in various aspects, including their proficiency in reading a P3 level passage in English and some of the local languages such as Runyakitara, Luganda, Acholi and Ateso.
“We found that compared to our previous assessment, there was a 3% improvement in the number of children reading in English than in the local languages, due to a shortage of reading materials,” she said. “However, the improvement was very marginal and can best be seen as stagnation.”
She noted that her survey confirmed complaints by teachers, that they had no text books to help children improving their reading abilities. Many were forced to improvise by writing on charts or the blackboard.
Nassereka attributes the improvement to an increase in the number of children attending a nursery education before moving on to primary school.
“Our study shows that while 23.4% were attending nursery schools, that number had risen to 27% in 2015, although this was also mostly in the urban areas,” she added.
SADDENING TREND
However, the survey confirmed a saddening trend in learning outcomes where the 20 worst performing districts are all in northern and eastern Uganda, while the best are in central and western Uganda.
Private schools continue to outperform their state-funded counterparts in numeracy by nearly 10 % (58.8% to 49.4%). In English literacy the gap is even wider at 50.7% to 33.7%. However, the two sets of schools are only closer when assessed in local language reading skills at 39.1% to 32.9%.
MINISTRY RESPONSE
The report was formally released to the public at a function at Nakasero primary school, last Friday. Presenting the report, Uwezo’s Uganda Country coordinator, Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, called for provision of text books.
“The absence of textbooks is a challenge as not all schools can access them,” she said. “Only 30% of teachers are trained to help the disabled, which leaves out the other schools.”
She asked for increased effort to end the practice of children going to school hungry, and not getting lunch.
“Something needs to be done urgently to end this, as it affects learning outcomes.”
Responding to the report findings, the education ministry’s director for basic and secondary education, Robinson Nsumba Lyazi, admitted that there was a problem.
“Why do we have the same set of schools ... performing poorly? More needs to be done to rectify the situation,” he said.
Speaking as chief guest at the function, he committed the ministry to support improvements in learning.
“There should be more support to schools used by the disadvantaged population in the rural areas to improve learning skills … it must be a policy priority to enhance teaching and literacy in local languages,” he added. “Remedial lessons should be emphasized in schools to enable students acquire knowledge in the time required.”
He added that the ministry would continue to provide adequate textbooks to learners and teachers, under the Early Grade Reading Achievement (EGRA) programme.
This would be carried out hand in hand with plans by the sector to enhance teacher salaries in the next budget.
“Teacher motivation and accountability will be emphasized to ensure all teachers are doing their very best … and to avoid absenteeism, which can be a disadvantage to pupils.”
He also called on parents to motivate their children to read and count well in class. “The report confirmed a well-founded point, that children who have a good learning relationship with their parents are well placed to succeed in class.”
As the Uwezo report is digested for further analysis, parents like Akinyi’s will need to find time to digest the implications of obtaining positive learning outcomes.
mtalemwa@observer.ug