BY W.B.KYIJOMANYI VIA THE UAH FORUM
The problem in Uganda today is that YKM has not had a competent minister of education for some time. He may have had some in his early reign but lately, the ministers can be characterized as GIGO. They are not passionate about education.
YKM meant well when he introduced UPE and USE. But his ministers failed him in the implementation. I can say without any fear of contradiction that if YKM had a fairly competent Minister of Education like Brig Barnabas Kili (SP) who was Amin’s minster when we went to school, things would be somewhat different. Brig Kili with the help of seasoned educationists like Mr. Mugoya (quiz: Mugoya is a common name among 3 Ugandan ethnic groups, name them), the then Chief Inspector of schools and others made things run. Most students knew who the chief Inspector of schools was.
In the 70s it did not matter where one went to school. St Joseph Layibi then and it seems now was a giant. Comboni College in Lira and Nyapea did produce leading candidates in national exams. Of course so did Gayaza and Namagunga, Ntare Kisubi and others.
In terms of ability, students in Kampala or Wakiso are no more talented or able than their peers in Eastern or Northern. The difference is access to resources in terms of teachers and materials. With equity, students can performs from any corner of Uganda.
So the big question is this: does Uganda’s educational system embrace equity? No.
YKM and others want to see Ugandans embrace sciences or STEM. But what investments have they made in terms of buildings labs, training science teachers and yes, paying them adequately to feel motivated? Do all schools in Uganda have access to the required textbooks for example? If not what is YKM doing to ensure equity? What is the ratio of students to critical textbooks? What is the government doing to ensure all students have the required books? In other words how many students share critical textbooks?
Let me share with you something. A few Ugandans volunteered to write textbooks for A level. Some volunteered to write maths books to include abit more calculus, others-myself included -offered do write an Economics textbook. We contacted the ministry and the curriculum Development centre. Someone one was interested but the minister and top shots were not. The only person who expressed interested is the late Dr Rwandeire (RIP) but was soon out of office. I repeat we volunteered to write textbooks to benefit Ugandan kids. The ministry and the curriculum people were not interested. Later we found out the British Council in Uganda vetoed our suggestion. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
Fyi, there was no money to be made from textbooks, may be some tokenism.
Spare a thought for candidates. Exams are based on a body of knowledge (BOK). Yet many students lack that body of knowledge due to poor teaching or even no teaching at all and especially lack of access to key textbooks. It is possible, nay likely that O and A level physics still depend on the iconic Nelkon and Abbot or the other way. It is also likely A level maths still depends on Backhouse (Sp). Do not get me wrong they are great books but may be time to change textbooks. This brings me back to why our proposal was vetoed. Think about it, we volunteered and the ministry said no thanks.
If it is lack of teachers, why can’t the govt create centers of excellence? This is how they would work. Great teachers are not many so they few capable ones should be shared and deployed to maximize their ability. For example, Kampala would be divided into 4 zones. If Kibuli has a good physics teacher, why can’t she or he also go and teach in Kyambaogo Demonstration ration Nabisunsa? Nabisunsa may have great chemistry or history teachers, and they can go and teach in Kibuli, and Kyambaogo. Meanwhile Kyambaogo may have great maths and Economics teachers who can be deployed to teach in the other school.
Now fast forward to upcountry schools. Take Gulu, a good chemistry teacher At Layibi can and should also go teach in neighbouring schools and vice versa. These centers can be created throughout Uganda. Remember resources ae scarce. Sharing excellent teachers can go a long way. Knowing UAH, some will ask why not simply hire teachers? They are assuming there exists enough competent-emphasis added-teachers to teach in single schools.
My argument is that Uganda lacks enough competent teachers in the core subjects hence the need to create centers of excellence to share their competency. How long does it take by Boda Boda travel from Kibuli to Nabisunsa or Kyambaogo Demonstration and vice versa? How long does it take on boda boda travel from Comboni to Boroboro or Lango College and vice versa?
Btw, such competent teachers would be immune from regular transfers and would be paid a lot more.
Today you have a situation where many students have no access to workable labs yet they are expected to perform practical exams and pass them? Come on.
Then for the love of Ugandan children we again came up with another idea to help improve learning. The remedial procedure was to be implemented in middle level primary schools from P3 to P5 to ensure literacy. We wrote the template, how it would work and who would undertake remedial teachings. Based on academic literature, we settled on female teachers. This is not the place to explain why but studies show female teachers are better positioned to carry out remedial teaching.
Fyi, remedial teachers would also be floaters and not restricted in one school and would work certain hours. Their job would be to ensure that students in grades 3 to 5 acquire the critical competencies in writing, reading and maths. This proposal was also shared with the govt but again the govt or the mandarins in the ministry were not keen. They kept asking where the money would come from. Btw, remedial teachers would also be picked from the most competent lot. May be had the late Dr Rwandeire (RIP) stayed longer in education some of the changes would have been implemented.
Btw, Harvard University and MIT routinely share professors in certain core competencies. No wonder they are top.
WBK