Prime
Uwezo wants P.7 phased out
Pupils attend class recently. Uwezo, an education-focused non-governmental organisation, has proposed a string of reforms to the Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC) it believes if implemented by the government, will turn around the education sector.PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- Uwezo argues that where pre-primary education is accessible and effective, six years are sufficient for the primary cycle.
Uwezo, an education-focused non-governmental organisation, has proposed a string of reforms to the Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC) it believes if implemented by the government, will turn around the education sector.
While presenting the recommendations during an ongoing public consultations on EPRC in Kampala yesterday, Uwezo’s executive director, Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, stated that public subsidies for pre-primary education and reduction of primary education cycle should be considered by the review Commission.
“As a first step, we recommend that the Ministry of Education subsidises the services of non-profit nursery schools and early childhood development centres to make them affordable to poorer households,” Ms Nakabugo said.
She observed that most of these non-profit pre-schools are managed by local communities or faith-based organisations and offer a three year programme.
“They have useful social capital but would benefit greatly from support for staff salaries and training, and from credit facilities to improve buildings and equipment,” she said.
Dr Nakabugo said whereas the White Paper of 1992 envisaged that pre-primary education would only be left for a time as a private service funded entirely by parents, some degree of public funding is urgently needed to make it more accessible and affordable since it is key in improving literacy and numeracy levels among children joining primary education.
Uwezo also recommends that the Ministry of Education should consider reducing the long cycle of primary education from the current seven years to six years, thus maximising resources, especially available classrooms.
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“The experience of other countries is that where pre-primary education is accessible and effective, six years are sufficient for the primary cycle,” she added.
Dr Nakabugo said phasing out Primary Seven would reduce the number of adolescents and over-age children in primary schools, for whom post primary schools offer a more suitable culture.
Col (rtd) Amanya Mushega, the chairperson of the Education Policy Review Commission, listens to proceedings during a sitting in Kampala on October 19, 2022. PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI
On the issue of high pupil-teacher ratio Uwezo, recommends that this should be reduced from the more than 100 pupils to one teacher in most government primary schools to the government’s target of 1: 55, in addition to using volunteer teachers.
The 2019 Unesco report indicates that the pupil-teacher ratio stands at 1:53 and the ratio is high compared to the UN recommended ratio of 1:40 at primary level.
The Commission chairperson, Col (rtd) Amanya Mushega, said nearly 30 years later, many things have changed in the education sector, the wide society of Uganda and globally and necessitates the review of the 1992 Education Policy to respond to emerging education needs, trends and stimulate innovation in the sector.
Other recommendations include providing classrooms more efficiently, inclusion of life skills in national assessment systems, recognition of citizen-led educational assessments and surveys as a source of public data and findings, and modification of the National Teacher Policy to strike a balance between quality and quantity in the training and employment of teachers.
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Background
The Education Review Commission was launched by Education minister Janet Museveni in May last year to conduct a rapid assessment of the current education system, undertake an in-depth analysis of the 1992 Education Policy, public hearings on the education sector reforms in all sub-regions and invite views from institutions, umbrella organisations and key groups.
President Museveni appointed the Amanya Mushega committee to gather public representation on how Uganda’s education, largely an adulterated replica of what departing British colonialists left, should be reformed to meet the demands of the future.
The outcomes of these consultations, or the findings and recommendations, are to be submitted through the Ministry of Education for consideration by Cabinet to develop a new White Paper on Education to replace the 30-year-old Prof Senteza Kajubi report, many of whose recommendations remain unimplemented.
