P.7 pupils reap from Monitor’s Excel in PLE
P.7 pupils with handouts of ‘Excel in PLE’ during revision at Kitukutwe Church of Uganda Primary School in Kira, Wakiso District, on October 27, 2022. PHOTO/FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- Under the programme, the school is supplied with 50 copies of ‘Excel in PLE’ study materials every week.
In 2019, Daily Monitor in partnership with KPMG launched the Newspaper in Education programme at Kitukutwe Church of Uganda Primary School in Kiira Municipality, Wakiso District.
Under the programme, the school was on a weekly basis supplied with 50 copies of ‘Excel in PLE’ study materials, which are published in Daily Monitor every Wednesday.
Last Thursday, Daily Monitor and KPMG staff visited the school to interact with Primary Seven candidates on their readiness for the forthcoming Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
And according to the school head teacher, Ms Sarah Kabonge, the ‘Excel in PLE’ study materials have been a game changer in the pupils’ academic performance.
“We always found it difficult in ensuring that the learners read and comprehend English language, but Excel in PLE material has greatly improved the learners’ reading culture and now they can read and understand the questions very well,” Ms Kabonge said.
“The performance has also generally improved and in after Daily Monitor together with KPMG started to supply the school with these study materials, the school got a pupil with a first grade in PLE; this had never happened before,” she explained, adding: “Since 2019, we have continued to have pupils with first grades.”
In an interview, the candidates applauded Daily Monitor and KPMG for the study materials, saying these have helped them prepare better for the national exams.
“During the first term, we were performing poorly at Mathematics but since we started receiving the Excel in PLE papers, we have managed to improve,” Peter Kayongo, a candidate, said.
“We formed discussion groups to discuss the weekly Excel in PLE papers; this brought academic competition where each group wanted to be the best, which boosted our performance,” Loreen Nantumbwe, another candidate, said.
Kitukutwe Church of Uganda Primary School has a total number of 65 candidates (38 girls and 27 boys) who will be sitting for their Primary Leaving Examinations in November 2022. The head teacher said whereas the school is government-aided, the support from other partners is playing an important role in ensuring the quality of academic performance at the school.
The senior manager advisory at KPMG, Ms Solome Seruyange, said they are committed to support the schools with such programmes, which can improve on the learners’ performance.
“In 2019, when we found out that most of the pupils could not read and understand the questions, we decided to partner with Daily Monitor so that the school can be supplied with the study materials.
Without doubt, the programme is very effective and learners were positively reaping out of it,” Ms Seruyange said.
She added: “I therefore call upon other partners to come on board to ensure that this programme can rolled out to other schools, especially government-aided ones, because in most cases, these schools have got a limited budget, which may not enable them to facilitate these initiatives.”
About programme...Catalysts
Daily Monitor’s Excel in PLE programme, which runs every Wednesday, features questions and answers from senior teachers about the various subjects. The programme helps pupils prepare for Primary Leaving Examinations.
