Prime
Traditional schools are overrated
Author: Angella Nampewo. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- ‘‘this madness has to stop because all our children cannot fit in the traditional schools"
It was hard to ignore the rush of parents trying to secure slots in secondary school for their primary-leaving children. This time it was a real crunch. Time was not on anyone’s side and the list of schools that everyone was trying to join was just as skimpy.
The competition to join traditional schools at Senior One was cut-throat. Even having Aggregate Four could not guarantee you a place at some of the top schools. Children were ‘sold’ to the second and third choices, parents fretted and those whose children’s marks were nowhere close to Aggregate Four, were close to desperation in their search.
But all that for what? There are thousands of schools in this country but many of Uganda’s well-to-do hanker after the so-called traditional schools. As a result, Senior One classes are now so big that we are hearing numbers like 600 per class, which was inconceivable back in the day.
At some point though, this madness has to stop because all our children cannot fit in the traditional schools, which we have done little to expand over the years. We have not created other schools of similar standards either and now what we ask of these top schools is just too much.
After hustling so much to get a place in that highly rated school, let me burst that bubble. Traditional schools are overrated. Grades can be found elsewhere and good teachers too. We used to scramble for good values but those can be found elsewhere too.
In fact, some of these traditional schools no longer hold the magic that made them special. You can see it from their products. They are not as reputable as the children who once went to those schools. Perhaps a change in tradition has taken place but then society as a whole has also degenerated so it may as well be a case of garbage in, garbage out.
Whatever the case, I do not see the need for the rush to book a place in the traditional schools. It is just creating stress for school administrations and causing parents high blood pressure for no good reason. There are many schools in this country where your child can succeed. Let us give them a chance and not look down our noses at every other school that is not Namagunga, Budo, Nabisunsa, Gayaza, Kibuli, Kisubi and the list goes on.
Let us purpose to grow the other schools to the standard of the traditional schools and let the parent teachers’ associations insist on good leadership and values in the schools. When we spread out the growth, there will be no need for the mad dash that happens nowadays as everyone tries to get into what they consider a good school.
Due to this narrow-minded view of what constitutes a good school, we have allowed room for the most sought after schools to charge exorbitant fees, which we pay without question, like lambs being led to the slaughter.
Parents have no backbone where schools are concerned because the widely held belief is that we are doing the best for our children. Do your kid a favour by not bribing schools to let them in. Do your child a favour by placing them in a school where they will thrive and that is not always a big name school.
Some of the children do not actually fit in the mould of the schools you are trying to fix them and others do not even like them. Do your children a favour and do not burden them with the weight of expectations. Relax, our children will succeed even in those other schools.
Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant
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