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Uganda: Holiday Teaching is a Structural Problem
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New Vision (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Kampala
LAST week, teachers of Hormisdallen Primary School were caught red-handed teaching during the holidays in defiance against the Ministry of Education policy.
The teachers were teaching behind locked doors for fear of being found out by the authorities.
When the inspectors pounced on them, they fled leaving their books behind. Hormisdallen registered over 100 pupils for the Primary Leaving Examination but only 60 were found attending the holiday classes.
Hormisdallen was not the only culprit. Kisubi High School and Queen Elizabeth were also found teaching without permission from the education permanent secretary.
Holidays should not be considered a waste of time because they provide quality time for children to interact with their parents and siblings. They are a welcome break from the exacting school schedule for both the teachers and the students. Children and teachers alike need some rest to perform optimally.
Unfortunately, all the psychology and child study knowledge acquired in the teachers' colleges is left there and never applied in the field. Why? There are many factors, chief among which is the ruthlessly stiff competition to excel in examinations. In the absence of any other form of assessment, the examination system has become a nightmare not only to the students but to the teachers and parents as well.
Holiday teaching is not free. That is another problem. Holidays are used by teachers to earn extra income. However, this is unfair to those who do not attend, as in the case of Hormisdallen. What is covered in the holidays is not repeated when the term begins. This puts parents on intolerable pressure to have their children study during the holidays.
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The problem is further complicated by the fact that only the 'cream of the cream' can win government scholarships. This has eroded quality education because analytical thinking has given way to rote learning to pass exams. This is a structural problem and the assessment method needs to be revisited.
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