Stephen Senkaaba
2 December 2008
Kampala — This is a boy this is a man," the little boys and girls chorus in unison after "Auntie Betty", their teacher.
It is a hot Wednesday afternoon in a rural primary school in Lira. For the last 30 minutes, "Auntie Betty" has been conducting a reading lesson for a class of 200, using just 20 textbooks.
As the pupils crowd around the desks to reach for the books, one can see their excitement and eagerness to learn. "Auntie Betty" too is doing her best to explain concepts from the textbooks, some of which appear a bit far-fetched. She likes her job but wishes her work could be made easier.
A new project to help primary school teachers develop reading materials for their pupils may be what thousands of teachers like Auntie Betty need to simplify their work and improve literacy levels.
The project, Development Partnership In Higher Education, (DELPHE) is sponsored by the British Council and the Department for International Development. It is a collaboration between Gulu University, Makerere University, the University of London and the Association for the Advancement of Higher Education and Development (AHEAD).
The partnering institutions will, over the next three years, train primary school teachers from Lira and Gulu in developing bilingual supplementary class readers in pilot primary schools.
Representatives from the partner institutions recently toured Gulu and Lira and introduced the project to teachers. They consulted them on the relevance of the project, identified their training needs and held discussions on reading practices and limitations in classrooms. They also met with district education officials.
Dr. Aaron Mushengyezi, the project coordinator, says the initiative aims at empowering teachers and involving them in the teaching and learning process.
"As the people who deal directly with pupils on a daily basis, teachers best understand their learners' needs and peculiarities. This puts them in a better position to determine the actual learning needs of their pupils. This project will, therefore, empower teachers to develop the most relevant subjects for their pupils based on their knowledge of learners," Mushengyezi adds. He says the initiative was critical to schools in northern Uganda where education standards have been set back by over 20 years of war.
Kimberlee LeBlanc, the executive director of AHEAD, says the project will also pay close attention to accessibility of reading materials.
"Our target is to provide a book for every child," she says. LeBlanc explains that teachers would be trained to produce quality books in sufficient numbers to enable each pupil have their own book.
Hands-on for the teachers
Tom Ogwang, the local project coordinator says teachers will be trained in developing reading materials such as storybooks and on how to use them in the classroom.
"We have encouraged teachers to write on familiar subjects relating to the day-to-day lives and surroundings of teachers and students such as the environment, culture, peace and reconciliation as well as community activities.
He says under the project, teachers will think of exercises to go with their books. All stories will be illustrated with pictures drawn by students or by art teachers. Ogwang explains that teachers would be free to write their stories in either English or their local language and those in the local languages would be translated.
After publication, the books will be given back to the teachers to use in their schools.
The project will continually monitor the teachers' progress, providing guidance and training on quality work and on how to use books in the classroom.
In all schools visited, teachers expressed interest in the project and optimism that it would go a long way in addressing literacy problems. "Language is the cornerstone of education. This initiative has come at a time when we are trying to implement the thematic curriculum. It will improve our skills and make our work much easier," says Catherine Agnes Tali, a teacher at Adyel Primary school.
"The component of writing in our local languages is good. It will help both the teachers and pupils to relate to their environment and understand concepts much better," Daniel Owino, the headteacher of Aloi High Primary School in Lira says.
"We had the ideas but lacked guidance and skills on how to turn them into publishable work. This is a good opportunity for us," says Sylvia Rose Okene, a teacher at Canon Lawrence Primary school.
Quinto Okello, the Lira education officer, says the project complements government's efforts to improve literacy and promote quality education.
Charlotte Kukunda, the British Council DELPHE desk officer, says the project is in line with the organisation's efforts to improve education.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
