Right now, we are in the middle of second term for primary and secondary schools in Uganda. This is a significant period especially after the reading of the national budget that is yet to be endorsed by our 9th parliament. The theme for the budget is ‘’Promoting Economic Growth, Job Creation and Improving Service Delivery”.
The budget indeed prioritizes core programs that are intended to transform our general economy. One of such core programs is education – especially elementary education for all.
Since the commencement of UPE, in Uganda, the government has put a side billions of Shillings for primary education. a lot of effort has been made in improving primary schools infrastructure like the construction of class rooms and toilet facilities, provision of text books and increasing primary teachers’ salaries. Suffice to say that more is required in this section. The primary teachers salary is still low, a number of schools still carry out classes under tree shades, pupils in some rural schools wait until Primary Leaving xams (PLE) to sit a typed exam. The greater challenges that face UPE also include the high teacher to pupil ratio and the long distances tracked by pupils and teachers to schools, the failure to provide the much-desired meals to pupils at schools and the wanting monitoring of the program.
These challenges have led to the now very much talked about advanced dropout rate.
In attempt address t solve these, less effort has been put on bringing parents and guardians on board. It should be recalled that the advent of UPE saw the death in role of most Parents Teacher Associations (PTA) at primary level. The relational bodies had been very instrumental in interesting parents and guardians to the needs of their children’s’ education. PTAs were composed of well-selected teachers and parents representatives that formed helpful committees. They held regular meetings and designed plans that would later be passed at the general annual PTA meetings. Mostly, the associations looked at parent’s contribution or fees, discipline of pupils and other academic necessities.
Today most of these associations have died out at least in role especially in rural primary schools. The few remaining ones are always at log heads with school head teachers given the fact that they less appreciate their role. They gang up and visit the District Education Officers’ searching head teachers transfers, they do not meet regularly, and illiterate peasants lead some.
If the rural primary schools are to measure up to their counterparts in townships, PTAs need to be revitalized. Resources need to be put aside to organize parents and reach them with information about what the government is doing and their part to the educating their children. The government should not continue to pump in resources yet some children drop out of school at Primary two or even never ever get to start primary school.
Sensitizing parents will go a long way in soliciting their support to the UPE program. Enlightened parents teacher associations can indeed lead a way to transforming Ugandans primary education system.
Since the commencement of UPE, in Uganda, the government has put a side billions of Shillings for primary education. a lot of effort has been made in improving primary schools infrastructure like the construction of class rooms and toilet facilities, provision of text books and increasing primary teachers’ salaries. Suffice to say that more is required in this section. The primary teachers salary is still low, a number of schools still carry out classes under tree shades, pupils in some rural schools wait until Primary Leaving xams (PLE) to sit a typed exam. The greater challenges that face UPE also include the high teacher to pupil ratio and the long distances tracked by pupils and teachers to schools, the failure to provide the much-desired meals to pupils at schools and the wanting monitoring of the program.
These challenges have led to the now very much talked about advanced dropout rate.
In attempt address t solve these, less effort has been put on bringing parents and guardians on board. It should be recalled that the advent of UPE saw the death in role of most Parents Teacher Associations (PTA) at primary level. The relational bodies had been very instrumental in interesting parents and guardians to the needs of their children’s’ education. PTAs were composed of well-selected teachers and parents representatives that formed helpful committees. They held regular meetings and designed plans that would later be passed at the general annual PTA meetings. Mostly, the associations looked at parent’s contribution or fees, discipline of pupils and other academic necessities.
Today most of these associations have died out at least in role especially in rural primary schools. The few remaining ones are always at log heads with school head teachers given the fact that they less appreciate their role. They gang up and visit the District Education Officers’ searching head teachers transfers, they do not meet regularly, and illiterate peasants lead some.
If the rural primary schools are to measure up to their counterparts in townships, PTAs need to be revitalized. Resources need to be put aside to organize parents and reach them with information about what the government is doing and their part to the educating their children. The government should not continue to pump in resources yet some children drop out of school at Primary two or even never ever get to start primary school.
Sensitizing parents will go a long way in soliciting their support to the UPE program. Enlightened parents teacher associations can indeed lead a way to transforming Ugandans primary education system.
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