Tracing Ugandan School performance for the past 17 years!

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Kampala

Since its introduction in 1997, UniversalPrimary Education (UPE) has attracted the highest pupil enrolment in the country from 3.1 million in 1996 to 7.6 million by 2003.

The current enrolment is estimated at 8 million pupils and the government spends more than Shs6.5b annually on the scheme.

The surging enrollment is attributed to the scrapping of tuition fees, population growth and realisation of need for education. UPE has been characterised with high failure anddropout rates with some parents calling the scheme a waste of time since majority of pupils fail literacy and numeracy tests of their class level.

A survey in 2012 by Uwezo, an East African initiative that compiles quality assurance andmanagement support in the region, indicated that pupils in Primary Three “only one out of 10 have Primary Two level literacy and numeracy skills. By the time they reach Primary 7, two out of 10 children have not mastered these skills”.

However, Education minister Jessica Alupodisputed the findings and instead attributes the poor primary performance to teachers who only concentrate on P.7 Seven pupils.

A government probe in 2012 indicated thatcorruption and absenteeism were among the causes of UPE poor performance. Mr IssaMatovu, an education expert, however, says, the scheme was laid on a wrong foundation since it was defused with politics, thus resulting into policy disorientation.

Mr Matovu also said the programme was poorly communicated and rushed without equipping the stakeholders with skills to enable them handle the programme. 

“Why do you think my rural school I went to was performing well then but now with good infrastructure, it is performing worse?’’ he asks 

“The government communication was wrong. It conveyed a message as if the children now belonged to government and not parents. That is why many parents refer to them as government children,” he added.

The Uwezo report indicated poor UPE performances, were also ranked the poorest in the country by the 2011/12 Uganda Bureau of Statistics poverty prevalence survey. At the release of UPE results yesterday, Ms Alupo urged leaders of districts to place more emphasis on supporting supervision of pupils and schools for better results. She also the government would improve working conditions of teachers like increasing salaries, housing and among others.