Let Uwezo assess parents too

Aug 29, 2011

I wish to commend Uwezo, a new initiative that has come to redeem the education situation in Uganda; and if the results contained in their 2011 report are anything to go by, then it is high time we all woke up to reality.

I wish to commend Uwezo, a new initiative that has come to redeem the education situation in Uganda; and if the results contained in their 2011 report are anything to go by, then it is high time we all woke up to reality.

It is obviously embarrassing that our children should simply walk through school without being able to pick knowledge along the way, but how much blame should we cast on the children per se?
To start with, at least for those who believe in the Holy Bible; all wisdom comes from God.

As such, if one is a serious pagan who does not live by Godly principles, it is less likely that the person will be successful in school — let alone his children and his children’s children. Let anyone prove me wrong on this.

However, on the other hand, God shares his seeds of wisdom with parents and teachers and down to the children, though some lucky children break the trend and get wisdom straight from God himself.

So, if we appreciate that majority of us are what we are because of the wisdom and values we gained from our parents and teachers, it is therefore important that Uganda breeds quality parents and quality teachers in order to harvest quality children and ultimately an educated society.

The recent Uwezo report pointed out that children whose mothers have completed post-secondary level of education perform averagely better than those whose mothers have not.

Uwezo should also assess the fathers and the teachers in order to establish the ultimate root causes of poor performance so that the problem can be handled right from the roots and not the braches or stems.

An assessment of the parents and teachers would further disaggregate those who actually take the bother to play a role in teaching their children and those that are just lucky to have passed on the wisdom through blood.

I can already predict that many parents may run to the bushes upon seeing the Uwezo assessment team, because majority are simply too busy with other worldly chores to attend to their children’s mentoring.

Well, before anyone takes to their heels running away from being assessed, let everyone reading this article assess himself. How much have you done to contribute to your child’s wisdom?

Would you collapse if an assessment of the teachers to whom you have entrusted full responsibility of educating your child, established that they too are lacking? That a lacking teacher can only pass on the same lack to your child?

During our school days, not all pupils were equal in class. Some would be quick to answer questions while others were always quick to ask for clarification. Yes, I could tell that we were not all coming from the same background.

If teachers in class are teaching children to name a kettle, a cat, a dog; and you have dogs at home and the like, why should your child be the last to provide an answer in class? So ideally, parents have a serious role in the education of their children, and must never leave the mantle entirely to the teachers.

At least share with your child the little information you have in you, then the teachers can build on that. This process must start right from the day we bring children onto this earth.

I see no problem with a parent doing a refresher course in basic Primary Seven arithmetic and English. Some of these tutorials are, by the way, also available online for those that were not lucky enough to have been particularly good in class.

We must all look at learning as a continuous process, and desist from perceiving the duty of imparting knowledge and values as a preserve of the teachers. Everyone in the society has a role to play in educating our children, because this is the only way we can transform our country.

Meantime, I urge the Ministry of Education to find ways of revamping our education system from the current trend of cram work to a more creative approach where children are able to effectively utilise their brains to explore new knowledge on their own.

This business of training children for purposes of answering examinations has greatly dwarfed our people. If a child can solve an arithmetic problem like, say, 2+3, why shouldn’t the same child do the same with 3+2 without waiting for the teacher’s intervention? I am sure parents can do so much to enhance children’s learning outcomes.

Thanks to the Uwezo Uganda team for the excellent work done thus far, but a more qualitative approach could make a huge difference for many parents out there without even waiting for the Government’s intervention. The future of our children is surely in our hands!
The writer is a is a private
media consultant

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});