Why education ministry is tough on coaching
May 13, 2007
FRESH debate has emerged on holiday teaching which was banned by the Ministry of Education and Sports. This follows the recent dismissal of six teachers, with some sections of the public arguing that the action was misdirected.
By Irene Nabusoba
FRESH debate has emerged on holiday teaching which was banned by the Ministry of Education and Sports. This follows the recent dismissal of six teachers, with some sections of the public arguing that the action was misdirected.
The said teachers reportedly issued a circular on a letterhead of an organisation, inviting parents or guardians to send their children of Senior three to senior six to attend a science workshop running from April 23 to May 11, 2007.
Participation fees were sh29,950 for students of senior three and four, while senior five and six students were to pay sh39,950.
But in a May 9 circular, the education ministry spokesman Aggrey Kibenge, explains that they were forced to arrest the teachers because they contravened government policy.
“The collection of coaching/teaching fees, under the guise of workshop participation fees, was unauthorised. Besides, the collections were not receipted, save for some cards issued bearing a stamp and signature of the organisers,†the circular reads.
“It was even incomprehensible to bundle students from different educational backgrounds/ schools and at different syllabus completion levels and expect to engage them meaningfully.â€
The circular says that at the time of arrest, each class was found crammed with over 100 students purportedly being taught sciences with no capacity to conduct practicals and the whole arrangement was devoid of any clear management structures to assure discipline and safety of the participants.
The ministry notes that the conditions under which the students were being kept were suspect and with immense potential for mischief, and/or such abuses as defilement and other anti-social behaviour.
“Orgies associated with holiday bashes thrive in circumstances such as these, where there is no distinct institutional arrangement; and considering the contemporary challenge of HIV/AIDs and other irresponsible sexuality concerns facing our country and the youth especially, the ministry had to act with speed,†the circular says.
The ministry outlawed holiday teaching, commonly known as ‘coaching’ in 1994 through a circular to all District Education Officers, District Inspectors of Schools and headteachers of primary and secondary schools.
The argument was that some teachers intentionally left large parts of the syllabus uncovered during normal class time with the aim of covering them during private coaching sessions.
“This is unethical and was interpreted as meant to deprive sections of pupils or students who miss these sessions,†the circular ruled.
The ministry also argued that the perpetuators of coaching also tend to set examinations or tests based on what they teach during coaching/holiday sessions rather than on what they are paid to teach during normal classes at school.
It said the teachers deliberately inflate coached pupils or students’ scores in order to create a wrong impression on the parents to justify the extra money paid for coaching.
The ministry also argued that there were many cases of defilement registered during coaching sessions and that children were being deprived of the desired rest needed for the brain.
But for Martin Walyaula, a managing director and a father of four, coaching is a necessary evil perpetuated mainly by parents because of the changing trends of the working world.
“In our days, schooling was self-motivated. Today, kids need a pushing hand. When they come home, it is about television and sleeping. If you deny them these, they will go to the bars.
Yet we are too busy working to manage our children’s holiday time. At the end of the day, sending them for coaching is safer,†Walyaula says.
However, Mary Amito, a secretary and a single mother of two daughters, wishes the ministry could tighten the ban on coaching.
“When it comes to holiday teaching, the demands are too much. They have to cope with fashion, and then there is transport and lunch. I ensured that my girls go in boarding school because I wanted to survive this,†Amito says.
But why does she have to send her girls for coaching anyway?
“Because I have no choice. When majority of parents accept to pay, I have to follow suit lest my children are left out.
When they call us for parents’ meetings, many well-to-do parents will jump at the idea of coaching, leaving us with no choice. Otherwise it is taxing for the child and the parent,†she says.
Some parents told The New Vision that they would not mind coaching as long as it is well managed, disciplined is ensured, students loosen from the usual normal school routine, and if the motive is to improve academics.
“Not all children are geniuses. There are those that need extra effort. Unfortunately, teachers and schools generally use it to milk us,†one parent, who prefers anonymity remarks.
Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the headteacher of Uganda Martyr’s Secondary School Namugongo and a former minister of education in the Buganda government, says it is not wise to conduct holiday teaching because children need that time to refresh.
“But there are exceptional disruptions that may necessitate you to seek the ministry’s permission to coach your students. Like in our case, the Martyr’s Day celebrations and UNEB marking often force us to close early.
There are also those schools that may be affected by strikes or epidemics… Such schools should be given a chance to compensate for the time lost,†Muyingo says.
He, however, notes that there are some schools which waste time at the beginning or closing of the term and illegally opt for coaching.
“You find children loitering around. They even call such periods ‘lousing weeks.’ The ministry issues a calendar for all schools to follow and if you have such habits, you will definitely not finish your curriculum in time.â€
Muyingo does not spare the ministry either: “The problem with the ministry is that they assume every school knows the school calendar.
Not all schools follow it, leave alone receive it. Some of us are simply aggressive and ensure that we get the calendar. Some schools just sit back.â€
Muyingo also argues that the ministry’s bashing of the teachers is misdirected because they should start with parents who lure them to coach their children.
“Teachers have very little to do. They are just human, especially when it comes to money.
Parents need to be educated first. They are the ones who pressurise teachers to coach. They have this belief that the more times a child spends in class, the better his or her performance. In fact, with this law, there is more coaching in homes than in schools,†he says.
Kibenge says that the ministry can only permit remedial teaching, which is often done during the normal school days, after class.
“Schools should know the timetable. But if there is reason enough to require extra teaching, you simply have to justify it.
But we are trying to change the education system where parents and teachers only think about education in terms of passing exams. That is why we introduced the thematic curriculum,†he says.
He warns that teachers found coaching will be interdicted, suspended, dismissed or deregistered depending on the gravity of the problem.
FRESH debate has emerged on holiday teaching which was banned by the Ministry of Education and Sports. This follows the recent dismissal of six teachers, with some sections of the public arguing that the action was misdirected.
The said teachers reportedly issued a circular on a letterhead of an organisation, inviting parents or guardians to send their children of Senior three to senior six to attend a science workshop running from April 23 to May 11, 2007.
Participation fees were sh29,950 for students of senior three and four, while senior five and six students were to pay sh39,950.
But in a May 9 circular, the education ministry spokesman Aggrey Kibenge, explains that they were forced to arrest the teachers because they contravened government policy.
“The collection of coaching/teaching fees, under the guise of workshop participation fees, was unauthorised. Besides, the collections were not receipted, save for some cards issued bearing a stamp and signature of the organisers,†the circular reads.
“It was even incomprehensible to bundle students from different educational backgrounds/ schools and at different syllabus completion levels and expect to engage them meaningfully.â€
The circular says that at the time of arrest, each class was found crammed with over 100 students purportedly being taught sciences with no capacity to conduct practicals and the whole arrangement was devoid of any clear management structures to assure discipline and safety of the participants.
The ministry notes that the conditions under which the students were being kept were suspect and with immense potential for mischief, and/or such abuses as defilement and other anti-social behaviour.
“Orgies associated with holiday bashes thrive in circumstances such as these, where there is no distinct institutional arrangement; and considering the contemporary challenge of HIV/AIDs and other irresponsible sexuality concerns facing our country and the youth especially, the ministry had to act with speed,†the circular says.
The ministry outlawed holiday teaching, commonly known as ‘coaching’ in 1994 through a circular to all District Education Officers, District Inspectors of Schools and headteachers of primary and secondary schools.
The argument was that some teachers intentionally left large parts of the syllabus uncovered during normal class time with the aim of covering them during private coaching sessions.
“This is unethical and was interpreted as meant to deprive sections of pupils or students who miss these sessions,†the circular ruled.
The ministry also argued that the perpetuators of coaching also tend to set examinations or tests based on what they teach during coaching/holiday sessions rather than on what they are paid to teach during normal classes at school.
It said the teachers deliberately inflate coached pupils or students’ scores in order to create a wrong impression on the parents to justify the extra money paid for coaching.
The ministry also argued that there were many cases of defilement registered during coaching sessions and that children were being deprived of the desired rest needed for the brain.
But for Martin Walyaula, a managing director and a father of four, coaching is a necessary evil perpetuated mainly by parents because of the changing trends of the working world.
“In our days, schooling was self-motivated. Today, kids need a pushing hand. When they come home, it is about television and sleeping. If you deny them these, they will go to the bars.
Yet we are too busy working to manage our children’s holiday time. At the end of the day, sending them for coaching is safer,†Walyaula says.
However, Mary Amito, a secretary and a single mother of two daughters, wishes the ministry could tighten the ban on coaching.
“When it comes to holiday teaching, the demands are too much. They have to cope with fashion, and then there is transport and lunch. I ensured that my girls go in boarding school because I wanted to survive this,†Amito says.
But why does she have to send her girls for coaching anyway?
“Because I have no choice. When majority of parents accept to pay, I have to follow suit lest my children are left out.
When they call us for parents’ meetings, many well-to-do parents will jump at the idea of coaching, leaving us with no choice. Otherwise it is taxing for the child and the parent,†she says.
Some parents told The New Vision that they would not mind coaching as long as it is well managed, disciplined is ensured, students loosen from the usual normal school routine, and if the motive is to improve academics.
“Not all children are geniuses. There are those that need extra effort. Unfortunately, teachers and schools generally use it to milk us,†one parent, who prefers anonymity remarks.
Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the headteacher of Uganda Martyr’s Secondary School Namugongo and a former minister of education in the Buganda government, says it is not wise to conduct holiday teaching because children need that time to refresh.
“But there are exceptional disruptions that may necessitate you to seek the ministry’s permission to coach your students. Like in our case, the Martyr’s Day celebrations and UNEB marking often force us to close early.
There are also those schools that may be affected by strikes or epidemics… Such schools should be given a chance to compensate for the time lost,†Muyingo says.
He, however, notes that there are some schools which waste time at the beginning or closing of the term and illegally opt for coaching.
“You find children loitering around. They even call such periods ‘lousing weeks.’ The ministry issues a calendar for all schools to follow and if you have such habits, you will definitely not finish your curriculum in time.â€
Muyingo does not spare the ministry either: “The problem with the ministry is that they assume every school knows the school calendar.
Not all schools follow it, leave alone receive it. Some of us are simply aggressive and ensure that we get the calendar. Some schools just sit back.â€
Muyingo also argues that the ministry’s bashing of the teachers is misdirected because they should start with parents who lure them to coach their children.
“Teachers have very little to do. They are just human, especially when it comes to money.
Parents need to be educated first. They are the ones who pressurise teachers to coach. They have this belief that the more times a child spends in class, the better his or her performance. In fact, with this law, there is more coaching in homes than in schools,†he says.
Kibenge says that the ministry can only permit remedial teaching, which is often done during the normal school days, after class.
“Schools should know the timetable. But if there is reason enough to require extra teaching, you simply have to justify it.
But we are trying to change the education system where parents and teachers only think about education in terms of passing exams. That is why we introduced the thematic curriculum,†he says.
He warns that teachers found coaching will be interdicted, suspended, dismissed or deregistered depending on the gravity of the problem.