Private schools beat gov't counterparts in UNEB assessments

Is your primary school going child attending a private or government aided school? How good are both sets of schools in literacy and numeracy skills?

Well, the latest National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) conducted by the by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) gives you an insight into this.

Primary three (P3) and primary six (P6) pupils from private schools were roundly better than their counterparts from government aided schools in the assessments.

The report shows that while 65.3% of P3 pupils in government schools were rated proficient in numeracy, 94.6% of their colleagues in private schools were rated proficient in the same area.

While only 51.6% of P3 pupils in government schools were rated proficient in literacy in English, 90.5 of P3 pupils in private schools were rated proficient in the same area.

For P6, while 44.4% of pupils in government schools were rated proficient in numeracy, their colleagues in private schools stood at 75.6%. In literacy in English, while only 40% of pupils in government schools were proficient, 84.8% of their colleagues in private schools were competent in the same area.

Jackson Bunyangha, a teacher trainer at Makerere University School of Education attributes discrepancy in the literacy and numeracy skills of the two sets of schools on motivation of teachers.

He argues that the private schools have better results because their teachers are better motivated than those teaching in government aided schools. He particularly cites poor pay of teachers as a morale dagger.

"The teachers that teach in government and private schools are all products of the same system, why then is it that those in private schools are performing a better job? They are better motivated than their colleagues in government aided schools," reasons Bunyangha.