Reading, writing progress to be monitored
Jul 21, 2009
DUE to career demands and other commitments, many parents barely find time to monitor their children’s academic progress. But this could change soon with the introduction of the Uwezo learning assessment.
By Anthony Bugembe
DUE to career demands and other commitments, many parents barely find time to monitor their children’s academic progress. But this could change soon with the introduction of the Uwezo learning assessment.
Uwezo is a project that will measure the ability of children to do maths, read and write at household level in the presence of their parents.
The five-year countrywide project that will take place during the holidays, was recently launched by the Uganda NGO Forum. It targets children aged between five and 16.
Richard Ssewakiryanga, the forum’s executive director, says a sheet of paper will first be given to the student to determine if they can read letters, short sentences or paragraphs among others. This will then be linked to their age.
Ssewakiryanga says while enrolment has increased in the past decade, there has been little attention put on the quality of education.
In Uganda, enrolment shot up from 2.9 million in 1996 to 6.7 million in 2007.
However, Ssewakiryanga says, “Issues such as inadequate teachers, overcrowded classrooms and lack of instruction materials affect the proper learning of children.â€
Robinson Nsumba-Lyazi, the commissioner for private schools, says the Uwezo project is timely and will improve the quality of primary education in Uganda.
“It is not just a matter of people completing the education cycle. Uwezo will help us establish whether the children are acquiring the required numeracy and literacy levels,†Lyazi says.
DUE to career demands and other commitments, many parents barely find time to monitor their children’s academic progress. But this could change soon with the introduction of the Uwezo learning assessment.
Uwezo is a project that will measure the ability of children to do maths, read and write at household level in the presence of their parents.
The five-year countrywide project that will take place during the holidays, was recently launched by the Uganda NGO Forum. It targets children aged between five and 16.
Richard Ssewakiryanga, the forum’s executive director, says a sheet of paper will first be given to the student to determine if they can read letters, short sentences or paragraphs among others. This will then be linked to their age.
Ssewakiryanga says while enrolment has increased in the past decade, there has been little attention put on the quality of education.
In Uganda, enrolment shot up from 2.9 million in 1996 to 6.7 million in 2007.
However, Ssewakiryanga says, “Issues such as inadequate teachers, overcrowded classrooms and lack of instruction materials affect the proper learning of children.â€
Robinson Nsumba-Lyazi, the commissioner for private schools, says the Uwezo project is timely and will improve the quality of primary education in Uganda.
“It is not just a matter of people completing the education cycle. Uwezo will help us establish whether the children are acquiring the required numeracy and literacy levels,†Lyazi says.