Don’t blame teachers

Your Letter...
EDITOR: I would like to comment on a story that run in Sunday Vision, November 16, 2003: “Bitamazire blames parents/teachers for increasing UPE dropouts.”
Hon Bitamazire said that teachers should not force pupils to repeat any class. But Page xv of the Uganda Primary School Curriculum Volume one, states that: “Successful candidates will be placed in four divisions, one, two, three and four for candidates who will at least pass with grade 8 in three of the four papers. Those not fulfiling the conditions above will not be graded.”
Therefore, an ungraded pupil has failed beyond the syllabi’s expectations. How then can I promote this pupil who has not understood the concepts at his former class yet he is to start acquiring new concepts?
Perhaps this is one of the causes at poor quality education in UPE schools, “promoting failures.” The issue here is not completing P7 but how much content has the pupil come out with?

Clement Outa, Tr. St. Padre P.S, P.O. Box 22551 K’la