Parliament to promote English language

Feb 20, 2015

Parliament in partnership with the spelling champions East Africa have embarked on a campaign to promote the use of the English language in primary schools

By Henry Sekanjako

Parliament in partnership with the spelling champions East Africa have embarked on a campaign to promote the use of the English language in primary schools.


The campaign dubbed Regional and National spelling bee competition will see Ugandan primary school pupils compete with those from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi by spelling and pronouncing English words.

“We are living in a competitive world where your proficiency in the English language determines your future. I sometimes get letters written by University students but with very poor English and you wonder how they passed their exams,” said Rebecca Kadaga, the Speaker of Parliament.

true

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga(c) in a group photo with Pupils after launching the Spelling Bee Competition at Hotel Africana Kampala on Feb 12,2015. PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAJOBA

Kadaga who was Thursday launching the Regional and Spelling bee competition drive at Africana Hotel Kampala, said there is need for primary schools to pay attention to teaching pupils proper use of the English language for better leaders.

Kadaga pledged that parliament, in collaboration with spelling champions East Africa, would facilitate the campaign to promote the use of the English language among primary school pupils in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign, the district education officer Lira, George Milton, urged government to consider spelling and pronunciation of English words as part of examinations for primary school pupils.

“This should be embraced by all primary schools, as a district education officer I have moved around different schools and have realized most of these pupils cannot speak or write the English language,” he said.

The managing director spelling champions East Africa, Dr. Anthony Wekesa, said the campaign will help expand pupils’ vocabulary and encourage accurate word usage and pronunciation.

“We want to carry out spelling competitions amongst primary schools in order to improve English literacy in pupils and teachers in primary schools in Uganda,” said Wekesa.

Meanwhile during the launch, Melanie Ogwang from Kampala Junior academy emerged the winner of the mini spelling competition. Ogwang was followed by Karungi Shanel also a pupil from Kampala Junior academy.

Other schools that participated in the mini competition included Green Hill Academy, Kitante, among other primary schools around Kampala.
 

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