Vision pullouts earn accolades
Sep 11, 2005
FROM the top office in the Ministry of Education and Sports, to the classroom pupil, <i>The New Vision</i> has continued to earn accolades for its innovation of model questions and answers to sharpen students’ knowledge for the national examinations.
By Stephen Ssenkaaba
FROM the top office in the Ministry of Education and Sports, to the classroom pupil, The New Vision has continued to earn accolades for its innovation of model questions and answers to sharpen students’ knowledge for the national examinations.
The pullout — Pass PLE that started three month ago, Pass O’Level introduced last month and Pass A’ Level that hit the streets last week — have been received as a brilliant idea by almost all stakeholders in education.
Education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, said the innovation had demystified examinations and will have a positive impact on performance by narrowing the urban-rural divide in results.
“Teachers had made exams a mystery and people in rural areas thought that national exams favoured students in urban areas,†Bitamazire told Parliament, recently.
“With this innovation, teachers will easily complete the syllabus by relating to the set questions. This is a positive trend in journalism. It will supplement government efforts to improve the performance of children,†she added.
“In terms of content, anything that exposes students to knowledge in class is a very good idea,†said Aggrey Kibenge, the ministry’s spokesperson.
“The New Vision has done well to provide students with the knowledge they need to pass exams. However, education is much more than setting, sitting and passing exams. It is a process in which exams are not an end. With this pullout should come adequate guidance from parents, teachers and The New Vision on reading widely, consulting and attending lessons and not just to rely on exams,†added Kibenge.
Musa Mwima, the director of studies at Nakivubo Settlement Primary School, said the pullout had introduced a holistic approach to education.
“Parents, students and teachers are all actively involved in the teaching and learning process,†Mwima said, adding that the idea should be spread to the vernacular papers like Bukedde, Rupiny, Etop and Orumuri.
The school headteacher, Frederick Magaya, said “I like the question structuring in the Science and Math category of the PLE pullout. They encourage students to think and teachers how to examine.â€
Students said the pullout exposed them to new and hard questions that would adequately prepare them for the final examinations.
“If the same questions were to turn up in the final exams, I would be in trouble,†said Martin Ntege of Lubiri Secondary School. Similar statements were echoed about the PLE pullout.
“The questions are hard and tricky and the answers are not explained. I wish they could explain them,†said Josephine Nnakku, a Primary Seven pupil at Buganda Road Primary School.
Mary Muddu of King’s College Budo advised parents to provide money for the children to buy the pullouts.
The innovation is part of The New Vision’s Newspapers in Education Project, an initiative that promotes teaching and learning in schools through newspapers.
Barbara Kaija, The New Vision’s Features Editor, said the pullouts were specially designed to enhance sharing learning challenges with experienced teachers with a view to narrowing the urban-rural divide in national examinations.
She said the newspaper would not only provide pupils with model questions and answers, but also expose them to a wider scope of knowledge.
Kaija advised teachers and parents to encourage their children to read the whole newspaper and not just the model questions because learners who use the whole newspapers as a source of material have better achievement scores than their counterparts who do not.
She said the use of the whole newspaper in the class would heighten teachers’ interest in new teaching techniques and provide learners with a stimulating learning experience.
“The newspaper can be used to teach any subject at any level,†Kaija said, adding, “The New Vision has been and is still committed to offering demonstrations to teachers on how to use newspapers in the classroom.â€
She urged interested schools to contact Julie Nabwire, the coordinator, Newspapers in Education, on 041-337163 or by e-mail to
jnabwire@newvision.co.ug.
FROM the top office in the Ministry of Education and Sports, to the classroom pupil, The New Vision has continued to earn accolades for its innovation of model questions and answers to sharpen students’ knowledge for the national examinations.
The pullout — Pass PLE that started three month ago, Pass O’Level introduced last month and Pass A’ Level that hit the streets last week — have been received as a brilliant idea by almost all stakeholders in education.
Education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, said the innovation had demystified examinations and will have a positive impact on performance by narrowing the urban-rural divide in results.
“Teachers had made exams a mystery and people in rural areas thought that national exams favoured students in urban areas,†Bitamazire told Parliament, recently.
“With this innovation, teachers will easily complete the syllabus by relating to the set questions. This is a positive trend in journalism. It will supplement government efforts to improve the performance of children,†she added.
“In terms of content, anything that exposes students to knowledge in class is a very good idea,†said Aggrey Kibenge, the ministry’s spokesperson.
“The New Vision has done well to provide students with the knowledge they need to pass exams. However, education is much more than setting, sitting and passing exams. It is a process in which exams are not an end. With this pullout should come adequate guidance from parents, teachers and The New Vision on reading widely, consulting and attending lessons and not just to rely on exams,†added Kibenge.
Musa Mwima, the director of studies at Nakivubo Settlement Primary School, said the pullout had introduced a holistic approach to education.
“Parents, students and teachers are all actively involved in the teaching and learning process,†Mwima said, adding that the idea should be spread to the vernacular papers like Bukedde, Rupiny, Etop and Orumuri.
The school headteacher, Frederick Magaya, said “I like the question structuring in the Science and Math category of the PLE pullout. They encourage students to think and teachers how to examine.â€
Students said the pullout exposed them to new and hard questions that would adequately prepare them for the final examinations.
“If the same questions were to turn up in the final exams, I would be in trouble,†said Martin Ntege of Lubiri Secondary School. Similar statements were echoed about the PLE pullout.
“The questions are hard and tricky and the answers are not explained. I wish they could explain them,†said Josephine Nnakku, a Primary Seven pupil at Buganda Road Primary School.
Mary Muddu of King’s College Budo advised parents to provide money for the children to buy the pullouts.
The innovation is part of The New Vision’s Newspapers in Education Project, an initiative that promotes teaching and learning in schools through newspapers.
Barbara Kaija, The New Vision’s Features Editor, said the pullouts were specially designed to enhance sharing learning challenges with experienced teachers with a view to narrowing the urban-rural divide in national examinations.
She said the newspaper would not only provide pupils with model questions and answers, but also expose them to a wider scope of knowledge.
Kaija advised teachers and parents to encourage their children to read the whole newspaper and not just the model questions because learners who use the whole newspapers as a source of material have better achievement scores than their counterparts who do not.
She said the use of the whole newspaper in the class would heighten teachers’ interest in new teaching techniques and provide learners with a stimulating learning experience.
“The newspaper can be used to teach any subject at any level,†Kaija said, adding, “The New Vision has been and is still committed to offering demonstrations to teachers on how to use newspapers in the classroom.â€
She urged interested schools to contact Julie Nabwire, the coordinator, Newspapers in Education, on 041-337163 or by e-mail to
jnabwire@newvision.co.ug.