The reading culture, upe

Nov 04, 2008

Book: Literacy Practices in Primary Schools in Uganda<br>Publisher: Fountain Publishers<br>Reviewed by Joshua Masinde<br><br>THE introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) was a blessing to many Ugandan children. They could attend school without paying fees. However, huge numbers enrolled

Book: Literacy Practices in Primary Schools in Uganda
Publisher: Fountain Publishers
Reviewed by Joshua Masinde

THE introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) was a blessing to many Ugandan children. They could attend school without paying fees. However, huge numbers enrolled in schools across the country are causing a slump in facilities and learning materials.

A study conducted by the Uganda National Examinations Board, five years after the introduction of UPE in 2002 indicated that only 13% of 361,500 pupils who completed primary school could read and understand English. Much emphasis is placed on reading the prescribed textbooks, totally ignoring the equally important Non-Textbook Reading Materials (NTBRM).

Literacy Practices in Primary Schools in Uganda focuses on the poor reading culture among pupils across the country.

The book depicts different social, psychological and process problems that affect literacy in schools.

Whereas studies conducted by the Ministry of Education on textbook utilisation found out such books were sufficient, they were underutilised.

This book offers an elaborate sample study applied to four groups of schools, their socio-economic profiles and location. Almost half of all children in the study areas said they could read English easily.

However, the percentage of those who read was much higher in Kampala compared to 11.7% in Kalangala and 13.3% in Iganga. Newspapers were reported to be available in the majority of schools. Young Talk and Straight Talk were mentioned as the most commonly available newspaper or magazines in rural schools.

The researchers set recommendations which might lead to the improvement in the literacy levels of pupils in primary schools. Increasing the number of books, besides developing a policy on introducing Primary One pupils to reading in whichever language, and when to shift to the English language could well improve the literacy of many a pupil in Uganda.

The research was conducted by N. K. Muwanga, J. N. Aguti, J. F. Mugisha, A. N. Ndidde and S. N Siminyu.

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