When must a child repeat a class?
Oct 02, 2007
AS the curtains draw on this academic year, anxiety grips both students and parents. It is third term, the dreaded term that seals a student’s fate. “Will I make it to the next class?†many students wonder. In a world that is increasingly becoming competitive, education has not been spared. Sc
By Wagwau Jamesa
and Rehema Aanyu
AS the curtains draw on this academic year, anxiety grips both students and parents. It is third term, the dreaded term that seals a student’s fate. “Will I make it to the next class?†many students wonder. In a world that is increasingly becoming competitive, education has not been spared. Schools have set high standards and there is cutthroat competition that pushes students to perform or risk remaining in the same class.
Sometimes parents who object the school’s decision to have their children repeat a class have been forced to transfer them to a different school.
“I am a single parent and I could not afford paying fees for my child for two years in the same class. Furthermore, my daughter was growing very fast. When my pleas failed to yield fruits, I transferred her to sit for her exams from a different school,†says Rosemary Kasibante, a mother of three.
Irene Ikomu, a Senior Five student at Nabisunsa Girls School was advised to repeat Senior Five and also change subject combination after failing to hit the pass mark. “I scored eight aggregates in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. I was advised to repeat and switch to an art combination because I was failing sciences,†she explains. For Irene, repeating has been one of life’s toughest challenges but with time, she accepted her fate and has stabilised.
Mustafa Miuwa, the director of studies at Nabisunsa Girls School, says their students are advised to repeat a class only after they have consistently failed to meet the school’s pass mark throughout year.
“University entry is extremely competitive. For our students to compete favourably, they have to pass with good marks,†he adds. Criticism has been levelled against the policy of repeating a class, with critics arguing that it does little to improve student’s performance.
A research carried out by Joseph Terch at the Graduate School of Rowan University, USA, reveals that being retained in the same class increases drop out rates by 30%. The research also found out that students who repeat a class failed to catch up with their peers and had negative self-concept which led to an overall negative school experience, hence forcing them to drop out. Repeating a class also had a significant negative impact on the student’s social and emotional adjustments.
The Gender and Education in Uganda monitoring report (2003), ranked poverty the highest cause of drop outs among primary school children. The report also pointed out that 10.9% boys and 10.1% girls dropped out of school because they did not want to repeat. Most boys repeated a class as a result of poor performance as compared to girls who repeated merely because their parents decided so. Interestingly, most children interviewed did not own responsibility, but blamed their poor performance on poor teaching and teacher regular absenteeism.
Ruth Matoya, a counselling psychologist at Healing Talk Counselling Services, says: “High self-esteem is central to student’s academic performance. Since repeating class makes a student doubt their ability and feel like a failure, it is a counterproductive strategy. It works only in rare cases,†she explains.
The impact is not any different in case a student is asked to repeat from elsewhere. Matoya emphasises that there have to be factors hindering a student’s performance to justify the transfer to another school. Otherwise, this may cause adjustment problems which impact negatively on a child’s performance.
Santos Auma-Okumu, the head of the Department of Educational Psychology at Kyambogo University, says students should not be made to repeat without establishing the cause of their poor performance. The problem might be with the exam questions, the teachers’ approach or the child’s weaknesses.
He adds that the policy of ‘pass and fail verdict’ as applied in classroom assessment humiliates learners and should not be encouraged.
According to the Ministry of Education, no student should be forced to repeat a class except in cases where a student’s academic expectations have not been met. In such a case, the student, teacher and parent must agree. The ministry expects every student who has successfully completed the curriculum of their respective class to be promoted. And successful completion means attainment of at least 40% in end of term exams.
Mohammed Bulondo, the outgoing commissioner for pre-primary and primary education says the Ministry of Education does not set pass marks.
“The ministry expects school administrators to follow its guiding principle of automatic promotion where every child who attends class for a full year and sits for end of term exams automatically qualifies to be promoted,†he says.
According to Bulondo, the principle of automatic promotion has been in existence since 1962, but schools have not observed it. This explains why each school has its own pass mark against which students are promoted.
John Agaba, the assistant commissioner general secondary education, says the Government has no provision for students who repeat a class. “The policy on automatic promotion may seem unfair, but the Government does not have the resources to waste. If there is a genuine reason like illness that compels a child to repeat, then it is the parent, not the Government to incur the costs,†he says.
Agaba argues that the large influx of students in schools brought about by universal primary and secondary education leaves no room for repeaters.
He emphasises the need for teachers to assist weak students through remedial work rather than making them repeat. Therefore, regardless of who shoulders the responsibility, repeating a class still remains an insurmountable challenge for a child at every educational level.
and Rehema Aanyu
AS the curtains draw on this academic year, anxiety grips both students and parents. It is third term, the dreaded term that seals a student’s fate. “Will I make it to the next class?†many students wonder. In a world that is increasingly becoming competitive, education has not been spared. Schools have set high standards and there is cutthroat competition that pushes students to perform or risk remaining in the same class.
Sometimes parents who object the school’s decision to have their children repeat a class have been forced to transfer them to a different school.
“I am a single parent and I could not afford paying fees for my child for two years in the same class. Furthermore, my daughter was growing very fast. When my pleas failed to yield fruits, I transferred her to sit for her exams from a different school,†says Rosemary Kasibante, a mother of three.
Irene Ikomu, a Senior Five student at Nabisunsa Girls School was advised to repeat Senior Five and also change subject combination after failing to hit the pass mark. “I scored eight aggregates in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. I was advised to repeat and switch to an art combination because I was failing sciences,†she explains. For Irene, repeating has been one of life’s toughest challenges but with time, she accepted her fate and has stabilised.
Mustafa Miuwa, the director of studies at Nabisunsa Girls School, says their students are advised to repeat a class only after they have consistently failed to meet the school’s pass mark throughout year.
“University entry is extremely competitive. For our students to compete favourably, they have to pass with good marks,†he adds. Criticism has been levelled against the policy of repeating a class, with critics arguing that it does little to improve student’s performance.
A research carried out by Joseph Terch at the Graduate School of Rowan University, USA, reveals that being retained in the same class increases drop out rates by 30%. The research also found out that students who repeat a class failed to catch up with their peers and had negative self-concept which led to an overall negative school experience, hence forcing them to drop out. Repeating a class also had a significant negative impact on the student’s social and emotional adjustments.
The Gender and Education in Uganda monitoring report (2003), ranked poverty the highest cause of drop outs among primary school children. The report also pointed out that 10.9% boys and 10.1% girls dropped out of school because they did not want to repeat. Most boys repeated a class as a result of poor performance as compared to girls who repeated merely because their parents decided so. Interestingly, most children interviewed did not own responsibility, but blamed their poor performance on poor teaching and teacher regular absenteeism.
Ruth Matoya, a counselling psychologist at Healing Talk Counselling Services, says: “High self-esteem is central to student’s academic performance. Since repeating class makes a student doubt their ability and feel like a failure, it is a counterproductive strategy. It works only in rare cases,†she explains.
The impact is not any different in case a student is asked to repeat from elsewhere. Matoya emphasises that there have to be factors hindering a student’s performance to justify the transfer to another school. Otherwise, this may cause adjustment problems which impact negatively on a child’s performance.
Santos Auma-Okumu, the head of the Department of Educational Psychology at Kyambogo University, says students should not be made to repeat without establishing the cause of their poor performance. The problem might be with the exam questions, the teachers’ approach or the child’s weaknesses.
He adds that the policy of ‘pass and fail verdict’ as applied in classroom assessment humiliates learners and should not be encouraged.
According to the Ministry of Education, no student should be forced to repeat a class except in cases where a student’s academic expectations have not been met. In such a case, the student, teacher and parent must agree. The ministry expects every student who has successfully completed the curriculum of their respective class to be promoted. And successful completion means attainment of at least 40% in end of term exams.
Mohammed Bulondo, the outgoing commissioner for pre-primary and primary education says the Ministry of Education does not set pass marks.
“The ministry expects school administrators to follow its guiding principle of automatic promotion where every child who attends class for a full year and sits for end of term exams automatically qualifies to be promoted,†he says.
According to Bulondo, the principle of automatic promotion has been in existence since 1962, but schools have not observed it. This explains why each school has its own pass mark against which students are promoted.
John Agaba, the assistant commissioner general secondary education, says the Government has no provision for students who repeat a class. “The policy on automatic promotion may seem unfair, but the Government does not have the resources to waste. If there is a genuine reason like illness that compels a child to repeat, then it is the parent, not the Government to incur the costs,†he says.
Agaba argues that the large influx of students in schools brought about by universal primary and secondary education leaves no room for repeaters.
He emphasises the need for teachers to assist weak students through remedial work rather than making them repeat. Therefore, regardless of who shoulders the responsibility, repeating a class still remains an insurmountable challenge for a child at every educational level.