DO GRADES MATTER?
Apr 21, 2009
Class grades may have or may not have determined who some people are. <b>Stephen Ssenkaaba, Pidson Kareire and Arthur Baguma</b> spoke to successful Ugandans...
Class grades may have or may not have determined who some people are. Stephen Ssenkaaba, Pidson Kareire and Arthur Baguma spoke to successful Ugandans...
Julianna Kanyomozi, artiste
My education helped me. Luckily, I went to one of the best schools in this country (at the time), Namasagali College. I had the best training right from class to extra-curricular activities, and above all, I was trained to balance work and other activities. Our timetables were so compact, but the school authorities would balance all the activities to allow us time to rest. It is this training that I use to balance my career and other activities. Besides, I can communicate in English and internalise different issues. You cannot beat education into a child’s head. It is not right to beat a child because he has failed. There could be so many other reasons as to why he failed. Parents should find out why children are performing poorly to get a solution. Mathematics, physics and chemistry gave me a hard time. Teachers used to write that I was so quiet. They advised me to socialise.
Namirembe Bitamazire,
education minister
A report card should be comprehensive. It should indicate where the child is doing well and not concentrate on the weakness. Parents and teachers should work together to identify the problem. Most times, the problem of a poor report card might be the parent’s cause. The child may not be getting enough help from home or not feeding well. The child could also be spending more time doing housework instead of revising. The child could also be a slow learner and if a teacher uses a uniform mode of teaching, such a child will lag behind. Methods of teaching are not compatible with certain pupils. We recommend a participatory approach to teaching. A child can be given a chance to repeat, but that should not mean that they are not bright — that is their pace of understanding. But where 50% of the class is told to repeat should not be encouraged, it means there is a bigger problem.
Former Archbishop
Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo
I was a mechanic, but my in-born knowledge helped me move to different fields and I became an archbishop. If a child fails in the conventional education, identify their skills and strengths. They could do better in a technical school. A bad report card is not the end of the world for your child, though sometimes a child might be bright, but lazy and unfocused — they could need a little wake up call to put them back on track.
Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi, visual artist
Apart from teaching me how to read and write, academics have played a minimal role in my life. I did not perform well in algebra even though I used to do arithmetic and geometry well.
Academic performance does not necessarily determine an individual’s success, particularly in a situation like Uganda’s where the curriculum is not relevant to the needs of our society and is removed from our cultural norms and values. Instead of teaching students how to solve community problems, it trains them how to cram. It kills creativity and encourages learners to pass exams. That is why the most brilliant students do not necessarily become the most successful later in life. I advise parents to identify their children’s talents and talk to their teachers. They should also seek to influence policies.
Brian Umony, Uganda Cranes and KCC FC striker
I hated maths in primary and physics in secondary school. I am not good at calculations. There was a little maths in economics at university, but group discussions helped me and besides, it was not so wide. Education has helped me gain self-esteem. But it is not fair to pressurise your children to score high marks. It is better to understand their abilities and help them develop what they are good at.
John Nagenda, Presidential Advisor on the Media
In school I always failed maths. I did not like my maths tutor. My parents got me a private tutor at home. I learnt my lessons and at O’level I got 96%. Report cards matter in a sense that if you do not do well, you do not move on to the next level. I would prefer people who cannot make it to university to take on technical education, but we do not have enough technical schools in the country.
Gordon Wavamunno, chairman of Spear
Group of Companies
According to his book The story of the African Entrepreneur, he had been admitted to Mbarara High School. But he decided not to go further in order to join his father’s trade business. “More often than not, it is the fear of making a mistake, of being proved wrong, it is the fear of red marks or crosses against one’s answers in the school exercise book, the fear of taking risks... the fear of failure — the greatest obstacles to success,†he writes.
Julianna Kanyomozi, artiste
My education helped me. Luckily, I went to one of the best schools in this country (at the time), Namasagali College. I had the best training right from class to extra-curricular activities, and above all, I was trained to balance work and other activities. Our timetables were so compact, but the school authorities would balance all the activities to allow us time to rest. It is this training that I use to balance my career and other activities. Besides, I can communicate in English and internalise different issues. You cannot beat education into a child’s head. It is not right to beat a child because he has failed. There could be so many other reasons as to why he failed. Parents should find out why children are performing poorly to get a solution. Mathematics, physics and chemistry gave me a hard time. Teachers used to write that I was so quiet. They advised me to socialise.
Namirembe Bitamazire,
education minister
A report card should be comprehensive. It should indicate where the child is doing well and not concentrate on the weakness. Parents and teachers should work together to identify the problem. Most times, the problem of a poor report card might be the parent’s cause. The child may not be getting enough help from home or not feeding well. The child could also be spending more time doing housework instead of revising. The child could also be a slow learner and if a teacher uses a uniform mode of teaching, such a child will lag behind. Methods of teaching are not compatible with certain pupils. We recommend a participatory approach to teaching. A child can be given a chance to repeat, but that should not mean that they are not bright — that is their pace of understanding. But where 50% of the class is told to repeat should not be encouraged, it means there is a bigger problem.
Former Archbishop
Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo
I was a mechanic, but my in-born knowledge helped me move to different fields and I became an archbishop. If a child fails in the conventional education, identify their skills and strengths. They could do better in a technical school. A bad report card is not the end of the world for your child, though sometimes a child might be bright, but lazy and unfocused — they could need a little wake up call to put them back on track.
Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi, visual artist
Apart from teaching me how to read and write, academics have played a minimal role in my life. I did not perform well in algebra even though I used to do arithmetic and geometry well.
Academic performance does not necessarily determine an individual’s success, particularly in a situation like Uganda’s where the curriculum is not relevant to the needs of our society and is removed from our cultural norms and values. Instead of teaching students how to solve community problems, it trains them how to cram. It kills creativity and encourages learners to pass exams. That is why the most brilliant students do not necessarily become the most successful later in life. I advise parents to identify their children’s talents and talk to their teachers. They should also seek to influence policies.
Brian Umony, Uganda Cranes and KCC FC striker
I hated maths in primary and physics in secondary school. I am not good at calculations. There was a little maths in economics at university, but group discussions helped me and besides, it was not so wide. Education has helped me gain self-esteem. But it is not fair to pressurise your children to score high marks. It is better to understand their abilities and help them develop what they are good at.
John Nagenda, Presidential Advisor on the Media
In school I always failed maths. I did not like my maths tutor. My parents got me a private tutor at home. I learnt my lessons and at O’level I got 96%. Report cards matter in a sense that if you do not do well, you do not move on to the next level. I would prefer people who cannot make it to university to take on technical education, but we do not have enough technical schools in the country.
Gordon Wavamunno, chairman of Spear
Group of Companies
According to his book The story of the African Entrepreneur, he had been admitted to Mbarara High School. But he decided not to go further in order to join his father’s trade business. “More often than not, it is the fear of making a mistake, of being proved wrong, it is the fear of red marks or crosses against one’s answers in the school exercise book, the fear of taking risks... the fear of failure — the greatest obstacles to success,†he writes.