Boy dictates PLE answers
Nov 19, 2003
SIMON Peter Abiasali Mugoya, 16, from Hill Preparatory School Naguru in Kampala, is an exceptional Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) candidate.
By Fred Ouma
SIMON Peter Abiasali Mugoya, 16, from Hill Preparatory School Naguru in Kampala, is an exceptional Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) candidate.
While other candidates all over the country are reading examination questions for themselves and writing down the answers, Mugoya listens carefully and speaks out his answers which are recorded to be transcribed later by a specialist for marking.
He is among the first batch of Pupils enrolled in 1997 under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) who started their PLE yesterday.
Seated in a separate room, Mugoya, who has a condition from Dyslexia (reading and spelling problems), listens as Anders Mutembei, a specialist in special education, reads out examination questions for him.
Gorret Nafuna, a counsellor working with the school, said the condition is sometimes called mirroring effect and comes in different forms: whereby a child reads backwards, omitting certain letters.
“With this mirroring effect the child sees things differently whereby 6 could be substituted with 9 and 5 for 2. Another tendency is to spell the word TREE as EETR persisting it’s the correct word,†Nafuna said.
Nafuna said the child can see the letters, can tell the letters’ names and can even tell you what sounds those letters make but cannot articulate what words those letters form.
According to the Time Magazine, people with dyslexia are not brain damaged. Scans show that their cerebrums are perfectly normal, if not extra-ordinary.
“Dyslexics seem to have a distinct advantage when it comes to thinking outside the box. But increasing scientific evidence suggests that there is a glitch in the neurological wiring of dyslexics that makes reading extremely difficult for them,†it said.
The Uganda National Examinations Board allowed facilities like calculators, extra time and special gadgets except a calculator.
“The boy will do quite well. This is paving way for children who have special education needs,†said the school headmistress.
SIMON Peter Abiasali Mugoya, 16, from Hill Preparatory School Naguru in Kampala, is an exceptional Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) candidate.
While other candidates all over the country are reading examination questions for themselves and writing down the answers, Mugoya listens carefully and speaks out his answers which are recorded to be transcribed later by a specialist for marking.
He is among the first batch of Pupils enrolled in 1997 under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) who started their PLE yesterday.
Seated in a separate room, Mugoya, who has a condition from Dyslexia (reading and spelling problems), listens as Anders Mutembei, a specialist in special education, reads out examination questions for him.
Gorret Nafuna, a counsellor working with the school, said the condition is sometimes called mirroring effect and comes in different forms: whereby a child reads backwards, omitting certain letters.
“With this mirroring effect the child sees things differently whereby 6 could be substituted with 9 and 5 for 2. Another tendency is to spell the word TREE as EETR persisting it’s the correct word,†Nafuna said.
Nafuna said the child can see the letters, can tell the letters’ names and can even tell you what sounds those letters make but cannot articulate what words those letters form.
According to the Time Magazine, people with dyslexia are not brain damaged. Scans show that their cerebrums are perfectly normal, if not extra-ordinary.
“Dyslexics seem to have a distinct advantage when it comes to thinking outside the box. But increasing scientific evidence suggests that there is a glitch in the neurological wiring of dyslexics that makes reading extremely difficult for them,†it said.
The Uganda National Examinations Board allowed facilities like calculators, extra time and special gadgets except a calculator.
“The boy will do quite well. This is paving way for children who have special education needs,†said the school headmistress.