A successful year in education
Dec 21, 2010
THE closure of Lugazi University, strikes at Kampala International and Makerere universities and student murders are some of the incidents that marred what was a largely successful 2010 in the education sector. <b>Francis Kagolo </b>looks at the highs and lows of what transpired this year.
THE closure of Lugazi University, strikes at Kampala International and Makerere universities and student murders are some of the incidents that marred what was a largely successful 2010 in the education sector. Francis Kagolo looks at the highs and lows of what transpired this year.
HIGHS
Better examination results
The year 2010 kicked off with great improvement in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). The best since the inception of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme. Since 1998, the number of pupils sitting for PLE today has also increased.
However, the 2009 PLE results indicated a pass rate of 85.6% compared to 80.8% in 2008. Of the 513,219 pupils who sat PLE in 2009, 32,840, or 6.7%, passed in Grade 1. This was an improvement in comparison to the previous year, where only 17,021 pupils (3.7%) were in Grade 1. The Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results, also released in February, threw the public into more bliss. Of the 214,207 candidates who sat UCE, 16,205 passed in division one, 39,401 in division two, 57,426 in division three, 90,060 in division four, and only 9,405 failed.
The only setback was at A¡¦ level, which recorded a slight drop in percentage at two principal passes, the minimum entry requirement to university, from 65% in 2008 to 62.5% in 2009.
Increased funding
The sector budget allocation was increased from sh899b to over sh1trillion, far higher than many other crucial sectors like health.
The increased funding has enabled the education ministry to implement a number of projects. The ministry distributed over sh8.8b to the Universal Secondary Education programme to purchase laboratory equipment.
The construction and renovation of 217 secondary schools countrywide started this year. The 217 schools are part of the 1,400 schools which will be repaired under a World Bank funded project. About 4,297 classrooms, 41 administration blocks, 144 libraries, 405 science rooms and 71 staff quarters are to be constructed.
Curricular reviews
In a bid to improve quality, the P6 and P7 curriculum was reviewed.
The new upper primary curriculum is to focus on ¡§what a child can gain from a lesson, other than what a teacher can complete in a syllabus¡¨. Illustrations like graphs and tables have been simplified.
This has been the third phase of the primary education curriculum review. The first one, dubbed thematic curriculum, was introduced in 2007 for P1 to P3. At the beginning of this year, a new curriculum for P4 and P5 was also started.
Successful national examinations
For close to 15 years, national examinations in Uganda were synonymous with late deliveries and leaking of question papers, missing papers, and cheating.
However, this year¡¦s examinations have arguably been the best organised. The examinations body hired over 7,000 scouts on top of thousands of invigilators and supervisers, who ensured the exercise¡¦s success.
However, cases of candidates sitting using candles at night and late deliveries of examination material were reported in some examination centres.
Duplication of courses
Makerere University opened the year with reviewing all its academic programmes. About 40 courses were either scrapped off or merged. Stories of duplication of courses and its associated problems like wastage of funds and delivery of inappropriate content to students has since ended.
Makerere University Business School to become independent
The Government assented to the proposal of making Makerere Business School (MUBS) an independent University. The process was started and expected to end next year. This will bring the number of public universities in the country to six.
Universities uniform grading
The pass mark for degrees in both private and public universities was raised under a new grading system developed by the National Council for Higher Education.
Accordingly, to qualify for a first-class degree, a student must now score 75% marks and above in all course units, 70-74% and 69-65% to qualify for upper and lower second class degrees respectively. Points for a pass degree were also raised to 2.0-2.9 from 1.5-2.5. Experts say this new classification of degrees will maintain academic quality.
New pledges for 2011
The Government has issued several pledges that it says will be implemented come next year. The pledges include the following:
Æ’ÃœThe number of government sponsored students in public universities to increase from 4,000 to 6,000.
ƒÜFree A¡¦ level education, which is to cost over sh85b next financial year
Æ’ÃœRolling out the long-waited tuition loan scheme for privately sponsored university students
Æ’ÃœConstruct and renovate more teachers houses, classrooms, science laboratories and latrines
Æ’ÃœAbout 20,000 teachers will get jobs in the Government over the next five years
Æ’ÃœGovernment to offer housing loans to teachers who have taught for about 20 years.
LOWS
Fire outbreaks
From the Buddo Junior School inferno that claimed 20 pupils in 2008, fires continued wrecking dozens of other schools. Some other schools include; Masaka Secondary School, West End Secondary school, Ntungamo and Leos Junior Academy in Masaka.
Poor quality in UPE schools
UPE has led school enrollment to soar from two million pupils in 1997 to almost 8 million today. However, it came with other challenges
which include lack of lunch for pupils, low pay for teachers, inadequate accommodation, laxity in school inspections and teacher absenteeism.
Lugazi University closed
The National Council for Higher Education closed Lugazi University over alleged failure to meet the minimum standards in the last four years of its operation. The council accused the University of failing to recruit qualified staff, besides failure to pay lecturers.
The university was also blamed for not integrating internship in its academic programme to enable students gain practical skills.
Strikes rock universities
Besides the closure of Lugazi University, staff and student strikes rocked several other universities.
For over two weeks, lectures were suspended at Kampala International University this year when students rioted, protesting a new rule subjecting them to fines if they delay to pay tuition fees.
During the guild presidential campaigns in March, rioting students paralysed the university for two weeks.
They were protesting an incident where a guard shot dead two Kenyan students.
In November, Makerere lecturers laid down their tools over the sh16b the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) owes them.
However, President Yoweri Museveni intervened and a partial payment of sh5b was paid to the lecturers.
HIGHS
Better examination results
The year 2010 kicked off with great improvement in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE). The best since the inception of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme. Since 1998, the number of pupils sitting for PLE today has also increased.
However, the 2009 PLE results indicated a pass rate of 85.6% compared to 80.8% in 2008. Of the 513,219 pupils who sat PLE in 2009, 32,840, or 6.7%, passed in Grade 1. This was an improvement in comparison to the previous year, where only 17,021 pupils (3.7%) were in Grade 1. The Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) results, also released in February, threw the public into more bliss. Of the 214,207 candidates who sat UCE, 16,205 passed in division one, 39,401 in division two, 57,426 in division three, 90,060 in division four, and only 9,405 failed.
The only setback was at A¡¦ level, which recorded a slight drop in percentage at two principal passes, the minimum entry requirement to university, from 65% in 2008 to 62.5% in 2009.
Increased funding
The sector budget allocation was increased from sh899b to over sh1trillion, far higher than many other crucial sectors like health.
The increased funding has enabled the education ministry to implement a number of projects. The ministry distributed over sh8.8b to the Universal Secondary Education programme to purchase laboratory equipment.
The construction and renovation of 217 secondary schools countrywide started this year. The 217 schools are part of the 1,400 schools which will be repaired under a World Bank funded project. About 4,297 classrooms, 41 administration blocks, 144 libraries, 405 science rooms and 71 staff quarters are to be constructed.
Curricular reviews
In a bid to improve quality, the P6 and P7 curriculum was reviewed.
The new upper primary curriculum is to focus on ¡§what a child can gain from a lesson, other than what a teacher can complete in a syllabus¡¨. Illustrations like graphs and tables have been simplified.
This has been the third phase of the primary education curriculum review. The first one, dubbed thematic curriculum, was introduced in 2007 for P1 to P3. At the beginning of this year, a new curriculum for P4 and P5 was also started.
Successful national examinations
For close to 15 years, national examinations in Uganda were synonymous with late deliveries and leaking of question papers, missing papers, and cheating.
However, this year¡¦s examinations have arguably been the best organised. The examinations body hired over 7,000 scouts on top of thousands of invigilators and supervisers, who ensured the exercise¡¦s success.
However, cases of candidates sitting using candles at night and late deliveries of examination material were reported in some examination centres.
Duplication of courses
Makerere University opened the year with reviewing all its academic programmes. About 40 courses were either scrapped off or merged. Stories of duplication of courses and its associated problems like wastage of funds and delivery of inappropriate content to students has since ended.
Makerere University Business School to become independent
The Government assented to the proposal of making Makerere Business School (MUBS) an independent University. The process was started and expected to end next year. This will bring the number of public universities in the country to six.
Universities uniform grading
The pass mark for degrees in both private and public universities was raised under a new grading system developed by the National Council for Higher Education.
Accordingly, to qualify for a first-class degree, a student must now score 75% marks and above in all course units, 70-74% and 69-65% to qualify for upper and lower second class degrees respectively. Points for a pass degree were also raised to 2.0-2.9 from 1.5-2.5. Experts say this new classification of degrees will maintain academic quality.
New pledges for 2011
The Government has issued several pledges that it says will be implemented come next year. The pledges include the following:
Æ’ÃœThe number of government sponsored students in public universities to increase from 4,000 to 6,000.
ƒÜFree A¡¦ level education, which is to cost over sh85b next financial year
Æ’ÃœRolling out the long-waited tuition loan scheme for privately sponsored university students
Æ’ÃœConstruct and renovate more teachers houses, classrooms, science laboratories and latrines
Æ’ÃœAbout 20,000 teachers will get jobs in the Government over the next five years
Æ’ÃœGovernment to offer housing loans to teachers who have taught for about 20 years.
LOWS
Fire outbreaks
From the Buddo Junior School inferno that claimed 20 pupils in 2008, fires continued wrecking dozens of other schools. Some other schools include; Masaka Secondary School, West End Secondary school, Ntungamo and Leos Junior Academy in Masaka.
Poor quality in UPE schools
UPE has led school enrollment to soar from two million pupils in 1997 to almost 8 million today. However, it came with other challenges
which include lack of lunch for pupils, low pay for teachers, inadequate accommodation, laxity in school inspections and teacher absenteeism.
Lugazi University closed
The National Council for Higher Education closed Lugazi University over alleged failure to meet the minimum standards in the last four years of its operation. The council accused the University of failing to recruit qualified staff, besides failure to pay lecturers.
The university was also blamed for not integrating internship in its academic programme to enable students gain practical skills.
Strikes rock universities
Besides the closure of Lugazi University, staff and student strikes rocked several other universities.
For over two weeks, lectures were suspended at Kampala International University this year when students rioted, protesting a new rule subjecting them to fines if they delay to pay tuition fees.
During the guild presidential campaigns in March, rioting students paralysed the university for two weeks.
They were protesting an incident where a guard shot dead two Kenyan students.
In November, Makerere lecturers laid down their tools over the sh16b the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) owes them.
However, President Yoweri Museveni intervened and a partial payment of sh5b was paid to the lecturers.