Schools abandoning double shift system of education

EDUCATION

Kitebi secondary school, which is one of Kampala city's most populated schools, with over 3,500 students has now changed from a double-shift to a single-shift school; thanks to its parents and its new school head Muhammed Kamulegeya.

It is one of the few schools in the country which pioneered and now moving away from the double-shift to the single-shift system of operation. Rwenzori High School in Kasese and Kololo SS in Kampala have already abandoned the double-shift system of education. 

Under the double-shift system, 1,500 students were attending classes from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and other sessions of over 1,600 students would report to school and start their lessons from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. 

In each shift, students would cover the same subjects, do the same assignments, use the same facilities and were being taught by the same teachers. In a few instances, different shifts were being taught by different teachers. 

Why the double shift was started

With the introduction of USE, the education ministry anticipated enrolment in Senior One to soar, perhaps beyond the 60 students per stream ceiling it planned for. 

Double shift teaching, in some of the highly populated schools, serves to accommodate the excess students, says the ministry's state minister for higher education Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo. 

"It is good that people like Kamulegeya are finding a solution to the high number of students in these schools," he says.

This system of education is also used in schools like Old Kampala SS, City High school, Kololo High School and Jinja SS. 

Double shift teaching in secondary schools started in the 1970s at the time when most urban day schools were run by Asians. It was introduced to enable the largely Asian student population to get enough time to attend school and help out with home chores and family businesses. 

It was also tested in a few primary schools, but it achieved little success. 

In the 1980s, the system was undermined by student indiscipline, poor teaching standards and eventual decline in academic performance. In 1993, the Ministry of Education abolished the double shift teaching system as a measure to restore order and improve performance, but switched back to it in 2007. 

How Kitebi SS pulled out

 When Kamulegeya was transferred to Kitebi Senior Secondary schools in October last year, after a year at Kakira High School in eastern Uganda where he had been posted as the headteacher, he rallied all parents to endeavor to contribute sh50,000 each; part of which was used to put new structures at the school. This is because, he found the school, is a dire cry for space. 

On arrival at Kitebi SS, Kamulegeya found over half of the 3,500 students in Kitebi SS, which is a day school, reporting to school in the afternoon, after their colleagues who reported in the morning have left. This is what is referred to as the double-shift system of education. 

Kitebi SS, is a fairly academically strong day secondary school owned by the Government.  

The school is located in Nalukolongo, in a heavily populated area, with few top-performing schools; a reason why it is highly populated.

 Coincidentally, according to the former director of basic and secondary education Dr. Yusuf Nsubuga; Kitebi SS was the first school in Kampala district to embrace the double-shift system of education, which had started way back in 2007. 

It became a double-shift school in 2009, two years after the start of Universal Secondary Education in 2007; which sky-rocketed the number of students joining public secondary schools in the country. 

Kamulegeya, has now made the school still the first to reverse from a double shift system, back to a single-shift system, to be able to implement the new ordinary level curriculum, without so much hustle; as he explains.

When Kamulegeya was transferred to the school, he used the available sh300m collected from the parents' contribution; of sh50,000 per child, and constructed additional 10 classrooms,  teacher's toilets and quarters- housing at least three teachers, a modern kitchen, stores, and a bigger and organised headteachers' office. 

He also helped finalise the fencing of the school and set up a gate. He did all this in a record two months, which concluded last year. 

It is on this basis, that the Commissioner for Human Resource education ministry, Jane Mwesiga, tasked her team, to profile Kamulegeya. "We did not give Kamulegeya a single cent. But he worked with the school's board of governors and the parents to ensure that they raise money to put up these structures and change the school's operations in just two months. This is extra-ordinary," she said.

"I'm asking my team, to profile you, and know your work ethics. I will also discuss this issue with my colleagues at the ministry, to use you as a role model to all headteachers. You make a turn-around, wherever we post you and you are always willing to be transferred. You are a unique headteacher," she added. 

She thanked him for supporting the Government programmes, with his own creativity and innovativeness. "We need more headteachers like you who think outside the box. You will greatly help this Government," she added. 

"I want you to help other headteachers, who may have problems and need solutions. Instead of lamenting, you offer solutions. That is what we need!" he added, amidst thousands of parents who had converged in the school compound, to witness how their funds had been utilise to revamp the school.  

She made the remarks, in her speech during the launch of the new buildings; a function she officiated on behalf of the education ministry's permanent secretary. 

The function was also attended by the chairperson of the education service commission, Rev. Prof. Dr. Samuel Luboga Abimelech. He said, "Great work needs to be appreciated." 

"Kamulegeya has done well within just months. We never knew that this school would easily shift from a double-shift to a single-shift school. How much more will he do in the coming years, if given time? I believe much more? We need committed people like him to be role models to the rest of our workforce. I'm impressed by his speed, his ability to team up with the people around him, and the love for his work," he noted. 

The chairperson of the board, Lubega Aloysious, thanks Kamulegeya, for being a hardworking and a good team leader. "He is changing this school, to a model school and we know that it will keep improving. Indeed, he is a good team leader. He loves innovation and honesty and we trust him." 

Why and why-nots for double-shift system 

The double-shift of education seems to have more challenges than opportunities. Most headteachers, teachers, education experts, and students say it helps on overcrowding, but with it came moral decadency, wastage of time by students, and reduced contact hours of teachers and students. 

Kamulegeya says with the new O'level curriculum in the offing, it is hard to run the double-shift system. "The afternoon time, when they would be going home, or when others are starting their school day; needs to be used to develop their skills." 

"We must take the new curriculum seriously and if we are to implement it well, we must be innovative," he explains. 

The Commissioner for Government aided secondary schools Sam Kule says that double-shift system of education is good, since it accommodates so many students, within the limited infrastructure of schools. "The second shift could have been a full school, and that means more teachers and other resources to keep such a school operating." 

He, however, says such schools are good for teachers and schools' heads who are, "committed and focused." 

"It is not easy to run such a school. More so, students end up learning bad behaviours since they report to school early or leave school early and there is no one to monitor them, outside the school facilities. At such a time, parents are always so busy." 

Robert Kamasaka, a retired Ugandan headteacher, once headed Rwenzori High School which had a double-shift system of education. He was one of the pioneer headteachers of this system in schools, and he found the school with 340 students. By the time he left, there were over 1,200 students. 

He was a teacher for 17 years, since 1983. He later joined politics, and also owns a school. 

 He says, In the beginning, the people had a negative mentality about this system of education.  But they got used to it." 

He says it was a hurdle to explain to teachers, parents, and other school managers. "But they later appreciated it," he explains. 

We changed uniform colors for every class, to easily identify the morning students from those of the afternoon session. We would have Senior One and Two coming in the morning and Senior Three and Four in the afternoon." 

He says that this system of education helped decongest the school but caused trouble to handle students in the boarding section, who would always be idle in the afternoon.

"The other challenge was feeding the students in the afternoon. The Government stopped us from charging fees, but we had to feed students in the afternoon. I decided to get service providers who would sell lunch to students in a setup premise within the school, and as management, we would give them supervisory support. But we never collected the students' lunch fees." 

He also notes that this system would expose students to so many social evils, due to so much free time. 

More so, Edward Kanoonya, the headteacher of Kololo Secondary School says that the double-system of education was good in decongesting schools, but with more infrastructure in schools, it was no longer necessary to maintain it. "In 2016, we also pulled out and some other schools are also gradually pulling out of it when they get more facilities." 

He also complains of the social evils that come with this system of education. 

Nsubuga also notes that it is understandable that schools are pulling out of it. "It is tedious, though was very important for the reason we created it then. We wanted to decongest schools," he explains.