Kabale: Parents suggest national exams at lower primary

Kabale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Education stakeholders in Kabale district want the government through the Ministry of Health and Education to establish a mechanism of setting uniform examinations at the national level for learners in lower classes.

Currently, learners at the primary level sit the national Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) administered by UNEB at the end of their seventh year in school. There is also no national mock examination as they prepare to sit for the Primary Leaving Examination.

However, parents and educationists in Kabale say that it is better for learners’ academic capability to be assessed at the national level even before they sit PLE. Their suggestion follows a report by UWEZO that was conducted in 29 districts in Uganda, (including Kabale) in August 2021.

Uwezo, meaning ‘capability’ in Kiswahili, is a citizen-driven initiative to improve the learning outcomes of our children in literacy and numeracy in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

During the survey in Kabale, it was discovered that 10 per cent of learners in primary seven cannot read and comprehend a primary two text and division tasks. The survey found that only 5 per cent of learners in primary three were able to do primary two works.

During the survey, 416 learners aged between 4-16, (210 boys and 206 girls) from three hundred households were assessed by UWEZO. Over fifteen thousand learners from the selected districts at the national level were assessed.

Godfrey Beinomugisha, Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) Chairperson for Kabale Municipality said the fact that the learners wait to sit for national exams at primary seven is the reason why there is widespread cramming in primary schools.

Amos Musiimenta, UNATU Kabale district Chairperson told URN that once this is made a government policy, it can improve learners’ preparedness and readiness to sit for the PLE  not just for better performance but improvement in learning and comprehension.

Grace Munyambabazi, Kabale Municipality’s Principal Education Officer says he has no problem if the government introduces a new initiative of setting uniform standards for learners at the national level between primary four and six as long as it fits within national policies and objectives of education.

Simon Byamukama, the Executive Director of Let Us Save Uganda Development Initiative (LUSUDI), a community-based organization advocating for quality education in the district is of the view that if learners in lower classes get used to uniform national exams, they will have courage and will be better prepared to sit for PLE.

However, Moses Bwengye Tumwijukye, Kabale District Education Officer disagrees with the suggestion saying it will not be practical.

Bwengye argues that learners already learn through assessment in the form of sitting for exams per term and promotional exams per year until they reach primary seven where they sit for PLE.

He also says that the government is now more focused on the implementation of the new curriculum that involves giving learners practical skills than theories.

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URN