Learners need more counselling after lockdown lull -Teachers

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Teachers are concerned that the time allocated to the candidate classes to study and complete the syllabus before their final examinations is too little.

They say that much of the time in school is now spent on counselling and change of mindset to enable them to overcome the effects of the lockdown, on their learning abilities, attitude and energy levels. The learners spent the period between March 20 and October 15 at home as the government closed schools to forestall the spread of coronavirus disease.

Agnes Namubiru Ssegujja, a teacher mentor at Uganda Martyrs Namugongo says that after the lockdown, mentorship has become an element that cannot be dealt away with as schools reopen. She says that students need to be prepared to recover from the stuff that had diverted them from their academic path.

Albert Madolo, another teacher mentor at St Lawrence College Paris Palais says mentoring after the lockdown cannot be handled with a lackluster approach because the six months break had so many negative effects on the learners. Madolo adds that giving the learners less time for counselling and mentoring will be denying them a chance to pass their final exams.

Richard Kimuli, a mentor teacher at Maryland High School explains that the break reduced the energy that learners attached to their academics. He says that utilizing the four months given by the Ministry of Education to prepare the candidates for final exams is a tough call, considering the reduction in energy and attitude.

Kimuli adds that teachers and learners need more time together as students are now discussing businesses and profits and neither preps nor UNEB is their concern as the case was before the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Ismael Mulindwa, the Director Basic and Secondary Education says that the ministry guided that schools and teachers should take learners through a process of recovery before pumping them with academic lessons.

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