By Dr. Lawrence Muganga
The recently released PLE results created a lot of confusion after some traditionally excellent-performing schools did poorly while several unheralded schools excelled. In fact, some schools and parents have cried foul that they were targeted.
This cycle recurs every year and I have observed that generally, schools lack consistency and as a consequence, parents’ allegiance keeps shifting as trends change. It is from such inconsistencies that I recently proposed key transformations for continuous and competence-based assessments.
This situation justifies the need to urgently transform the country’s and the Ministry of Education’s approach to education assessment and eventually how education is designed, delivered, and differentiated to complement unique learner learning needs, localised, and the environments in which it takes place (traditional classroom, digitally enhanced, non-conventional classrooms, or a blend of two or all) towards achieving better learning outcomes for learners, the economy (employment and entrepreneurship), and the country as a whole.
Learner assessments are vital to check to learn, learners’ progress, informing teachers of how effective their approaches are and where and when they need to adjust in the learners’ best interests, and where the curriculum and evaluation methods need to be adjusted.
With the aim being to facilitate proper childhood development from a tender age, inspire an unquenchable hunger for lifelong learning, curiosity, discovery, exploration, reflective and critical thinking, a more relaxed learning atmosphere as compared to a constantly tense or anxiety-driven school atmosphere, an immersed interaction with subject content to enable mastery and development of life and work skills, in-depth learning, and teaching, it’s crucial to adopt the transformations below:
- UNEB Changes to Research, Evaluation, Assessment and Development (READ)
With candidate class assessments and evaluation shifted as a responsibility of the District Evaluation Boards (DEBs) at the district level, the reduced work, scope, and new function of UNEB will necessitate a change to its name as well.
The proposed name is READ as it will now be restructured around a smaller, specialist team responsible for maintaining oversight of the DEBs’ activities, supporting the ministry and the DEBs through continuous research into and development of more effective education assessment tools and systems and designing, updating, and supporting the successful implementation of the Basic Assessment Gains Framework (BAGF).
Others include ensuring consistent monitoring and evaluation into DEBs’ activities and success or challenges facing effective tools and systems adoption, as well as designing and facilitating capacity building of DEBs teams and educators across the country.
2. Formal Education Starts at Age 6
Children join the formal education system at six years old (instead of two years old) after they have had enough time to learn through play-at-home and can join school when their brains are better developed and to experience their first class-test or evaluation in Primary Four.
Most Ugandan children are placed in structured school settings and subjected to school routines (including boarding or residential schools that enrol children as early as 18 months).
Nursery schools and daycare centres operate in a free space without proper guidance and parents are detached from their children at a very critical stage of their lives when they need a more natural and homely environment, more parent or family-guided play-based engagements.
This has significant effects on most children that become more apparent later as they advance to higher levels of learning and sometimes by the time these children are in their primary school, they have already developed a bias or dislike for school.
3. Additional Mandatory Subject 1: Patriotism, Community and Environmental Responsiveness
Alongside the current compulsory or mandatory subjects, introduce a mandatory subject on “Patriotism, Community and Environmental Responsiveness” as a standalone that all learners studying within Uganda must study and show evidence of learning to nurture not only an educated and highly skilled entrepreneurial workforce but a new generation of Ugandans guided by the philosophy of Country First in whatever they do; learners who are conscious of local community needs and opportunities and are actively engaged; and learners who are mindful of long-term sustainability in Climate Change and Uganda’s Environmental Resources.
4. Additional Mandatory Subject 2: Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies
Another critical subject to add to the compulsory subjects is Artificial Intelligence (Al) and Emerging Technologies. Learning artificial intelligence and emerging technologies is experiential in itself both for the teachers and learners.
Therefore, in introducing the subject, teachers will need to be adequately trained in how to use emerging technologies in education while training learners at all levels in learning how to use the same technologies for the classroom, and outside the classroom, and to adapt the same technology applications to life and work.
This will further the aims of STEM in Uganda’s schools and learners will be introduced to and immersed in key Emerging Educational Technologies (EETs) such as: Artificial Intelligence (Al), Robotics, Learning Games and Simulations, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, among others.
Countrywide development of new digital-age skills and artificial intelligence interactive spaces will spark significant innovation, position learners and citizens to compete favourably in the increasingly tech-savvy workplace locally and the world over without having to leave the country physically, accelerate entrepreneurship, and enable the country to sustainably develop or enhance its own technology unlike expensively importing it from more tech-savvy countries overseas.
5. Distinction Between Examinable and Non-examinable Subjects and Topics
Examinable and non-examinable subjects and topics should be clearly marked as such from the beginning so learners and parents know early on what is being studied as essential general knowledge and what areas learners may focus on when preparing for tests and other assessments.
6. Replace PLE and UCE with Continuous Assessment and School Transition Certificates
Consider replacing the high-stakes nationwide candidate examinations for primary (Primary 7) and middle school (Senior 4) learners with Continuous Assessments (designed and administered by teachers tailored to unique regional or localised district learner needs).
Following these continuous assessments, schools would award learners with a School Transition Certificates that capture the learner’s cumulative progress via the learner’s portfolio (projects, behaviour, in-class or in-course tests, et al) when completing primary and joining secondary school, and when completing Senior 4 joining high school or vocational colleges.
7. Senior 6 Exam Administered by District Evaluation Boards (DEBs)
A tailored exam administered after Senior Six designed by DEBs to test competency and skills learners have acquired but more to act as a feedback strategy into improving the effectiveness of teaching methodologies, resources, and teachers, and designed to stimulate reflective and critical thinking as compared to memorization.
8. Freedom for Teachers to Set and Administer School and Classroom Tests
Teachers and schools to have more freedom to set and administer tests that address the unique regions in which their schools are located and considerate of their individual learners.
The READ would design a Basic Assessment Gains Framework (BAGF) as a guide to District Evaluation Boards which would adopt this and customise it to be suitable for their schools.
Schools in the said district would then each adopt the DEB version of the BAGF and further customise it (with the participation of parents, teachers, and other key stakeholders) to what best complements their school’s objectives, and each individual teacher to additionally tailor their school’s version to what complements their unique learners’ subjects and classroom needs.
9. Abolish Boarding Schools
Our parents have been hoodwinked to think that a child to perform excellently must be in a boarding school. This has terrible effects on our children. For example, a child gets into boarding in lower classes at a younger age, completes P7, goes to secondary and still stays in boarding up to S6 others even continue to University and get into hostels, now how can such a child who has spent almost half of life in ‘a school imprisonment’ be able to solve problems of their communities? that’s impossible because such a child has not had enough time to stay in society to feel these challenges and this explains why we have more graduates on the streets searching for jobs. We keep them confined in boarding schools, feeding them white man’s theory, and don’t give them time to stay in their communities to study their problems, then after we send them to be challenged by those problems because they don’t know how to deal with the real world, the society is new to them.
10. Create School Districts
Here I don’t mean every district is a school district, in this I mean, look at a region that has the same aspirations, natural resources, social economic needs, challenges and opportunities and make it a school district. And then all children who hail from that school district should go to schools within that district, and their curriculum should be based on the challenges, practices and opportunities of that very district. For example, look at a child from Karamoja battling challenges of hunger and cattle rustling being asked during UNEB exams to answer things to do with jam in Kampala, too much coldness in Kabale, flooods in Bwaise etc…the current education system will end up judging such a learner a failure but in reality this is a bright child being asked to account for things of a different world.
Also, under this, district teachers should be the ones to assess these learners, not UNEB, this means every district will have an examination board that can be facilitated with resources and money that has been going to UNEB. And the means of assessment should be continuous assessment. So, district evaluation boards will set exams that are relevant and related to these learners and through this, learners will graduate with enough solutions to their society’s problems. Therefore, if all the above is implemented, we shall have a better country and these are the things developed countries have done!.
The author is vice-chancellor, at Victoria University.
