Teachers in Busoga region have been urged to embrace modern teaching methods as one of the avenues to boost the performance of pupils in the national examinations.
Speaking at a one week training workshop for primary schools teachers from Kamuli district August 3, the Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga expressed concern over the decline in performance of pupils from rural schools over the years.
“During my primary school days names of pupils from rural schools in Kamuli always featured on the national list. Today our schools are nowhere on the national scene. We need to address this anomaly to save the current generation,” she said.
The Speaker reaffirmed her commitment to a three pronged approach that will involve retooling teachers, distributing books to all pupils in candidate classes and special exams for Busoga region.
“I’m very worried that our schools rank amongst the worst performers in national exams. I have decided to partner with local leaders to have a common mock exam for all schools in Busoga region. Sometimes pupils fail because they can’t interpret the questions set by national examiners,” she told teachers.
The Speaker also noted that teachers contributed much to the failure rate when they don’t prepare the pupils adequately. She rallied them to embrace a new programme that involve teachers from Wakiso and Kampala schools retooling rural teachers with modern teaching techniques.
“As one of the ways to improve performance, i have also decided to give out revision exercise books to all pupils in candidate classes in Kamuli district to prepare them for national exams. These books also have marking guides for the teachers,” the Speaker added.
Rt.Hon. Kadaga has also announced plans to help schools construct teachers housing facilities to save teachers from trekking long distances and also enable them dedicate more time to teaching pupils.
Kamuli district leaders hailed the Speaker for the project and promised closely monitor the performance of pupils during the forthcoming national exams.