Drop compulsory sciences at O-Level, Uneb tells govt

Practical.Senior Four candidates do physics practical exam recently. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU

What you need to know:

Complaint. Opponents say since policy was introduced in 2004, performance in science subjects has continued to drop

KAMPALA.

Uganda National Examinations Board and the teachers union have asked government to review the science policy which requires every student in lower secondary to study science subjects.

Mr James Tweheyo, the general secretary of Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu), told Daily Monitor that since the policy was introduced in 2004, performance in science subjects has continued to drop and few students are now pursuing the sciences at an advanced level.

Mr Tweheyo advises that the sciences should be compulsory in Senior One and Two, and thereafter students be guided by their teachers and parents to choose whether to continue with the sciences or drop them for the humanities at Senior Three.

“As a teacher, I believe children should be allowed to study what they can manage and excel in rather than forcing them to take subjects where their competencies may not be inclined. I support the sciences but I don’t support that everybody must study them. We need the humanities too. The critical element is child study and observation in all schools,” Mr Tweheyo said in an interview.

“We must acknowledge individual differences. We have outliers who can excel at everything; we have those who are basically science-oriented and those who are strong in the humanities. But to hold them all and herd them in one direction can’t work. We’ve seen the results since this policy was introduced. It is not taking us anywhere. Government should rethink this strategy,” he added.

Similar concerns were first raised last year by Prof Mary Okwakol, the Uneb’s chairperson, while releasing the 2015 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams results. Prof Okwakol had then asked government to rethink its science policy because it was not delivering the desired results since the sciences were made compulsory more than 11 years ago.

At the time, Uneb had reported that 90 per cent of confiscated results were in the sciences and mathematics. She noted that there was evidence that there was little teaching as a result of lack of teachers; with the few available being shared between several schools and that rural schools were most affected.

“There is need for the ministry of Education to go beyond the provision of the hardware and look for the reasons why, despite the interventions, performances in mathematics and the sciences continue to be below the acceptable levels,” Prof Okwakol then said.

Prof Okwakol re-echoed her concerns in January this year while releasing the 2016 UCE exams results where she appealed to government to investigate the root causes of poor performance in science subjects.
Overall, Uneb reported 55 per cent science failure in the 2016 UCE exams.

While Ms Kedrace Turyagyenda, the commissioner at the Directorate of Education Standards, admitted that students’ performance was still wanting in the science disciplines, she insisted it is a good policy to allow every child in school to study the basics of science, arguing that the world is being controlled by science and technology.

“I think everybody has to be given a chance. We are not compelling them. Who knows who has what talent? We are saying pick the basics which they can build on in the future. The O-Level science is really science literacy. It should be for everybody because we live in a scientific world. Everyone at this stage needs to know they are living in science, eat the food they eat and do what they do. If properly handled, everybody should pass it. At the moment, we are not doing very well but that can change and the policy is right,” Ms Turyagyenda said.

In 2004, the government made it compulsory for every lower secondary school going child to study sciences. But every year, since the policy was enforced, the results in sciences have not been encouraging despite government investment in laboratory construction in most schools and equipping them with chemicals, apparatus and textbooks.

Education ministry permanent secretary, Mr Alex Kakooza, said they were planning to recruit about 1,500 science teachers in the next financial year.