Teachers ask govt to boost science teaching
Greater Bushenyi science teachers and head teachers chat after their workshop at Katungu Mothers Union Centre on Tuesday. PHOTO BY PAUL ARUHO
BUSHENYI.
Science teachers in Bushenyi District have appealed to government to provide laboratories and workshops to schools teaching science to equip the students with practical skills.
They said although science subjects are attracting more students, lack of apparatuses is frustrating the desired learning. The concern was raised on Tuesday during a workshop for head teachers and science teachers in Greater Bushenyi region at Katungu Mothers Union Centre in Bushenyi town.
The motive
The teachers were reviewing Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers’ Programme (SESEMAT).
Mr Innocent Mwere Bamwesigye, the coordinator of science trainers and regional trainer of mathematics, said many learners have no access to science apparatuses.
“Students don’t access these apparatuses. This has affected the promotion of sciences as some students pull out opting to take arts subjects,” Mr Bamwesigye said.
“Government should also recruit more science teachers because when students fail to get teachers, they run to arts subjects that have enough teachers,” he added.
He said in some schools, one person teaches chemistry from S.1 to S.4 which is too much load to yield desired results. The workshop attracted about 100 head teachers and science teachers.
Mr Sebi Barutiina, a mathematics trainer, said few females said the number of students taking sciences especially physics, chemistry and mathematics is increasing.
Mr Polly Turambure, the chairman SESEMAT, said their target is to reduce failure rates in science and mathematics subjects. He asked teachers to ensure they don’t scare away students who are slow at comprehending science studies.
Mitooma District Education Officer Sabastiano Katungwensi appealed to parents to buy science textbooks for their children.
countrywide
The general performance in Science subjects in last year’s O-Level exams was poor country wide. The results indicated that only 45 per cent of the candidates attained what Uneb called “competency level” where a student’s overall score falls between Division One and Four.
To encourage students to focus more on sciences, has for instance introduced the students loan scheme at university to give priority to science students and various curricula reviews.
