Uganda second in world with pupils who can’t count - study

Kampala. At least 80 per cent of pupils in Primary Two in Uganda cannot perform a two-digit subtraction, whereas 61 per cent cannot read a single word of a short sentence, a World Bank development report on education has shown.
For instance in rural areas, the report says, nearly three-quarters of students in Grade 3 (Primary 3) could not solve a two-digit subtraction such as “46 – 17” and by Grade 5 (Primary 5), half still could not do so.
“Millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills. After many years in school, many leave without the skills for calculating the correct change from a transaction, reading a doctor’s instruction or interpreting a campaign promise – later on building a fulfilling career or educating their own children,” the report states.
The report explains that schooling is not the same as learning and that in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, when Grade 3 (Primary 3) students were asked during the study to read a sentence such as “The name of the dog is Puppy,” three-quarters did not understand what it said.
The study, commissioned by the World Bank and other partners, covered education in sub-Saharan Africa. It shows children learn very little in education systems with millions of them lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills even after spending several years in school.
The report titled ‘Learning to realise Education’s Promise 2018’ was released on September 26 in Washington DC.
It also names India among countries with the highest percentage of students who cannot count (83p er cent) and Malawi with 85 per cent of pupils who cannot read a single word.
The report also recognises the global learning crisis and the failure of governments towards the hundreds of millions of children who are not in school or in school but not learning. It further identifies the lack of preparedness by learners, effective teaching, learning focused inputs and skilled management and governance to pull these together as the factors why learning is not taking place.
The report shows that in Uganda, 59 per cent of teachers are absent in class, even when they are at school, whereas 30 per cent are absent in school.
“This learning crisis is a moral and economic crisis and to realise education’s promise, we need to prioritise learning, not just schooling” and called upon developing countries to implement a well delivered education only which can cure a host of societal ills,” the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said about the study findings.
“Given that today’s students will be tomorrow’s citizens, leaders, workers, and parents, a good education is an investment with enduring benefits. But providing education is not enough. What is important, and what generates a real return on investment, is learning and acquiring skills. This is what truly builds human capital,” he observed.
Uganda’s State minister for Education Rosemary Seninde said government has played its part and that it’s time for parents and teachers to play their role.
“In order to improve the quality of Education in UPE (universal primary education) schools, government is considering amending the policy on automatic promotion, improving teachers’ welfare and constructing schools across the country but even with this in place, parents must play their role,” she said.
She said several reports from UWEZO, an education quality assessment organisation, have captured similar learning challenges in UPE schools and government is reviewing its policy to focus on quality.
The chairperson of Parliament Committee on Education and Sports, Ms Connie Nakayenze, said the teacher, school environment and the child determine results a child will get out of school. “But today, most parents have relegated their role of being teachers at home and they now just sit and send children to school without monitoring them. There is need to involve parents in the education of the pupils to ensure we get quality,” Ms Nakayenze said.She urged head-teachers to make schools focus on learning. She said great schools build strong teacher-learner relationships in classrooms.
However, the World Bank report advises educationists to align actors to make the entire system work for learning. It says innovation in classrooms won’t have much impact if technical and political barriers at the system level prevent a focus on learning at the school level.
This is the case in many countries stuck in low-learning traps and getting them out requires focused attention on the deeper causes, the report observes.
Dr Susan Kavuma, a lecturer of economics at Makerere University, said although enrolment has clearly increased from 3.1 million pupils in 1996 to 8.5 million by 2015, there is very low literacy and proficiency amongst the learners.
Prof A.B.K. Kasozi, a former executive director at National Council for Higher Education and a researcher, said the report has been timely to help government look back at the achievements of the UPE programme and evaluate itself whether they are on the right track or not.