How Nakaseke teachers performed in P7 exams 

The release of results from an assessment exam to 51 primary school teachers in Nakaseke District is at the centre of debate after it emerged that some teachers performed poorly.

While releasing the results during a stakeholders meeting in Kiwoko Town Council on Monday, the chairperson of Nakaseke District, Mr Ignatius Kiwanuka Koomu, argued that the results call for refresher courses for teachers.

“These teachers were assessed on a single subject that he or she teaches at the school. We have seen some that scored below 30 out of 100 while several got above 70 percent. This is not the end,” he said.

The teachers who sat the assessment exam were drawn from selected schools that reportedly underperformed during the 2023 Primary Leaving Exams (PLE).

The teachers had earlier been invited for an engagement with the district officials at Nakaseke Technical College on March 13. They were later ordered to put away their bags and sit the assessment exam under the direct supervision of Mr Koomu. 

Without mentioning the particular examination body that managed the exam, the district chairperson on April 15 released results for the 2023 mock exams that the 51 teachers did.

Out of the nine teachers that sat the Mathematics mock paper, seven scored below 50 percent. One of the teachers scored 28 percent. The highest score in Mathematics was 89 percent.

For Social Studies that 13 teachers were forced to do, 11 of them scored above 70 percent. The highest mark scored in SST was 92 percent.

In the English language paper, 13 teachers were subjected to the assessment. Five got below 50 percent. The highest score in English was 88 percent.

In Science, 14 teachers sat for the exam. Twelve teachers scored marks above 70 with the best scoring 91 percent.

The assessment exam will be followed by refresher courses for teachers, according to Mr Koomu.

Response
The exercise has generated a mixed reaction from the public, including the government and the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu ) regarding the legality and mandate of the district chairperson to subject teachers to an assessment.

The Monitor has seen a letter authored by a legal firm on behalf of Unatu threatening legal action against Mr Koomu if he doesn’t stop the assessment process.

In the April 16 letter addressed to Mr Koomu, the legal representatives of Unatu state that their client learnt from the media and received numerous complaints from its members about the unprofessional assessment outside the law.

“The matter of poor performance of pupils in Nakaseke in national exams can be lawfully addressed through appropriate authorities that have the competence and mandate to do so. This is to request you to halt the illegal exercises in question immediately. Failure of which, we shall institute legal proceedings in your capacity,” a section of the letter copied to the Minister of Education and Sports, Minister of Local Government and Unatu, reads in part.

Unatu view
Mr Filbert Baguma, the Unatu general secretary, in an interview on Wednesday, accused Mr Koomu of undermining the teachers.

“Whatever the Nakaseke District chairperson has been conducting is out of his mandate,” he said.

Ms Sarah Najuma, the Nakaseke District Woman MP, said poor performance in schools in Nakaseke cannot be judged based on the teachers’ results in the assessment.

“The approach was wrong and degrading. We need to find a collective solution to the poor academic performance of learners. 

“I believe Mr Koomu is an educationist and is better placed to understand the matter. We should not degrade our teachers to that level,” she said.

ON April 17, Mr  Koomu declined to respond to the contents of the Unatu lawyers’ letter and promised to respond to this publication later, but by close of business , he had not.

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