Numeracy rates decline due to lockdown - Uneb

Children study using a radio at home last year. Uneb notes that many learners in rural areas missed out on these tools.  PHOTO/COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Half of primary school learners sampled said they never had time to study during the lockdown because of engagement in house chores and casual labour.

A  new study by the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has reported a decline in the proficiency of learners in literacy and numeracy rates at primary level, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has led to the continued closure of schools.
Findings from the research conducted on the effects of Covid-19 on teaching and learning show that there was a drop in numeracy of learners by 13.4 percent from 54.6 percent in 2018 to 41.2 percent this year.
Uneb also reported a drop in literacy rate of learners by 4.7 percent from 31.8 percent in 2018 to 27 percent this year.

While releasing the findings in Kampala yesterday, the manager of National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) department in Uneb, Mr Dan Kyagaba, said learners were more affected in numeracy than in literacy.
“Learners did not have the skills to solve word problems involving division of up to three-digit numbers, divide fractions, illustrate information in the form of a bar graph and calculate simple finite probability, among others,” he said.
Mr Kyagaba said the decline was inevitable after half of primary school learners they sampled reported that they never had time to study during the lockdown because of engagement in house chores and casual labour.

“The students outlined a number of challenges they faced during the lockdown while at home, something that partly affected their performance. Whereas some schools and government engaged the learners using various platform such as online and printed materials, some students, especially those in rural areas, did not benefit much, ” he said.
Ministry of Education and Sports last year tasked Uneb and the department of education, planning and policy analysis to conduct the research.

The study involved the administration of the manager of NAPE written tests to a sample of Primary Six and Senior Three learners who were among the first group to report to school after the first lockdown in March 2020.
Uneb sampled a total of 9,995 Primary Six pupils from 500 schools and 5,935 Senior Three learners from 200 secondary schools in 100 districts.
The study was conducted last year when schools opened in September.

Secondary school findings
At secondary level, there was an increase in the numeracy and literacy rate among students.
According to the findings, there was an increase in the literacy rate of students at secondary level by 10.3 percent from 47.4 percent in 2017, to 56.7 percent this year.

Uneb also reported an increase in numeracy rate by 3.2 percent from 39.3 percent to 42.5 percent in this year.
It also established that 10 percent of primary learners and 13 percent of secondary learners did not report back to schools after the first lockdown. 
The proportion of girls (8 percent) who did not report back at primary level was lower than that of boys (10.2 percent).

The proportion of learners in rural areas at primary level who did not return to schools (11.3 percent) was higher than that of urban areas (1.9 percent).
This was attributed to lack of tuition, teenage pregnancies, preference of casual labour to studies, child marriages and loss of interest in learning.
The Uneb executive director, Mr Daniel Odongo, said whereas more learners might not return to school in January, some of them have acquired vocational skills.

Uneb calls for parental support
“The impact of Covid-19 has been greater on education and the consequences are undesirable. We shall need the effort of parents to convince their children, especially those who have joined the labour market to return to school,” Mr Odongo said.
In a statement, the Minister of Higher Education, Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, said  the findings will help  the ministry to support the teaching and learning process.


Findings on teachers

Findings also indicate that more teachers in private schools did not return to schools compared to those in government schools. According to the report, whereas all teachers in government schools returned, at least 8 percent of teachers in private schools at primary level and 3 percent at secondary level did not return. The teachers said they either had no pay or the money was inadequate to sustain their financial needs. Other teachers said the income-generating activities they had established became better alternatives. Mr Lutalo Bbosa from the National Assessment of Progress recommended government to assist teachers to strike a balance between teaching and sustaining the established income-generating activities.