A history lesson one too many

Author: Angella Nampewo. PHOTO/FILE

What you need to know:

  • By the time we were done, I was reciting the list of the 37 kings of Buganda.   
     

Amazing the things you learn when trying to do a simple thing like signing a child’s homework. Did you know that the first king of Buganda is supposed to have lived 1,000 years? Well, neither did I until yesterday. 

Over the long Martyrs Day weekend, I had the luxury of poring over the extra homework and had a chance to polish not just my French but also my grasp of history. By the time we were done, I was reciting the list of the 37 kings of Buganda. 

I know it’s been awhile since I was in primary school but I do not remember having to memorise the kings in chronological order. 

There is probably some good in the idea though since there seems to be heavy focus on studying local content and less of the Marco Polo and Tippu Tip. 

Beyond getting me to relive the good old colourful Social Studies lessons of my day, the exercise got me thinking about the curriculum changes and how that is going to affect what the children do learn eventually. 

It stirred up some old arguments with fellow old timers about the relevance of some of the topics we studied and how applicable they have been in later life.

I am no teacher but even to my untrained eye, the kids still carry too many books to school, and there is still a lot to memorise, for example, those 37 kings of Buganda, the gods, the history of the Bachwezi and the Batembuzi and that is before all the Mathematics and Science. 

I know some schools have already organised time to brief parents on the new mode of teaching. I believe this is a good time for us to take an interest in what is happening, especially in the early stages of school or we will be stuck complaining at the end of the assembly line, wondering if all that time and investment was worth it.

Recently, I learnt that children get large developmental benefits just from being able to sit around the table for a family meal. 
That is why countries like Finland have seen the need to integrate education and care and place a lot of emphasis on early childhood education because there is so much to lose if we do not handle the developmental stages right. 

While some of the lessons on early childhood development came a little too late for some of us, there is still a possibility of redemption for many others. Our children learn better if the parents pay attention too. The experts should be telling us how we can contribute but contribute we must. 

I am glad to say I played my part by asking my young man to explain the whole idea of Ssekabaka Kintu living 1,000 years. I mean even the Biblical characters lived at most 900 years. 
While we appreciate the people who assemble the syllabus, we are not just going to cram the Bantu migration. We will have room for discussion, poke some fun at those famous characters of old and there will certainly be some anecdotes to remember when the questions show up in the examination. 
The wheels of change may be grinding slowly in the education of our children but as parents, we can bring about some change of our own. 

With the guidance of the schools on how we can participate in our children’s learning, we can make an impact, instilling skills such as critical thinking, boosting confidence and self-esteem and displaying humanity in addition to memorising the theories about Nambi and Kintu. 

Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant   
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