Irish educationist advices gov’t on assessment, teacher development

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Irish educationist Professor Emer Ring has advised the Ugandan Ministry of Education to rethink the current form of assessment and invest in teacher development in order to uplift the education standards in the country.

Prof. Ring, the dean of Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland, criticized the current form of assessment which offers a uniform and standardized examination which she argues cannot reflect the competence of each learner considering individual differences.

She made the remarks while presenting a keynote address during the ongoing National Primary Teachers Conference hosted at the London College of St Lawrence, Wakiso district. The conference has brought together 18 teachers from every district and officials from the Ministry of Education to reflect on the teaching profession under the theme; Quality Teachers Matter.

In Uganda, students in candidate classes are subjected to examinations set by the Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB, to determine who is ready to join the next level of education. This system of assessment is referred to as summative assessment which is intended to evaluate students’ learning at the end of an instructional unit.

Ring observes that this form of assessment develops a tendency of focusing only the core subjects like numeracy and literacy neglecting the other dimensions of learning. She adds that its high time Uganda adapted the Global Education Revolution Movement-GERM model which has seen countries like Finland and Ireland get a strong education system.

Issa Matovu, a Ugandan educationist, says that for years, they have urged the government to reconsider the assessment of learners as a basis of turning the entire system as many other countries like Kenya have done. However, he says that the appeals have not yet yielded any results.

Kate Apio, a teacher from Kole District, says that the current assessment is promoting cram work other than actual learning as teachers focus on coaching children for national examinations. She adds that the current system also favours the rich who manipulate the system to have their kids get better grades and paint a picture that poor UPE schools are underperforming.

Dr Tony Mukasa Lusambu, the Commissioner for Basic Education, says that the assessment matter has been a hot topic in the Ministry of Education adding that they are currently trying to develop an assessment policy which will lay a foundation towards the introduction of another form of assessment- continuous assessment- across the board.

In the same development, prof Ring says that Uganda should start a deliberate move towards teacher development in order to improve the quality of education offered to learners. She says that in the 1900’s Ireland education system was limping until they had to focus on teacher development which at last caused a fundamental change.

Meanwhile, the Irish Ambassador to Uganda William Carlos expressed disappointment on a number of vices existing in schools, practised by teachers. He points out corporal punishment which he says have left schools insecure for learners.

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URN