The Minister of State for Higher Education, Hon. John Chrysostom Muyingo, has deployed a team to Nakaseke district to investigate circumstances under which Ignatius Koomu Kiwanuka, the LCV Chairperson, subjected Primary Seven (P7) Teachers to assessment tests.
The move followed poor performance in the 2023 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results.
“Government, we need an explanation to that effect,” stated the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Anita Among, during plenary this week.
She added: “Are these people going to be promoted? Is that the best way to improve on performance? Can we have an action taken? Because you see these teachers are disgruntled, they don’t want to go to school because after marking, maybe all of them have failed, so what is the way forward? Is it a policy that has just come?”
The Speaker’s directive followed a concern raised by Allan Mayanja (Nakaseke Central) who claimed that the teachers forced to sit these exams approached him complaining that Koomu’s examinations were disrespectful, thus prompting him to seek clarification from Government on whether this was a policy that was adopted by the Ministry of Education.
Mayanja also wondered if the teachers who pass this exam will be promoted.
“The LCV Chairperson subjected PLE mock examinations to primary teachers in Nakaseke for those schools which performed badly, and students failed PLE examinations. The Minister of Education should come and explain, how it (the policy) is implemented. Some teachers are approaching me saying they are being disrespected in line with that,” said Mayanja.
He added: “The Minister of Education needs to explain, after these examinations, what next, the recommendations made from this exercise, where are they subjected to? For those who have failed, what next? For those who have passed, are they going to be promoted?”
In response, Minister Muyingo admitted that Koomu’s actions shocked the Ministry and a team of officials is camped in Nakaseke district to investigate the matter and upon conclusion, Parliament will be updated.
“As a Ministry, we were shocked to learn this from the media and because we know Nakaseke Local Government isn’t an official examination body, we have sent our team on the ground to find out what exactly is happening. Could this be true and I want to assure you that after we have done the study, we will come back and submit to you,” said Minister Muyingo.
Under Koomu’s directive, the P.7 mock exam was administered to teachers from schools that performed poorly in the 2023 Primary Leaving Exams (PLE) on Wednesday, 13 March 2024.
Hon. Asuman Basalirwa (Jeema, Bugiri Municipality) said that local governments under the decentralisation arrangement have the liberty to come up with policies to improve academic performance and asked that the education ministry educate the public on such provisions.
Hon. Dickson Kateshumbwa (NRM, Sheema Municipality) on the other hand said the Nakaseke district chairperson’s efforts to improve education should be commended, cognizant of the degenerating quality of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) system.
“I would commend his decision because it has ignited the debate on why our children are failing PLE. We need to engage him and the district to further understand the drivers of poor performance,” Kateshumbwa said.