Education System in Uganda: Lessons from Singapore and the Far East. ===================================== Our education system in Uganda is rotten to say the least! It has been destroyed to a greater extent by the NRM government. There has been a dereliction of duties and responsibilities on the part of the NRM & its leadership in our education system. Yes, Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) are good government policies on paper but total rubbish in reality. This is because the government has failed to fund these policies efficiently and effectively. Secondly, they have failed to supervise and monitor the development of UPE and USE. Third, they have failed to evaluate & review the effectiveness of the UPE & USE in Uganda. As the old saying goes, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys The key to the success of the Singaporean education system is the government’s policy. Singapore has promoted education as a pillar of economic growth since its independence in 1965. The government made sure Singaporean teachers are well remunerated, well developed and highly supervised. They ensured that schools have modern resources to help both teachers and students achieve their full potential. Their education system is results driven and there is a lot of testing in Singaporean schools to gauge if the children have learnt and understood what was taught. But equally, it is aimed at assessing the performance of the teacher and head teachers. In Singapore, 15-year-olds are 10 months ahead of those in the UK in English. They are 20 months ahead in maths. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai match Singapores performance. All these countries pay teachers well, and recruit the best graduates into teaching. High-quality teachers in Singapore are not an accident - but are the result of deliberate policy-actions. Just like many other countries, Singapore had once faced a dearth of good teachers, due in part to the lack of prestige and respect for the profession. This changed after government concerted efforts were made from the mid-1980s to raise the image, provide training and better working conditions for teachers. In Singapore, every teacher must choose from one of two professional tracks - teaching or leadership. There is also sometimes a third track, specialist, but very few teachers enter this track. Teachers move their way upwards in these tracks based on the grades they receive and generally there are four levels in each track that teachers work through, each one carrying increased salary and responsibilities. In the teaching track, teachers can eventually become senior or master teachers - which mentor new teachers, develop the programs within the school, and focus on school improvement. In the leadership track, teachers can eventually assume leadership roles such as subject or department head, vice-principal and principal, and superintendent, or even work for the Ministry of Education. In the specialist track, teachers can become content specialists, develop curriculum, decide which textbooks to use, and possibly do curriculum work for the Ministry of Education. Salary increases are tied to this system and some teachers make more than others based on how far they have progressed. Teachers get salary increments for longevity as well. Each year, teachers are evaluated according to a grading system - A, B, C, D or E. Only about 2% get a grade of A. and most teachers receive a grade of C. Salary increments are tied to this system and if a teacher gets a grade of D, he or she cannot be promoted through a particular track, for three years. If a teacher gets an E grade, he or she is dismissed. Teachers grades are based on three criteria - performance, contribution, and estimated potential. Performance includes students test results and grades, formal and informal teacher observation, and feedback from stakeholders, which include students, parents, and reporting officers (department and subject heads). Contribution involves the extra things that teachers do for the school, such as chair meetings and committees and teach extracurricular activities. Estimated potential involves the potential a teacher has to improve based on their academic background, performance and contribution. There is no such thing as tenure for teachers in Singapore. Now, take a look at the our education system and you will see where we have been going wrong? Let nobody lie to you: schools in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Shanghai regularly test their students rigorously from a very young age. If you abandon that bit in education, then you are about to burry a new generation of Ugandans…and you are heading the same way British schools have been going for some time, only to realise they are on a wrong track. UK govt ministers & educationalists are now in panicky mood, making a U-turn in order to copy and emulate the Singaporean model. The Singaporean model is what we used to have in Uganda from Independence until 1986 and that is exactly what is at UK top private schools like Eton, Harrow, St Paul’s, University College School, London oratory, etc. Thank you By Sunday Geoffrey
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 22:10:58 +0000
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