Opinions
Do parents have anything to do with poor performance?
Minister Dr. John Muyingo
We are all aware of the poor performance that was manifested in the PLE results which were released just recently.
It was reported that for the past 3 years, a total of over 3000 primary schools failed to get any pupil passing in Division one. The analysis was done basing on data obtained from the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) covering the last three years which revealed that the worst performing schools were spread across 123 districts and Municipalities.
However, what confounded my mind was when the Minister for Higher Education, Dr. John Muyingo and the minister of education put their emphasis on parents as a pillar in improving the learning of pupils.
According to the Minister of education while there are efforts put in place to improve the learning in schools, it won’t be enough if parents do not take the responsibility of supporting the learning of pupils and running of schools. And Dr. Muyingo was quoted saying that all parents in government and private schools have a job to do to get out of this bracket of worst performing schools.
I really don’t know what these two ministers were trying to insinuate when they said this. Are they trying to say that it’s our fault as parents for the poor performance of our children’s academics?
But what do parents have to do with pupils’ poor performance. Are they the teachers with the role of imparting knowledge or are they the schools that house these pupils? This is something I have failed to understand.
As a parent, I believe my role is to take my child to school, and pay for his/her school fees. What more am I expected to do if I achieve that. Isn’t that enough support to my child’s learning? Or does the government think I am also supposed to run the school, and facilitate it. When has that been my role as a parent?
To me, ideally, once I take my child to school, I expect the school to maximize its efforts in bringing my child to his/her individual, maximum academic potential. If the school fails, how then is it my problem?
I believe it’s high time the government fully settled its efforts on improving the education system rather than throwing the blame around.
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