When my five-year-old daughter Amanpour Lukwago got holidays last Friday, I was filled with joy.
I now had my biological child in primary school, having seen her through pre-school for three years. However, the joy was short-lived as I read through the report card and the requirement sheet. Unfortunately, it is not only me who is/was unhappy with the way private schools are treating parents and learners.
One of the ‘best’ primary schools in Kampala with several branches in Kampala and Wakiso has a motto: “Where your child is guaranteed a first grade”.
I believe this is an insult to parents. Not all children from these schools get first grades and, besides, not all parents take their children to school to get first grades.
The purpose of education is not to only get a first grade as schools have made us believe but, rather, to achieve spiritual and intellectual growth and ability to transform the communities where we come from.
In my teaching profession, I have seen students who join with ‘good’ grades but cannot defend them while others who may not have scored so highly mainly from upcountry schools make it not only at university but even in life after school.
The publication of results after their release by examination body Uneb is partly to blame. Every school is forced to devise means of appearing on the front page of newspapers in order to be seen as the best in the eyes of ignorant parents.
Why should schools fight the pre-university examinations currently at Makerere and Uganda Christian University? The reason is simple; their coached students cannot pass these examinations.
In school, we used to read textbooks but schools degenerated to pamphlets and now we are buying marking guides for learners!
Many of these so-called star schools are teaching children how to pass examinations from the day they enroll. No wonder the learners pass the poorly-set examinations whose purpose is to help only those who cram, but not those who understood what was taught and are ready to have it practiced or implemented.
We should not treat learners like manufactured products; these students have life after school which may span tens of years. Schools should, therefore, be preoccupied with activities that enable these learners to live after school but not how the students can market the school once results are released.
No wonder even the traditional schools have now changed their approach. One head teacher in one of the prominent Muslim schools in Kampala told his teachers that he wanted to have twenty students entering medical school each year.
His concern was/is not about quality but quantity because by doing so, the ignorant community will consider him hardworking. Many are admitting beyond their carrying capacity in order to compete with the perennial top school in the country.
The other issue I keep complaining about is the duration of study. Our children, even those in preschool, are expected at school by 6:30am. I hate it when I have to wake up my daughter to catch the school bus which is usually at my gate by 5:15am.
Imagine a four-year-old leaving home at 5am and coming back at 8pm! You must have noticed in the morning or evening when parents drive sleeping children in their cars and, on arriving home, the same children are supposed to do homework. Seriously!
When do these children rest? When do they play when most of the schools are housed in single buildings with concrete courtyards? How will they learn how to think? Most parents are only interested in hearing their children speak English because, to them, good education means speaking good English.
In this free market, schools are at liberty to charge any tuition as they feel like. How can a preschool child pay Shs 1m and above? Is that logical? In some of the schools, you can only access the school compound when you have fully paid up the fees and no parent can speak to those in charge until compliance is achieved.
Some schools have funny charges for the like of practical books, book covers, a ream of paper per child per term and field tours, among others. What is even more annoying is the teachers in these schools are not the best paid. Something must happen or else our children are turning into robots as parents’ pockets dry up.
The author is a lecturer at the International University of East Africa, Kampala.