UGANDA:
Local Language Instruction Spurs Primary Level Literacy and Numeracy
In response to conclusions reached with the Government-sponsored study, in February 2007, a new primary school curriculum, called the “thematic curriculum” was launched with the assistance of the USAID-funded UNITY project (Ugandan Initiative for TDMS and PIASCY). In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), the UNITY project is helping the Government implement this new curriculum, assisting learners to develop not only fluency but also competencies and life skills as a result of instruction in their own local language. Children who master basic literacy and numeracy skills in their mother tongue are better prepared to succeed when English-language instruction begins. UNITY provided technical assistance to the National Curriculum Development Centre to develop the thematic curriculum and is conducting a continuous assessment of this new curriculum whose impacts are being measured through the Measuring Learning Achievement (MLA) assessment. The goal of the MLA assessment is to find out whether the students are demonstrating higher competencies in literacy and numeracy as a result of the introduction of the thematic curriculum.
Designed to improve the quality of basic education, the new curriculum is organized by themes rather than subjects. Children are taught in one of the main official local languages throughout P1 to P3 (equivalent to Grades 1 to 3) in rural areas. In urban areas, English is used as a medium of instruction while local languages are taught as a subject (strands) of the thematic curriculum. The rationale for the use of local language was to enable young children to learn and express their thoughts and ideas in a language that they understand. This allows them to grasp concepts faster and gives them a more solid foundation in literacy, numeracy, and life skills, which will better prepare them for learning more complex things as they move up the educational ladder. Grade 4 or P4 is a transition year during which children switch from a theme-based curriculum to a subject-based curriculum and from the use of a local language as the medium of instruction to English as the dominant one.
The themes were selected based on their relevance to the children’s interests and experience such as “our home and community” and “the human body and health.” Consequently, the new curriculum is rightly advertised as a child-centered approach: the child is at the center of the thematic curriculum. The expected outcomes are that children will improve in literacy, numeracy and life skills. It will make learning concrete and easier as the pupils will be communicating in their local language. Therefore, the thematic curriculum reduces boredom and failure. Basically, says Geoffrey Okello, Deputy Principal at Loro Core Primary Teachers College, “teaching progresses from the known to the unknown. And knowing the local language is the starting point to move forward.”
Conducted by School to School International, a partner of the UNITY project, the MLA research outcomes of 2007 to 2009 showed improvement in literacy and in numeracy from the old curriculum to the new curriculum. For instance, comparison between the P2 (2007) MLA baseline and P2 (2008) follow-up in control and experimental schools showed that schools using local language (experimental schools) as a medium of instruction saw a significant increase in pupil achievement by 9.8% in language and 2% in Mathematics as compared to the control schools that registered a 0% increment in achievement in language and a -2% in Mathematics. The 2009 P3 MLA results showed a 10% mean score improvement in literacy, and a margin of 5% mean score improvement in numeracy, from the old curriculum to the new curriculum. This is a significant improvement in pupil competency which demonstrated the effectiveness of the thematic curriculum. Over the life of UNITY, it is anticipated that the MLA will consist of four rounds of tests. Pupils are tested in literacy and numeracy in English for the baseline and in one of the six following local languages: Acholi, Luganda, Ateso, Runyankole, Rukiga and Lango for the new curriculum. Preliminary results show that the reform is yielding substantial gains in student learning and reading.
UNITY has also helped to provide materials in local languages, as well as professional development, for primary teachers in the thematic curriculum. In 2009, with assistance from the project, P3 local language materials were developed and translated into 11 local languages. In 2010, a total of 230,000 copies of local language materials for P3 were printed and sent to the Primary Teacher Colleges. They will be delivered to the schools at the start of the new academic year in February 2011. Several trainings of P1-P4 teachers in Thematic and Transitional Curricula were also conducted in 2010 and more than 8,000 teachers were trained. UNITY also supports the MOES to adapt the P4 transition curriculum to special needs education.
—Roseline F. Tekeu
This article leverages my experience working in the field in Uganda during the month of September 2010. During my stay, I had the opportunity to attend, in Loro Core Primary Teachers College (North Uganda), a training of P1-P4 teachers on the Thematic and Transition Curricula Review.