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The chairperson board of academics at Ibanda Municipality, addressing teachers during the release of mock exams
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Education News
By Jovita Hasto
IBANDA: Parents have been urged to facilitate their children’s education if they want to create a future generation of well-educated citizens.
The call came during the release of Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) mock results at Ibanda Municipality headquarters, where most learners performed poorly, particularly in science. According to the results, science was the worst-performed subject, while mathematics showed better results. Out of 2,276 learners in 69 schools across the three divisions of Bufunda, Kagongo, and Bisheshe in Ibanda Municipality, 516 pupils were ungraded, representing 22.6 percent. Nineteen learners did not sit the exams.
While addressing head teachers in the area, Mr. Deus Warugaba urged parents to identify and address challenges early before the final examinations. He warned that failure to support children academically could lead to increased school dropouts, creating insecurity threats in the district.
“A parent who does not support his or her child will only escort others when they are celebrating. Once your child drops out of school, they may end up contributing to insecurity and crime in the area. You need to support your children—do not rely on government and politicians,” he said.
The results showed that private schools continue to outperform government schools. Mr. Warugaba advised parents and head teachers from government schools to benchmark successful schools to improve performance.
“I urge teachers and all stakeholders to come on board and address poor performance. We must learn from better-performing schools so that we address challenges and ensure learners achieve good grades,” he added.
Some of the headteachers in Ibanda attend the session during the release of mok examinations. [Photo: Jovita Hasto]
Mr. Cohen Mwesigwa, the head teacher of Kaihiro Primary School in Bisheshe Division, attributed the poor performance to limited parental support.
“Some parents stop at simply taking their children to school without providing enough facilitation, yet schools themselves face challenges within administration,” he said.
He added that many parents rely entirely on government support, even for school fees, which is insufficient and contributes to poor performance—especially in government schools.
“Parents must make efforts to support their children. When there is no welfare for teachers and little motivation from administration, performance inevitably declines. Government support alone is not enough,” he stressed.
Ms. Evas Kentaro, head teacher of Rwobuziizi Primary School in Bufunda Division, said that despite the poor performance in science, they plan to sensitise parents to take responsibility.
“We found that science was poorly done, but we promise to improve in the final exams. Some children performed badly due to limited support from both parents and teachers. We are going to engage parents and sensitise them, and we believe results will improve,” she said.
Ibanda Municipality Education Officer, Mr. Johnson Abakunda, advised head teachers to use the remaining time to foster improvement ahead of the PLE.
“Head teachers must check themselves because schools cannot stand without them. We still have time for revision to eliminate ungraded and X grades. By the end of the year, we must show interest in better performance,” he said. He added: “For our children to have a better future, they require our support. It is our responsibility as parents and stakeholders not to rely on propaganda from people with selfish interests.”
Mr. Benon Kamugisha, chairperson of the Board of Academics at Ibanda Municipality, linked the poor results to absenteeism caused by lack of school requirements.
“We have over 500 ungraded learners, and absenteeism due to lack of school needs greatly affected performance. Our emphasis must now be on achieving better grades in the final exams,” he said.
Torch Media Africa
