By Irene Lamunu
Dec 29 - 5 Jan, 2004
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Some teachers wear 'military' faces when teaching Mr Sserungonji Mukibi a journalist working at Wavah Broadcasting Service says he passed mathematics but he has no clue of how he used to get his answers right. He disliked the subject. He would, however, pass tests but when asked to explain the formula, he would only see 'stars'. Mukibi says his dislike had nothing to do with his teachers but his friends discouraged him.
They reportedly told him Mathematics was a tough subject and so it became to Mukibi. Mukibi is not alone. Many students and pupils have problems with mathematics because of various reasons. It could be influence from peers and discouragement from relatives and teachers. Mr James Olowo, a teacher of mathematics for the last seventeen years, blames some teachers for the trouble that students have with mathematics. According to him, most mathematics teachers make the subject appear sophisticated, therefore, discouraging learners. Olowo, who teaches at City Parents School, said that some teachers can't evaluate themselves and therefore, cannot properly evaluate learners. So, students fail to know whether the answers are right or wrong. For learners to study mathematics well, Olowo said they should be grouped according to their abilities and teachers should encourage them by evaluating their work. In addition, mathematics teachers should be humorous and stop wearing 'military' faces when teaching. Olowo said that mathematics teachers should not be artistic but creative to stimulate learning. "Teachers should monitor pupils even up to home to find out the root cause for absenteeism for those students that dodge the lessons," he said. He said that teachers should make mathematics interesting by doing practical work so that even low learners get the concepts. Olowo said that marketing mathematics is still problematic partly because some teachers bark at learners. Some schools are using unqualified teachers who reportedly teach uncoordinated facts. Olowo said that giving uncoordinated facts discourages learners. He added that some teachers teach two topics in a lesson of 45 minutes, which is not logical for mathematics. Mr Alex Byaruhanga Rwandaragi the acting head of mathematics department at Namilyango College agrees with Olowo that mathematics needs to be taught practically. "It requires students and teachers to do the practice," he said. According to Byaruhanga, teaching of mathematics should be done in sequence-one topic after the other-- if learners have to understand and pass the subject. He said that students have been blinded by the stereotype that mathematics is a difficult subject. Byaruhanga said that parents, friends and relatives of students should encourage them to take Maths like any other subject. He said that even at home, students should be encouraged to do Maths because continued practice is the key to passing the subject. Byaruhanga blamed teachers who reportedly use jargons when teaching, saying it discourages learners as the big words make the subject look tough. The acting head of Mathematics department at Makerere University and Chairman Uganda Mathematical society Mr Vincent A. Ssembatya also blames poor performance in Maths on poor motivation of learners by teachers. He said that mathematics is just like any other subject; students find difficulties in particular topics or sections not the entire subject. According to Ssembatya, motivation of learners is the first remedy. Ssembatya suggests that mathematics teachers should be retrained. He said that so far Uganda Mathematical Society organises teachers' conferences every year to give teachers new methodologies of teaching the subject. Ssembatya also suggests that higher institutions of learning should start training primary school teachers. " They should rigorously train the primary teachers at undergraduate level," he said. He added that teaching of Maths should be improved right from primary school level. "A lot material should be developed and used when teaching the subject," he said. He said that some students fear Math because of the sophisticated examples used by teachers. He said that some examples are not relevant in Uganda; therefore, they should be customised for the students to understand them. Ssembatya also said that there is cause to revise the books used in schools. |
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
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