Govt Mulls Reducing Number of Primary Education Years to Six

[nngu007]

Alex Bitekeye
1 June 2011

The government intends to reduce the number of years a student is required to undergo primary education in a bid to raise the quality of education. In the changes, the government also plans to introduce compulsory one-year preparatory studies for every child before joining Standard One.



The new system, according to the deputy minister for Education and Vocational training, Mr Phillipo Mulugo, will comprise a one-year preparatory stage, six years for primary education, four years for ordinary level secondary education and two years for advanced level secondary education, making a combination of 1:6:4:2 for preliminary studies.The current system comprises seven years of primary school education.

Mr Mulugo revealed this yesterday when officiating at a symposium on education held at the University of Dar es Salaam.He said the move to introduce a preparatory year is underway, and some parts of the country had already started to implement it.

"We want to increase our education quality; children should start classes in their early years," said the deputy minister adding:"The government is seriously putting efforts in improving the quality of education in the country after successfully increasing enrolment at all levels."

For his part, a lecturer at the school of education at the university, Prof Justinian Galabawa, urged the government to start selecting students with higher marks to join the education profession, instead of the current situation where the least passed were the ones joining the profession.
"We should copy from Korea and Cuba where a person should have attained higher marks in order for him or her to join the education profession," said Prof Galabawa.

He also urged the students specialising in education to study management courses (which are currently mainly optional) in order to be competent in managing school resources. "They are not teachers only, rather they are also managers, as they are expected to manage school resources," he explained.

The education symposium was prepared by the School of Education in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of UDSM.

 

[CHESEA INGINE]

Alex Bitekeye
1 June 2011

The government intends to reduce the number of years a student is required to undergo primary education in a bid to raise the quality of education. In the changes, the government also plans to introduce compulsory one-year preparatory studies for every child before joining Standard One.



The new system, according to the deputy minister for Education and Vocational training, Mr Phillipo Mulugo, will comprise a one-year preparatory stage, six years for primary education, four years for ordinary level secondary education and two years for advanced level secondary education, making a combination of 1:6:4:2 for preliminary studies.The current system comprises seven years of primary school education.

Mr Mulugo revealed this yesterday when officiating at a symposium on education held at the University of Dar es Salaam.He said the move to introduce a preparatory year is underway, and some parts of the country had already started to implement it.

"We want to increase our education quality; children should start classes in their early years," said the deputy minister adding:"The government is seriously putting efforts in improving the quality of education in the country after successfully increasing enrolment at all levels."

For his part, a lecturer at the school of education at the university, Prof Justinian Galabawa, urged the government to start selecting students with higher marks to join the education profession, instead of the current situation where the least passed were the ones joining the profession.
"We should copy from Korea and Cuba where a person should have attained higher marks in order for him or her to join the education profession," said Prof Galabawa.

He also urged the students specialising in education to study management courses (which are currently mainly optional) in order to be competent in managing school resources. "They are not teachers only, rather they are also managers, as they are expected to manage school resources," he explained.

The education symposium was prepared by the School of Education in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of UDSM.

Noooo! why not re introduce STD 8? This would have more sense than reducing the primary years to 6! And then we remove A level and make it that after 0 level will be to college. Nawasilisha.

 

[iMind]

Nafikiri ingekua 6:1:4:2 ingekua bomba. Watoto wengi hupoteza mwelekeo wanapoingia form 1 hasa kutokana na lugha

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Tunaiga Kenya? Hapa chini naweka makala toka The East African inayosema Kenya wamependekeza kitu kama hiki. Are we copying blindly or is there some coordination?

New exam system, 6 years in primary school proposed for education sector

By Christine Mungai
​

Posted Sunday, May 29 2011 at 10:52​

Kenya has lined up a raft of reforms for its education sector which could see it scrap terminal primary school examinations. If proposals by the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) are implemented, a single examination will no longer be the only determinant for a place at secondary school.

KIE also proposes the reduction of learning in primary school from eight years to six years, to conform with international standards and give pupils more learning time at secondary level.

Majority of East African countries use one examination at the end of primary school to separate "the wheat from the chaff" - those who will continue into secondary school, and those who will terminate their formal schooling at this levels.

In Kenya, that exam is the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), done at the end of eight years of schooling. In Uganda, the Primary Leaving Examination is carried out at the end of Primary 7 while in Tanzania it is the Primary School Leaving Examination at the end of seven years of primary school.

KIE proposes that school-based continuous assessment test should replace KCPE, which would "de-emphasise exams in the education system and teachers will concentrate on teaching rather than preparing learners for terminal exams," according to KIE director Lydia Nzomo.

The school-based exams will be used to determine learning outcomes - how much a pupil has grasped of the required subject matter- but not to lock pupils out of secondary school.

Kenya could thus emulate Rwanda's Nine Year Basic Education programme, which expanded its definition of basic education to include secondary school, while simultaneously expanding secondary facilities - resulting in a dramatic jump of primary to secondary transition rates from 55 per cent in 2007 to 95 per cent in 2009.

Primary education is six years in Rwanda and three years in lower secondary. Under the programme, pupils remain at their primary schools for the three years of junior secondary school, and then leave to join A-levels in other schools.

In practice, this has meant the building of classrooms at primary schools which would be used as the "secondary section," as well as building facilities that are essential for secondary level.

In Rwanda and Uganda, lower secondary education is free while in Kenya and Tanzania it is subsidised. An examination of the numbers shows a correlation between financial barriers to education and transition rates: Rwanda leads the region at 95 per cent, and Uganda's transition rate stands at 72 per cent. In Kenya, however, transition rates stand at 67 per cent, ahead of Tanzania's 50 per cent and Burundi's paltry 32 per cent.

If KIE's proposal is approved and passed, then the Ministry of Education will have to seek urgent measures to double the secondary school admissions to allow in 741,000 more students- which will translate into the building of more schools, classrooms, dormitories and laboratories.

The proposed scrapping of KCPE has elicited mixed reactions. On the educational blog shulebora.com, those in favour argue that too much emphasis is placed on passing the exam, which has resulted in rote learning at the expense of critical thinking.

Those against the proposal argue that pupils can only be serious with academic work if examined, and that continuous school-based assessment is prone to manipulation by teachers.

 

[Nanu]

This is a good move! Personally, I see it as it add values as you don't have to keep a child for so long before you give them one examination to seggregate them. I would want that secondary education and or vocational education after primary education becomes compulsory. After primary school a pupil can either join secondary school or vocational education depending on his/her pass marks. We will prepare more entrepreneurs and most of the people will be able to employ themselves whether in formal or informal sector!