Examination of Locally and Externally-Initiated Teacher Professional Development (TPD) Programmes for Science and Mathematics Teachers in Ugandan Secondary Schools

Abstract

This article draws from a study that explored how Ugandan secondary school teachers’ competences are continuously developed to cope with the ever changing trends in Science and Mathematics teaching. The study was premised on a framework of professional development that views teacher education as a continuum that includes training, recruiting, retaining, and retraining. The article argues that in Uganda more research has been focused on the first two levels of the continuum, with evidence on the last one remaining less documented. Data was largely collected from qualitative semi-structured interviews with selected policy makers, school administrators, and teachers. The interviews were complemented with an analysis of relevant documents and a workshop with the participating teachers. A thematic analysis of the data revealed three categories of existing Continuing Professional Development programmes in Uganda including those initiated by government agencies and donors; those initiated by schools; and those initiated by individual teachers. The article highlights the need for a critical examination of these existing programmes with a view to ensuring that they reinforce each other. Introduction and Background A number of policy changes in Uganda in recent years have impacted on lower secondary education provision. The success in terms of access to Universal Primary Education that was introduced in 1997 was followed by an enormous demand for secondary education. To address this demand, the government introduced the Universal Post-Primary Education and Training (UPPET) policy in 2007. Under this policy, government covers a wide range of expenses for students enrolling in government-aided schools, and bursaries to those eligible (those scoring 4-28 aggregates) in selected private secondary schools in sub-counties without government-aided secondary schools. This policy has far-reaching implications on secondary schools and teachers such as having to cope with large classes and having to deal with learners from multiple abilities and socio149CICE Hiroshima University, Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol.15 No.3 (2013) pp.149~ 168 Connie Ssebbunga-Masembe, Ronald Bisaso, Charles Kyasanku, Rose Costa Nakawuki and Mary Goretti Nakabugo 150economic backgrounds, among others. Preceding the UPPET policy was the science policy which was introduced in 2005. This made all science subjects (biology, chemistry, and physics in addition to mathematics) compulsory at Ordinary (lower secondary) Level (O-Level). This policy was introduced to an already struggling science education sector. Performance in the science subjects as reflected by results of national examinations administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) at O-Level has been unsatisfactory for the past 3-4 decades. The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoE&S) refers to a study conducted by UNEB in 2004 which shows a consistent high failure rate in science and mathematics. The study shows that for five consecutive years (2000-2004), more than 40% of secondary school students failed science and mathematics (MoE&S, 2007a, p.3-4). For example, while 45.1% of the candidates failed mathematics in 2003, only 1.5% achieved Distinction in mathematics. This trend of failure persists to-date. In the recent 2009 O-Level results, science subjects were noted to have continued to register high failure rates with over 50% of the candidates unable to pass with the minimum grade 8 (Daily Monitor Reporter, 2010). This state of affairs raises the need to explore the quality enhancement measures that are in place to train and equip secondary school teachers, more so the science teachers, with effective pedagogy and school administrators with the skills to create enabling environments for effective learning. Training and Development of Secondary School Teachers in Uganda: An Overview According to the official statistics accessible from the MoE&S, there were 50,767 secondary school teachers in total in 2007 (MoE&S, 2007b). Of these 39,520 were male and 11,247 female teachers. The data is not segregated according to the particular level of secondary education i.e. either lower secondary (Ordinary Level) or upper secondary (Advanced level). The minimum qualification for teaching at O-Level is Advanced Level (A-Level) with a diploma in education obtained from a National Teachers’ College (NTC). Teaching at A-Level requires A-Level and bachelor’s degree or B.A/BSc with a postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE) qualifications, although in situations of scarcity of graduate teachers, diploma holders tend to teach a specific subject across Oand A-Level. Table 1 below, highlights the level of qualification of secondary school teachers in Uganda. All teachers in category 1-5 (34246 teachers in total) (67%) possess the required qualifications for teaching at secondary school level. The table shows that the majority of teachers (17,520) possess a diploma in education qualification, followed by those in possession of a degree in education (13,735). The qualification of 13,610 teachers (27%) cannot be accounted for (see category 9 below). The rest of the teachers (category 6-8) (6%) are teaching in secondary schools without the minimum qualifications. Examination of Locally and Externally-Initiated Teacher Professional Development(TPD) Programmes for Science and Mathematics Teachers in Ugandan Secondary Schools 151Table 1: Secondary School teachers by education level Category Education Level Male Female Total 1 Doctorate 37 5 42 2 Masters Degree 858 344 1202 3 Graduate 10315 342