Head teachers not to blame for performance

Poor academic performance of government primary schools has over the years been blamed on a number of factors including poor remuneration of teachers, lack of teaching material, poor infrastructure such as classrooms and laboratories, especially for practical subjects, among many other underlying factors. Most of these come down to the fact that government schools do not receive adequate funding and in many cases cannot perform as expected.
Therefore, for State minister for Water Ronald Kibuule to blame the poor performance of such schools in Mukono District on what he calls lazy head teachers is to miss the mark.

Saturday Monitor of December 12 reported that while addressing parents, teachers and pupils of JIT Primary School Namawojjolo in Nama sub-county last week, Mr Kibuule said it is surprising that government-aided schools continue to perform badly compared to private schools. He said proprietors of private schools ensure effective teaching as those in government-aided schools only enter classrooms and talk to learners as they wait for the month to end so that they get their salary.

While it is true that unenthusiastic headteachers greatly influence school performance, condemning them per se does not solve much. What should be done is to tackle the real problem which in this case is demotivation and then find workable solutions. Teachers’ strikes in government schools over salary increments are now the norm that occurs almost every year yet the issue of poor remuneration never really gets resolved. Many schools, especially in rural areas, do not have proper classroom blocks and pupils have to resort to learning from under trees or in makeshift structures. Basic teaching and learning material such as textbooks, chalk are also not a given for many of these schools.

Not to mention that due to poor pay, teachers feel the need to divide their working hours between the classroom and side businesses to make ends meet so as to be able to fend for themselves and their families. There is also not much attention paid to the fact that teachers need to upgrade their skills by availing them with free or affordable training opportunities in various fields. They therefore have nothing new to offer pupils which could in turn enhance the learning process and positively influence performance.
Now given these challenges, there is not much head teachers can do on their own, to right the situation. Therefore, to blame poor performance on ‘lazy’ head teachers is petty.

Government should deal with the above mentioned challenges to improve teachers’ working and living conditions. Only then can it expect and even demand the best from them. It is ridiculous to expect to reap a bountiful from where you sowed almost nothing. This is not to say that headteachers should not work at improving their schools performances but that their job as team leaders be made easier.