This week, students in many Primary Schools in Uganda took
Mid Term exams (halfway through the 3rd and final term of the year). The students at both Faith and Good Hope took exams
administered by Sipro. Because there weren’t enough teachers to supervise the
exams at Faith, many classes sat in one room together to take their tests. Each
subject (math, English, social studies, science, and religion) had its own test.
Grading the math and English exams for my students at Faith
was a heartbreaking experience. Majority of the students really struggled on
these tests. It was tough to go through each one and have to mark so many
incorrect answers. It was especially hard to see every student in the class get problems wrong on topics I taught them and we spent a lot of time
practicing. After this week, my appreciation for teachers has increased
exponentially!!
The average score for Primary 6 math (a class
with 5 students) was a 28%. For Primary 3 English, a few students scored below
20%. There was only 1 student in Primary 4 who got above a 50% on his math
exam. While I was shocked, the teachers said these low scores are not unusual.
The kids I have in my classes are so smart. I watch them
solve problems on paper and in the world around them all the time. They’re
capable of learning things quickly and applying their knowledge to practice
problems. Unfortunately, many of these students are behind where they should be
in a variety of areas. Because there aren’t enough teachers, each class learns
less. By the end of the year, students have only learned a portion of the
material they’re being tested on. Additionally, many of the students have
difficulty understanding what the questions on these exams are asking. For
example, the students in P3 mixed up the words “where” and “when”. I think this
problem is due to struggling with English and lack of practice with
quizzes/unit tests/practice exams. In
the next few weeks, I’ll try to give some tips and practices for question
reading so the students will be more successful in their final exams!
While grading exams was not a happy experience, it was a
very helpful one. It helped me see what fundamental concepts students need more
practice with. It also gave me a better idea of what the learning objectives
are for each grade level.
Although their results may suggest differently, these students
aim to get high scores on these exams. They fear what may
happen if they don’t. Corporal punishment is not illegal in Uganda and teachers
beat students for behavioral and academic wrongs. As someone who is strongly
against corporal punishment, I’ve struggled with some of the actions of
teachers since I’ve been here. While I don’t believe teachers should beat
students, I also don’t want to make the teachers here feel inferior or judged
for their practices. I’ve tried my best to express my opinions to the other teachers
and suggest alternative (potentially more effective) methods for discipline. In
the past few weeks, I haven’t seen any of the teachers at Faith hit the
students. Of course, I don’t see
everything that happen there, but I hope that the teachers try out new ways to
help students learn from their mistakes.
The students at Faith informed me that they would be beat
for any exam they scored lower than a 50% on. Many of them were very scared to
see their scores and learn their fate. I was really upset to hear this as I
feel that exam preparations are both the responsibilities of the students AND the
teachers. I decided to speak up a little louder about this matter. I spoke to
the head teacher and requested that students not be punished for low scores in
English and math. I explained how I felt that exams reflect on both the student
and the teacher. I told him I thought it was unfair that students be punished
when it may have been their teacher’s shortcomings that caused a low exam
score. He listened genuinely and said they would reconsider.
I was particularly sad about the performance of my Primary 6
class on their math exams. These 5 students are so hardworking and very bright!
I have no doubt they could all get 100%'s on those exams correct if they brushed
up on some of the topics and understood what the questions were asking. I looked through all of their exams and made
a list of the topics they need to go over. It’s a lengthy list and they looked
a little frightened when I showed them on Wednesday. I promised them I would go
over all these things with them before I leave. I explained that it was their
responsibility to focus, ask questions, and do all the assigned homework. We will
have a retake of the Mid Term a few days before I leave and if they all can get
above a 65%, I told them they can come to my house for a celebration. As soon
as I said the word celebration, the fear vanished and was replaced by
excitement. Now that cake is at stake, these students are working even harder
than I ever imagined possible! They’re hoping they can improve their math. I’m
really hoping we’re able to cover all the material they’re missing in the next
three weeks!! With God, all things are possible so this will definitely be one
to pray for!
Last Saturday, I got to join George Mike and Derrick for a
Let There Be Light Solar Light Distribution to vulnerable members of Wakiso
district. We arrived at our first distribution point to find a big group of
kids. Mo (the other volunteer) and I were thrilled to meet them, but we quickly
realized they hardly spoke any English. Most of them were dressed in torn
clothing and had no shoes. I assume most of these kids come from extremely poor
families meaning they probably can't afford to attend school. Without going to school,
it’s very difficult to learn English. Despite the language barrier, Mo and I
had such a blast with these kids! While there parents listened to George Mike
explain how to use the Solar Lights, Mo and I taught these kids some favorite
nursery rhymes, camp songs (where words fail, hand motions save the day!), games,
and yoga. It was such a fun morning!
Two months ago, a morning like this would have left me
exhausted. But last Saturday I found myself laughing and sad to say goodbye. My
first few weeks in Uganda, I found myself exhausted after every conversation I
had. As I mentioned in earlier posts, people usually converse casually in
Luganda. Additionally, the English here is very different from the English I’m
used to. The people here use different
wording, phrases, and expressions. They also speak with a different accent and have a hard time understanding mine. As a result of all of these differences, I
just didn’t talk to people as much. I felt pretty disconnected those first
couple of weeks and if I didn’t have Mo around, I would have probably felt
really lonely. As time has gone on, I’ve gotten used to the accent many people
speak with and have come to understand the way people word things. I’ve changed
the way I talk to make it easier for others to understand me too! My English might
be very different when I return home.
In order to learn to communicate here, I had to listen. A
lot. Conversations were so difficult because I was trying to lead them. And
people usually didn’t understand what I was asking. Once I started listening
though and not constantly trying to organize the conversation, I started
understanding so much more. I’ve also learned that communication goes far
beyond words. Last Saturday was a great example of that. It’s pretty incredible
to get to know people through facial expressions, laughing, hand gestures, and
watching. It takes quite a bit more time, but that isn’t a problem these days.
I’m definitely getting more used to (and coming to really enjoy!) the relaxed
timing here.
Here are some photos from the last week!! Thank you all for the encouragement! Happy Halloween!!
Love,
Hannah
Lots of fun with these new friends at the light distribution!! The little girl I'm holding, Mary, had a big gash in her head when we arrived. She had a swarm of files surrounding the cut/her face as a result which I imagine was quite irritating. I was prepared with a band aid and she became so happy once the bugs stopped bothering her!
This little girl Marissa is so sweet! She's very excited her family can use their new solar light to light their home.
Some women of Wakiso district charging their solar lights for the first time
Seeing his solar light blink as he holds it up to the sun for the first time
The kids at the light distribution love having their picture taken and seeing it after! I have many photos from this morning :p
Mo and I were walking back to the car after distributing some lights and these kids came out to see us. They were so scared and shy at first and didn't speak any english.We taught them how to high-5 and then asked if they wanted to take photos! They were so excited to see pictures of themselves and we took many silly photos following this one.
The shoes of Nico, one of my students at Faith!! The velcro no longer works and he's been running around with these for a few weeks! Fortunately I have some just in his size thanks to someone who donated shoes! He's going to be so happy!
As a reward for a whole week of good behavior in Primary 3, I brought ingredients to make Guacamole with the class!! They had so much fun learning to make it and LOVED the end product! Esther volunteered to cut the onion and miraculously didn't shed a tear!
A really sad photo. This girl is the little sister of one of the students at Good Hope. She came by a few days ago and I could not believe how bad (and big!) the burn on her shoulder was. Her sister thought it was from hot water but wasn't sure. This was a few days ago and it looks a little better now, but she's still recovering.
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