Minister Oboth meets West Budama stakeholders over poor PLE results
The Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs, Jacob Oboth Oboth, has convened an emergency meeting with education stakeholders in his constituency following the poor performance of West Budama Central in the recently released Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results.
The meeting, held at Siwa Primary School, brought together chairpersons of school management committees, PTA leaders, headteachers, and sub-county political representatives to address the dismal performance that saw the county rank last in the district.
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While chairing the meeting, Oboth Oboth expressed concern over the declining academic standards, questioning why many schools failed to register even a single first-grade pass despite the introduction of a new, supposedly easier curriculum.
In response, stakeholders pointed to several challenges, including, inadequate teachers in many schools, absenteeism of headteachers from their workplaces, failure of parents to provide meals for learners and lack of inspection by district school inspectors
To address these challenges, Minister Oboth Oboth directed the District Education Office (DEO) to redistribute teachers fairly among schools, emphasizing that the problem could be solved without necessarily recruiting new staff.
"This is a huge problem, but it is one that can be handled at the district level. The DEO must ensure an equitable distribution of teachers. Some schools have only six teachers, while others have 18. This imbalance must be corrected," he stated.
Additionally, the minister raised concerns over the mismanagement of Universal Primary Education (UPE) funds, following revelations of alleged collusion between some headteachers and district education officials to embezzle funds meant for school operations.
"UPE funds are not being used properly by school administrators. There is clear laxity in the education inspectorate, and this must be resolved immediately," he added.
To tackle the issue of student malnutrition, which has been linked to poor concentration and academic performance, it was agreed that schools should utilize available land to grow food crops for feeding learners, given that many parents struggle to provide meals.
The meeting comes against a backdrop of persistent poor academic performance in the constituency, with many schools failing to produce even students qualifying for secondary education.
Minister Oboth Oboth emphasized the need for collective responsibility and called on all stakeholders to actively participate in revamping the education sector.
The resolutions from the meeting are expected to be followed up with strict monitoring and evaluation to ensure implementation and improvement in future academic performances.
