Teachers at King’s Primary School 2012
Name: Moses Wangwe
Age: 31 years
Qualification: Grade five (on going)
I am the Head Master of Kings Primary School and my areas of specialisms are mathematics and science.
We currently have 404 pupils attending Kings. The pupils are bright and keen to learn when given the opportunity. When I first came to the school, I noticed that the attitude of many parents towards education was poor. However, this has changed and now when I speak with parents they state that King’s Primary School has created changes in their lives and is developing hope for the future.
We face many challenges in this area of Uganda. The main I believe to be children attending school without food in their stomachs. This really affects their ability to concentrate and greatly reduces their performance. Another challenge we face is that the majority of parents cannot afford to purchase stationery for their children.
I am married and support my wife who is gaining experience by volunteering at a hospital in the town (approximately 25 miles away). We have responsibility for three children from our extended family that are now orphaned. I currently have to rent a property in the town in order for my wife to be able to care for the children. We would like to be able to afford a home of our own in order that we could live together as a family.
Name: Cyprian
Age: 51
Qualifications:
Class Teacher: P3B
Number of pupils: 30
I joined Kings Primary School in 2006 and so have been here six years.
I am married with six children aged, 13, 11, 9, 4, 3, and 2
Name: Moses Okullo
Age: 32
Qualification: Grade Three Certificate
Class teacher: P7B
Number of pupils: 22
I am married with one child and have been a teacher at Kings Primary School for three years.
Challenges I face as a teacher are that the majority of children stay at school all day without any food. Some pupils are still unable to read effectively. Many children attend school without textbooks.
Personal challenges include feeling overloaded by teaching two major subjects in two separate streams. I do not have time to prepare and eat lunch, which results in me being hungry during the afternoon. I also leave class late at night, as I like to prepare for the following day’s teaching.
I belong to a family of nine. I am the only one within the family who earns a wage. I also take care of six orphans so I feel a huge burden has been placed upon me.
Name: Godfrey
Age: 28
Qualifications: Grade Three Certificate
Class Teacher: P5B
Number of pupils: 29
I have taught at Kings Primary School for the past 4 years. During this time the health of many of the pupils has been poor. Pupils are often away from school due to illness or are sent home from school, as they are too ill to attend. Lack of attendance greatly affects the grades of pupils. Another factor, which affects pupil’s performances, is returning to school late after going home for lunch. The distance they walk to and from school is often considerable. Parents also find it a struggle to provide their children with exercise books and writing materials. This results in pupils not writing in their exercise books for extensive periods of time.
The issues I find particularly challenging are lack of constructional materials for teaching science topics. For example Bee keeping and heat energy. Modern Beehive machinery for harvesting honey and a variety of heat thermometers would enable me to teach these subjects more effectively.
I experience health problems particularly in the dry seasons when there is a lot of dust as it causes me to have a serious cough. I am married with two children but also have an extended family to support. Being the only qualified teacher in both our families it is my duty to provide financial support for clothing and education for the wider family.
Name: Fred
Age: 28
Qualification: Grade Three Certificate
Class Teacher: P7
Number of pupils: 22
I have been employed as a teacher at Kings Primary School for five months.
There are many challenges I face as a teacher at Kings. The main problem is that most pupils are hungry and go all day without any food. This greatly affects their ability to concentrate during lessons. Parent’s inability to afford reference textbooks also impacts on educational development. There are large numbers of pupils who are not able to read effectively. Pupils regularly missing lessons or arriving late to class also effects performance. Many pupils miss school due to poor health.
Personal challenges for me are being married with two young children and supporting a large family with many younger brothers and sisters.
Name: Ronald
Age: 27
Qualifications: 2000-PLE, 2005-UCE, 2007-
Grade 3 Teachers Certificate
Class Teacher: P4
Number of pupils: 32
I have been a teacher at King’s Primary School for 14 months.
The challenges I face as a teacher are the lack of scholastic materials. Parents are expected to provide these for their children but due to the poverty many families experience, these items are not seen as a priority. This often prevents pupils from improving their performance. Another difficulty I face is that the majority of children arrive at school hungry and have no food to eat throughout the day. Lack of food really affects their performance particularly during the afternoon lessons.
Personal challenges for myself, include lack of time to cook a lunchtime meal. Not eating lunch can affect my ability to teach effectively during the afternoon lessons
I am married with a young baby. My wife works at a local pre-primary school.
Name: Suzan
Age: 25
Qualification: Grade Three Certificate
Class teacher: P2A
Number of pupils: 30
I joined Kings Primary School in June 2010. There are many challenges we face with in the school including poor hygiene of the children and lack of food for the children. Many children in my class are orphans and are cared for by elderly grandmothers.
My personal challenges are that my mother died several years ago leaving young children to be cared for. My father finds it difficult caring for my younger siblings and requires both physical and financial support from me.
Name: Justine
Age: 23
Qualifications: 2004 PLE, 2008 UCE, 2010 Grade Three Certificate
Class Teacher: P6B
Number of pupils: 36
I recently joined the teaching staff at Kings Primary School. The challenges I currently face are pupils attending school without materials. The pupils also attend school hungry which affects their ability to concentrate. They yawn, doze, and often fall asleep during lessons.
The climate here is very hot, dry and often windy. I experience personal challenges similar to the children in that I often teach whilst I am hungry. I struggle to prepare and eat lunch within the time scales.
Name: Sarah
Age: 23
Qualification: Grade Three Certificate
Class teacher: P5A
Number of pupils: 34
I teach a class of 34 pupils. There are many challenges including sickness, lack of food, torn uniforms, no books, pencils or pens. Some pupils go home for lunch and due to the distance they have to travel they return late for afternoon lessons. Pupils who do not go home are hungry and become weak making concentrating during the afternoon lessons very difficult.
The beginning of a new term can be problematic, as pupils have often forgotten what they were previously taught. Another challenge is lack of technology at the school. We teach a subtopic in English about the Internet. It is very hard for pupils to understand words like delete, scroll down, and sign in, save etc, without being able to practice these skills. Lack of educational trips to museums, national parks, industries, source of rivers etc also affects my ability to teach effectively.