(This article was first published on the New Vision website on March 23, 2023)
By Nelson Kiva and Charles Jjuuko
KAYUNGA – The education ministry in partnership with the Vision Group on Wednesday launched the Primary Six Nile English Coursebook with the intent to strengthen the language again and broadly benefit the education sector.
This was at the function hosted at Nakyesa Bright Future Primary School in Kayonza sub-county, Kayunga district.
The deputy director of the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), Dr. Bernadette Karuhanga, said the relaunch of the book together with the Vision Group was a historical moment since it greatly impacted the literacy levels of the country.
This, she said, was the second successful move towards rolling back the book in the primary curriculum with due reforms by the government.
Karuhanga said the revisions, which included simplifying the language, introducing interactive stories and poems, were well aligned with the competency-based curriculum.
“We actually started with the review of the Nile English Course book for Primary Five, then reviewed the one for P.6 and we have also reviewed the Nile English Course for P.7,” she said.
She extended their appreciation to the government for funding the intervention that started in 2018.
The revised P.6 book, according to Karuhanga, was approved by the NCDC governing council in 2020, but the COVID-19 outbreak frustrated plans to have it launched earlier.
“There were interruptions in having materials delivered according to the timeline. However, it is never too late and today, here we are. To roll out the P.7 book, we have a challenge. We need resources to make sure that the book is also launched to the schools in Uganda,” she said.
Karuhanga appealed for more funds from the Government and development partners to have the book rolled out.
She said they had to seek partnership with New Vision through the normal government procurement processes to publish the book.
“Therefore, I want to thank Vision Group for accepting to partner with us because one of the requirements from the publisher was the wide distribution network and that we are assured with Vision Group,” she said.
Vision Group’s deputy managing director, Gervase Ndyanabo, assured the education ministry and other stakeholders that they highly valued the partnership with the ministry to improve education standards in the country.
“The recent Ipsos report discovered that New Vision has 53% of the media offering of all types in the country,” he said.
“We are proud of that number, but it gives us such huge responsibility to attach a lot of importance to what we give out.
“As Vision Group, we gave ourselves an assignment and said that our mission is to generate and distribute content that is valuable to society,” added Ndyanabo.
“In 2017, we started publishing and so far, we have passed the mark of 100 titles and mainly we are into educational materials.”
Ndyanabo expressed gratitude that during the lockdown with the support from the ministry, Vision Group published study materials which helped to further education amid the pandemic-triggered interruptions.
‘Shared responsibility’
The permanent secretary of the education ministry, Betty Lamaro, disclosed that the move of rolling back the book with due amendments was well in line with the education policy to ensure good quality education they intend to achieve through an array of reforms in the education sector.
She said the book will aid learners in upper primary to enhance their literacy levels and be able to communicate effectively in English at the end of the primary cycle.
“I would like to thank Vision Group for their tireless efforts to ensure that the educational materials are published. The partnership with the ministry shows that providing education is a shared responsibility,” she said.
Lamaro said the media company provided all the learning materials during the lockdown, totalling over seven million, which was commendable.
Meanwhile, Dr. Dan Bubaale, the district education officer Kayunga, said the revival of the book, which existed from the mid-1980s to 2000s, was good news for the entire education system in Uganda, especially the primary section.
He said it will strengthen the English language, which has been documented to be on the decline.
Florence Namuddu, the head teacher of Nakyesa Bright Future Primary School where the launch took place, said the book helps learners to be accurate, especially in spoken English.
