Pallisa, Uganda: Gogonyo County Member of Parliament, Hon. Derrick Orone, has launched the Gogonyo Examination Bureau as a major intervention to improve academic performance and reverse years of poor results in the county.
The bureau was unveiled on Saturday at Gogonyo Senior Secondary School following the county’s poor performance in the most recent Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
Speaking at the launch, Hon. Orone said the bureau will centralize the printing of assessment examinations for schools at a significantly lower cost and serve as a resource centre for quality examinations.
“This bureau is going to ease the printing of assessment tests at the lowest rates compared to buying. I have purposed it for all schools so that administration meets less cost, and it will be my duty to enrich the bureau with a question bank,” Orone said.
To operationalise the initiative, the legislator handed over UGX 10 million in seed capital to the Gogonyo County Teachers SACCO, saying the support is intended to strengthen the bureau’s operations while helping teachers access affordable credit instead of expensive commercial loans.
Hon. Orone also announced a series of complementary interventions aimed at raising academic standards across the county.
The measures include conducting twice-weekly assessments for Primary Seven candidates, sourcing examination papers from top-performing schools in Kampala to benchmark learners against national standards, organizing regular academic seminars for teachers and candidates, introducing a weekly education programme on Pallisa FM, and facilitating exposure visits for school administrators and teachers to high-performing schools in Kumi and Bukedea districts.
“We must treat education as a priority if we are to elevate and sustain performance in Gogonyo,” he said.
Education stakeholders welcomed the initiative but highlighted several long-standing challenges affecting learning outcomes.
The Head Teacher of Ajepet Primary School, Mr. Oduch Charles Richard, said late reporting by learners, failure to complete the syllabus, inadequate instructional materials and limited teacher exposure to curriculum updates continue to affect performance.
He added that fishing activities around Lake Kyoga have contributed to school absenteeism. “Our candidates sit PLE when in reality they have only covered work equivalent to four years, not seven. That is a serious problem,” Oduch said.
Mrs. Keddi Agulansi, the LC I Chairperson of Agule Village, cited understaffing, inadequate teacher accommodation and rising indebtedness among teachers as major obstacles to quality education.
“The silent big problem is our teachers are heavily indebted. Most teachers have multiple loans, including savings groups, and at the end of the month, a teacher is left with only UGX 30,000. Now that their salaries have increased to about UGX 590,000 after taxation, I pray the additional UGX 100,000 is used to bridge the debt,” she said.
The guest of honour, Dr. Okia Henry Stanley, urged teachers to recommit themselves to the profession, describing teaching as a calling rather than merely a source of employment.
“Teaching is a calling. We don’t handle learners the way medical workers attend to patients on a schedule. There should be a genuine urge to teach,” Dr. Okia said.
He encouraged teachers to fully embrace the national curriculum, utilise smartphones for professional development, form subject-based groups to manage large classes effectively, promote good handwriting, and identify learners’ strengths and weaknesses early enough to provide appropriate academic guidance before PLE registration.
Mr. Salmson Osakan, Chairperson of Team Orone in Gogonyo County, commended the legislator for what he described as transformative investments in education.
According to education officials, Gogonyo County registered 1,338 candidates for this year’s Primary Leaving Examinations, including 865 pupils from 15 government-aided schools and 480 candidates from private schools.
Stakeholders expressed optimism that the new examination bureau, regular assessments, teacher capacity-building programmes and radio lessons will help improve learning outcomes, provided schools, parents and communities fully embrace and sustain the initiative.
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