Africa-Press – Uganda. Makerere University has said a study to determine the causes of perennial poor performance in biology will start next month.
This was revealed on Friday by Prof Umar Kakumba, the university’s deputy vice chancellor in-charge of academic affairs, during the launch of the Biology Society of Uganda (BioSU).
Biology is a principal subject that any student wishing to undertake any bioscience course such as medicine, pharmacy, surgery, nursing and agriculture at tertiary institutions must gain mastery over. Biology is also the foundation for innovations in drug and vaccine development.
“We have agreed to support the national research, which is going to be conducted on the performance of biology subject at secondary schools in the country,” Prof Kakumba said in an interview.
He added: “As Makerere University, we absorb over 50 percent of A-Level leavers who continue with their formal education.”
Prof Kakumba said five of their colleges heavily rely on the biology subject. The colleges include health sciences, veterinary medicine, agriculture and natural sciences and teachers for science.
“Biology is a critical subject. Its performance may discourage the students from taking it and numbers lower down. This can have a grave impact on the country, especially on different professions where this subject is essential,” Prof Kakumba.
Prof Kakumba also said the study seeks to find causes of poor performance in biology and solutions to the problems. He added that teachers are accusing Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb) of setting tough questions in the examinations. Conversely, Uneb reasons that it sets exams based on what is in the curriculum. The curriculum, Uneb adds, is developed through collective contribution.
According to a recent analysis by the Makerere University College of Natural Sciences (Conas) through the School of Biosciences, academic performance in Biology at Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) since the late 1970s, has been poor.
The college’s analysis of the 2018 exams, whose results were released in February 2019, showed that 13,061 candidates sat for biology countrywide. Of these only one candidate scored an A principal pass, 38 percent scored at least an E. This left almost 80 percent with the score of O or F (fail). In 2022, the researchers noted that only 0.1 percent (about 18 candidates) of learners scored A in Biology, 67.4 percent scored A-O while 32.6 percent (5,866 learners) failed.
In comparison to mathematics, chemistry and physics in the 2022 exams, biology was the worst done science subject, according to researchers and the Uganda National Examination Board.
Speaking at the launch of BioSU in Makerere, Prof Arthur Tugume, the dean of the School of Bioscience, said the society seeks to develop passion and motivate pupils and students to study biology. He is the co-initiator for the society.
“Do we have students who do biology because they have a passion or they study it because their parents want them to study? Once there is passion, chances of failure are low and even if you fail, you don’t give up,” Prof Tugume said. He added: “We want to start interesting children right from low levels to study biology.”
Among the possible drivers for the poor performance presented by biologists during the launch include the wide scope of the biology subject, poor presentation of the subject content, poor teaching skills, lack of mastery of the subject by teachers, and low motivation of learners. Science teachers at the event said there is also a lack of facilities and enablers for practicals.
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