Assessing Learning at the Right Level: A Parenting responsibility

• In Event: Learner-centered pedagogies and how they enable children to develop capacity to act

Proposal

Children with disabilities have inadequate access to early childhood development, education, health care, rehabilitation, and justice systems. Approximately 16% (2.5m) Ugandan children have a disability (Uganda National Household survey, 2009/2010). Statistical information suggests a low enrolment and completion of primary and secondary schools by Ugandan children with disabilities – only about 9% of school age children attend primary school, compared with a national average of 92%, and only 6% of them continue studying in secondary school (UNICEF 2014). They have a right to quality inclusive education.
Parents play a very important role in their children’s learning and development. In Uganda, the parental guidelines developed by the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development is one of the tools governments has put in place to guide parenting roles and responsibilities.
A parenting model by our partner elaborates how empowerment could enable parents to genuinely get involved in setting realistic learning goals and measuring resultant learning outcomes for learners. Our partner empowers both parents of children with and without disabilities and engages them together with the teachers and communities to deliver on inclusive education outcomes. During a 6 months pilot study implemented in Lira district in 3 schools, of Anai, 35 learners, parents and teachers were followed up to understand how the parenting model works. Three existing School based Parents Support Groups (PSGs) were encouraged to participate in Parental Empowerment & Engagement (PE&E) activity with the idea to learn more on gaps and encourage meaningful engagement of parents with schools, and communities. While parents met monthly or more times to solve barriers like school dues, school feeding, teaching-learning methods, enrollment and school attendance of children. The 6-month pilot demonstrated that parents could leverage their agency to facilitate equity and inclusion both at school and in the communities.
Parents joined groups they had previously seen only as disability specific and felt inclusion was possible, PSG leaders demanded for accountability from their school leaders and teachers saw the value of parents. During the learning and health assessments, delivered jointly, parents developed more confidence in setting realistic learning milestones for their children and that they could intentionally participate in imparting skills to their children; namely communication, socio emotional skills, among others. The model made it possible for parents to become part of the continuous learning assessments and through use of standardised data collection tools, it demonstrated that parents can assess learning. Parents were able to influence the teaching-learning methods of teachers by giving feedback about their children’ progress; they got involved in identification & training of Life skills and values and the use of these to develop their own communities. Working with existing partners in health tackled issues of rehabilitation as well as identified the gaps in reproductive health provisions and that parents could fill some gaps. Through this model the partners identified system linkages that clearly continue contributing to a system shift in Uganda’s pursuit for quality inclusive education.

Author

• Dolorence Were Naswa, Uganda Society for Disabled Children