Uganda, April 24 -- Primary Seven pupils in the eastern Ugandan district of Namutumba cannot read a text in their local language (Lusoga), dealing a blow to a government policy.

The thematic curriculum, which was introduced by the Ministry of Education in FY2003/2004, requires pupils in Primary One to Primary Three to be taught in their mother tongues before taking on English in Primary Four, which is a transitional class.

It was hoped that the policy, which had been piloted and approved by researchers at both local and international levels, would improve the pupils' performance, especially in Namutumba, which is one of the districts in Busoga Sub-region with high failure rates in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).

The Namutumba D...