Pupils of Nyarakua Primary school in Maracha district await to receive their trophy after emerging champions of a recent district-level debate competition (Courtesy Photo)

URN

Maracha district education department is rooting for a policy that will require all primary schools to make debate a compulsory co-curriculum activity.

The latest development comes at a time when most schools have scrapped debating on their timetable while in other schools, it is not being implemented. 

Edward Andruga, the acting Maracha District Education officer discloses that they have discovered that most primary school head teachers in the district have scrapped debating, a move which has greatly affected the competence of the learners.
 
He further noted that under the new policy which is expected to commence next term, all the schools in the district are mandated to allocate time for debates and punitive actions will be taken against any head teachers who will frustrate this initiative.

“We shall be looking at the timetable. If the debate is not there, the head teacher will be warned. We shall be very keen to see debates should be organized every week in our schools”, Andruga noted.

Henry Aniku, the District Sports Officer, explains that the decision to implement Compulsory debates in primary schools was reached during their recent departmental meeting held last month.
According to Aniku, the debates will greatly empower learners to be able to work on their own as well as present and understand issues in their understanding. “In our last meeting we agreed that debates shall be done termly in all schools in the district”, He said.

However, Dick Alema, the secretary for social services challenged the school authorities to ensure they allocate funds towards this initiative for sustainability purposes. “Let debates be in our school budgets. It must effect from next academic term”, Alema directed.

Maracha district has a total of 80 primary schools of which 63 are government grant-aided, 11 community schools, and 6 private schools with an enrolment of 86,431 learners.