Education will have to make a lot of progress before achieving world-class status ? and this will have to start as from primary level. The Survey of Needs of Upper Primary School Teachers for Support, recently published, stresses the difficulties of that sector. This survey for which some 466 Std VI teachers were questioned was completed in April. It reveals several shortcomings in teaching methods, pedagogical support and pupils? basic skills. The results of this research may help to explain the 30-35% annual failure rate in the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) exams. Below are some results of the survey subject by subject.

■ <B>English</B>

Poor vocabulary, problems with syntax, lack of exposure to the language, interference of Creole, difficulty with complex sentences, inadequate knowledge of tenses, unattractive materials are a few of the observations made by the teachers.

It also appears that, at Std VI level, ?children lack the vocabulary to construct corresponding sentences and the language skills to compose sentences correctly?. The teachers have requested proper methodology for guiding children.

Concerning direct/indirect speech, the report notes that it has been ?generally felt to be beyond the capacity of the pupil since the latter was unable to speak correctly and coherently in the first place?.

Teachers also reported that their pupils have "limited interpretive and deductive ability" and are ?unable to understand and interpret?. Add to this the ?inability to link ideas, poor observation, lack of imagination, lack of retention?, and one has an overall idea of what is going wrong in the English class.

But corrective measures can be taken. To encourage better pronunciation, teachers require ?more exposure to correct language for proper pronunciation of both words and sounds?. There?s also a need for audio materials related to the everyday experience of the children.

The authors of the report also suggest a revision of the textbooks used in primary schools. In a general way, more activities on vocabulary expansion, spelling and writing of short, continuous pieces are asked. All texts should be on tape and ?strategies to help children read with greater understanding? are necessary.

The writers of the report noted that there does not seem to be a document from any of the educational institutions that recommends a method for teaching reading in the schools. ?It is therefore not surprising that many CPE candidates reveal poor reading strategies to extract meaning from relatively easy texts.?

■ <B>French</B>

?Pupils are said to have a lot of problems at all levels: reading, vocabulary, grammar and written production?, states the report. And it gives the main causes for this. "The difficulties raised and the requests made tend to show that the main reason for the poor standard is the French textbook used and the lack of pedagogical support ? it is not the quality of teaching in the classroom.?

But teachers are also partly responsible for the problems. What appears equally important in the report is that the CPE exams ?tend to have an influence on the requests and choices made by some teachers for pedagogical help and support. Everything appears difficult for written production, children have problems at all levels and the school is powerless when faced with this phenomenon?.

What teachers would like are model lessons, images and posters to illustrate the texts; games, audio recordings of history, poems and songs as well as films to illustrate some topics. As far as grammar and spelling are concerned, the report makes it clear that grammar ?often seems to be taught out of its context and in a mechanical way. The demand for more repetitive exercises confirms it. But such exercises alone do not help get over grammar problems because they do not bring children to apply what they have learnt in concrete situations?, state the authors of the report.

■ <B>Mathematics</B>

Interactions between children and materials are crucial to concept development and in classroom practice, ?the teacher must have a variety of tools available to reduce mathematical abstraction in the teaching and learning process?. To improve the teaching/learning process, the teachers have ?expressed the wish to have support materials in the form of teaching aids?.

Teachers also believe that the pupil?s textbook in Standard VI should be revised. They complain that the syllabus is too difficult and ask for a teacher?s guide with explanatory notes for each item ?to help them teach in a more efficient way?.

■ <B>Science</B>

Here, the situation is rather complex. The task of inculcating scientific knowledge, methods, skills and attitudes is not simple and, unfortunately, some of the scientific ideas are abstract and not directly observable, notes the report. Moreover, ?pupils? knowledge base, exposure, experience and language skills further complicate the effective implementation of the curriculum?. As a result of these difficulties, just a part of the curriculum comprising mainly the lower level knowledge objectives often gets implemented at classroom level.

A lot of problems are encountered by teachers at classroom level. Here are a few as revealed in the report. Generally, teachers state that the texts can be ?ambiguous?. ?Some scientific ideas are not clearly presented in the textbooks and create confusion.? Teachers report that, on many topics, the text does not provide much information and ?a lot is left to the teacher to interpret and extrapolate?.

There?s a need for more material as examples to illustrate the concepts. The teachers also point out pupils ?inadequate mastery of language skills which hamper their learning?. They also ?face difficulties in expressing their knowledge and understanding of science in written English?. Obviously, part of the problem starts in the English class.

As stated in the report, several points emerge from the analysis of the teachers? responses. First, the knowledge should be presented in a very clear and unambiguous manner. The second point relates to the application of this knowledge in making sense of the children?s daily experiences, the third one relates to the issue of teaching aids in the classroom. ?It becomes crucial that pupils see the science underlying illustrations and activities.?

Having stated this, the authors of the report think that producing and distributing quality audio-visual aids and equipping each school with a good science laboratory will not suffice ?if teachers are not empowered to make optimum use of these support materials?. Moreover, this material will become ?pedagogically significant only when pupils are able to see the underlying use of science?. Teachers apparently also need more time because they sometimes reported that ?time allocated to science teaching is not sufficient?.

■ <B> History and Geography</B>

More information and teaching materials with maps, video programmes and CD-Roms. These are some needs identified by the teachers. In these subjects too, pupils have great difficulty in expressing their meaning in English.