Government announces plans to recruit 4500 teachers for science subjects

In a bid to address the acute shortage of science teachers in public schools, government plans to recruit 4500 more teachers in the coming three years.

A big number of the teachers, according to Mr John Agaba, the Commissioner Secondary Education will be posted to rural schools which have for long suffered staff shortages.

“Our plan is to recruit additional science and mathematics teachers for rural schools and ensure that they are appropriately deployed. Government is to provide a 30 percent pay boost to science and mathematics teachers in a way to enhance their motivation and reduce attrition,” he said in an interview last week.

Agaba said a total of 1500 more science teachers will be recruited annually and a whooping Shs 10.5billion is expected to be spent in a period of three years. He said the ministry will also reconsider the aspect of seconding science and mathematics teachers to private schools starting with those implementing r the free education programme.

Hajjat Hanifah Bukenya , the vice chairperson National Association of Private Universal Secondary Education Schools (Napuses) welcomed the proposal but is skeptical that it will not address the problem.

“Public schools alone need more than the promised number of teachers and when you add private ones under USE ,which are about 1000, that seems to be like a drop in the ocean,” she said by telephone last week.

Ms Bukenya said government should only simply provide money to USE private schools to train the temporary teachers available and later confirm them as permanent staff. “By doing that, we shall use little resources and achieve much because we know the strengthen and weaknesses of our teachers ,” she added.

This year, government failed to hit her target of recruiting 2700 teachers for the newly introduced Universal Post –Ordinary Level Education Training Programme (Upolet) as planned, citing lack of funds.

According to Mr Agaba, at least 102 out of the 1067 government aided secondary schools don’t have any teacher for mathematics on pay roll, 104 have no teacher of physics while 93 others lack biology teachers. Such schools depend either on part-time teachers or unqualified teachers. Some good science teachers complain of poor pay and many prefer to seek for greener pastures abroad where they think they can be paid handsomely.

A primary teacher recently was earning Shs273,000 monthly but with an increment of 15 percent promised in the 2013/14 budget ,one will now take home Shs313,950. A grade V secondary teacher who has been bagging Shs350, 000 will now get Shs390, 950 while a degree holder who was getting Shs450, 000, now earns Shs490, 950.

During a review the sector performance last month, Mr Agaba disclosed that there is currently a shortage of 6500 teachers to teach science subjects and even the 6500 who are available, a good number of them are ill -trained and cannot adequately pass on the skills to the learners.

Available statistics from the ministry of education indicate that there are 25,000 secondary school teachers on government pay roll but only 6500 teach sciences. A total of 13,000 science teachers is required. Government schools alone need 1065 science teachers. Of the 1500 private secondary schools implementing USE, none of them have more than three science teachers.

assenkabirwa@ug.nationmedia.com