1,800 teachers transferred

Busy. School heads and teachers participate in the selection exercise in Kampala early this year. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA

What you need to know:

  • Purpose. Ministry officials say the transfers are aimed at improving and adding more knowledge to individuals especially through meeting new challenges.
  • In the first phase, Kampala alone has seen 121 of its teachers taken with 24 of the teachers from Kibuli SS. Some teachers we talked to said the transfers were isolated on some individuals, leaving out some other officers who have worked in schools for more than 20 years.

Kampala. About 1,800 secondary school teachers have been transferred to enhance efficiency, according to Ministry of Education and Sports officials.
The teachers have been asked to leave their current stations to their new posting before second term begins on May 28.

Mr Samuel Kuloba, the Commissioner of Secondary Education, yesterday said they delayed to transfer the teachers because they had to first establish whether the wage bill in some of the districts would accommodate those affected.
Asked how many had been affected, he referred this newspaper to the Commissioner Human Resource, Mr Herbert Kiguli, saying he did not have details since he was on annual leave.

A list, which Daily Monitor has seen, has more than 1,800 teachers who have been affected, especially those who had worked at a station for more than 15 years.

According to Mr Kiguli, they are trying to implement the Public Service regulation which requires that civil servants be moved after five years of working at the same work station.
However, he said this has not been followed at the ministry with many teachers creating chiefdoms in the communities they have been serving.

Next transfer in November
He added that the reshuffle will be phased with another batch expected in November, which will see more than 5,000 teachers transferred.
Mr Kiguli defended the transfers, saying they are meant to improve and add more knowledge on individual teachers when they encounter new challenges.

“If you have been managing a day school and you are posted to a boarding section, the two entities have different challenges. We will not be helping our teachers if we keep them in one school. They need to be moved to increase their chances for promotions,” Mr Kiguli added.
In the first phase, Kampala alone has seen 121 of its teachers taken with 24 of the teachers from Kibuli SS. Some teachers we talked to said the transfers were isolated on some individuals, leaving out some other officers who have worked in schools for more than 20 years.
The teachers questioned why the ministry has been reluctant to share the list of transferred teachers.

They claim that their supervisors, who are the head teachers, sometimes malice them especially if they have divergent views.
At the ministry, some officials confirmed the development but explained that they agreed as a committee not to share the list at the request of head teachers.

In the past, founding bodies and head teachers have influenced who should work at their schools, making it difficult for the ministry to do its work even when there are valid complaints against the transferred teachers.
“Our work is made difficult when we publish the list. We get many interested people coming to block the transfers. Others refuse to leave. It’s a difficult moment,” the source revealed.