Ministry to link urban, rural schools for tele-teaching

Education minister Janet Museveni (left), flanked by Primary Education minister Rosemary Sseninde, launches the national teachers’ prize at London College of St Lawrence in Wakiso District on Saturday. PHOTO BY KELVIN ATUHAIRE

KAMPALA-The government is piloting video-conferencing lessons in classrooms so that students in rural schools can benefit from teachers in urban institutions.

The director of Rural Communication Development Fund at the Uganda Communications Commission, Mr Thembo Nyombi, told primary school head teachers on Saturday that government has already connected 90 per cent of secondary schools with computer laboratories and Internet, and is now moving to consider primary institutions.

He said their aim is to ensure that all teachers are technology savvy and can easily use it to improve the quality of teaching.
“We want to connect those big secondary schools like Kisubi, Kings College Budo, Nabisunsa with rural schools to start teleconferencing this year so that they can share knowledge. We want a situation where a good Mathematics teacher in St Mary’s College, Kisubi is giving a lesson, and some 100 rural schools in Karamoja should be able to follow this lesson in Kisubi. That is the pilot we are doing,” Mr Nyombi said.

He said with support from development partners, the government has spent about $20,000 (Shs75m) on constructing the laboratories in each of the schools. He, however, said 30 per cent of the laboratories are already down because the institutions cannot sustain paying for Internet.

“We did a study and found out that at least 30 per cent of these labs are down. We are now collaborating with Ministry of Education to see what we can do to make sure that when we give you a lab, it serves the purpose for which it was given. Sustainability is a big challenge. I hope it will work. The only problem is paying for bandwidth. We do not know whether schools will be able to pay because UCC shall support you for one year.
But when we walk away, we do not know what will happen,” Mr Nyombi added.
He appealed to the teachers to embrace technology to improve their skills.

“What can we do? Structural unemployment is a fact of life. People have to train and retrain. We cannot miss on ICT because we fear that people who do not have skills could lose their jobs. This is a reality. ICT has come to disrupt the way we do work. The teachers must make sure they fit into the eco-system,” Mr Nyombi explained.

Speaking on behalf of the head teachers, Mr Tom Wangobi, the Kayunga Primary School head teacher, told the Education minister, Ms Janet Museveni, that their institutions are understaffed and that the teachers’ salary needs to be revised to enable them meet the rising cost of living.

“I must not forget telling you what you already know that teachers’ salaries are up to now not realistic,” said Mr Wangobi, who is also the president of Head teachers’ Association in Kayunga District.

Be good ambassadors
Ms Museveni advised the teachers who were gathered at London College of St Lawrence in Wakiso District for the national primary teachers’ conference to continue being good ambassadors knowing that their work will be rewarded by God.

“Teachers are satisfied that they make a difference and are a masterpiece for a better tomorrow. This is a great motivation, which is also a calling from God. We are on this journey to transform our homeland. But it will take a lot of sacrifice on our part,” she said.

Incentive framework
Launched. Education minister Janet Museveni launched the teacher incentive framework and the national teachers’ prize where two top schools will win a laboratory each and the best two teachers will earn themselves a trip to Dubai, in United Arab Emirates under the Varkey Foundation sponsorship. Varkey Foundation was established to improve standards of education and raise the status and capacity of teachers throughout the world.