Bukedea short of 211 teachers

Bukedea District is in need of 211 teachers in order to fill the desired district ceiling of 1,524 primary teachers.

Currently, the district has 1,313 teachers.

Authorities state that most of the schools are lacking one to six teachers. Some of the primary schools with few teachers include Kalengo, Kakutot, Kalou, Bukedea Township, Bukedea Demonstration, and Kajamaka.

Mr Stephen Okurut, the Bukedea District education officer, said the shortage of teachers has been escalated by mandatory retirement and a temporary ban on recruitment by the Ministry of Public Service.

“Our hands are now tied, schools demand more staff but we cannot recruit, this has forced us now to rotate the same teachers from some schools to other schools for the backup, teachers are retiring, some die and others go for upgrade so it’s a challenge to us as the education department,” he said.

Mr Okurut said the district is currently rationing the available teachers in order to fill the staff gaps in schools.

Mr Abraham Opeede, the head teacher of Township Primary School, said his school has only eight teachers serving 700 pupils.

“Teaching now is a big challenge. You find about 200 pupils in class with only two teachers managing. It becomes a challenge,” he explained.

Mr Saka Martin Ocen, the chairperson of Uganda National Teachers Union Bukedea Branch, said the staff shortage has increased the workload.

He urged the government through the Education ministry to intervene.