Govt to recruit 13,000 teachers
Mr Jonathan Kamwana, the commissioner for Teacher Education and Training, addresses journalists in Kampala on April 20, 2022. PHOTO/SYLIVIA KATUSHABE
What you need to know:
Authorities sat at least five percent of teachers in government and private schools didn’t resume teaching when schools fully reopened in January.
The government has announced it is to recruit about 13,315 teachers to replace those who were a no-show in classrooms when schools reopened in January.
At least five percent of teachers in government and private schools didn’t resume teaching when schools fully reopened in January after a two-year Covid induced lockdown, a senior official in the Ministry of Education has revealed.
The commissioner for teacher education and training, Mr Jonathan Kamwana, said about five percent of the 347,219 teachers in Uganda got exciting and better paying jobs and quit teaching.
This means that the education sector lost about 17,360 teachers to other sectors of the economy.
While briefing journalists about the Teachers’ Symposium at Uganda Media Centre in Kampala yesterday, Mr Kamwana said the ministry of Education had embarked on recruiting teachers to bridge the gap created.
“We lost some teachers. They lost interest in teaching and opened up businesses. Others got other jobs and they did not come back to teach. We are recruiting new teachers to replace them,” he said.
The commissioner, however, said mobility of workers is healthy.
“You can be a journalist and after sometime, you become an entrepreneur or a public relations officer of an organisation. This is okay, because you will be replaced and life will continue,” Mr Kamwana said.
He said loss of teachers would be among the issues that will be discussed during the fourth Teachers’ Symposium to be held at Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala, today.
The two-day symposium will be held under the theme ‘Coping with the Impact of Covid-19 in the Education Sector: The Teacher’s Role.’ The seminar will be officially opened by Education minster Janet Museveni.
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Teachers’ symposium
According to Mr Kamwana, the symposium will assess the implementation status of the recommendations from earlier symposia, discuss the role of the teachers in coping with the impact of Covid-19 in the education sector, and share experiences on applying affordable and reliable Information Communication Technology systems to promote blended teaching and learning.
On the issue of phasing out of primary teachers colleges, Mr Kamwana said the ministry had submitted the readiness report to the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). He explained that in turn, NCHE has inspected and verified infrastructure at all national teachers colleges that are going to become Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education (UNITE) campuses.
The establishment of UNITE takes effect in July. Teachers with Grade III and Grade V qualifications have up to August 2028 to upgrade and become graduate teachers.
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