Govt to recruit teachers ahead of Jan reopening

More than 2,500 slots are up for grabs in the Ministry of Education, it has been announced.
According to the Secretary to the Education Service Commission, Dr Asuman Lukwago, the government has given it the green light to recruit 2,563 teachers and support staff in newly constructed government seed schools.
The ministry will also employ more teachers in government-aided secondary schools across the country, ahead of reopening of schools next year.

“We have been facing a challenge of teachers who are posted upcountry and they refuse to turn up for work on grounds that they have been posted very far. So if one submits his or her application to a centre in Mbale, they will be posted there,” Dr Lukwago said.
Most teachers who are posted upcountry turn down such job offers, saying they are not attractive.
Of the 2,170 available jobs for teaching staff, 1,436 will go to graduates. A further 734 will go to grade V teachers while the 71 slots are lined up for head teachers and deputy head teachers.

Support staff such as enroled nurses, librarians, bursars and laboratory assistants, among others, will meantime apply for the 302 slots. Eligible candidates have up to November 26 to apply for the slots after the application exercise commences on November 22. Preference will be given to science teachers.
“Applicants should note that the successful candidates will be deployed to either the schools that were constructed under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal transfer programme or government-aided or owned secondary schools where vacancies exist,” Dr Lukwago said during a media briefing at the Uganda Media Centre.

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Seed schools are constructed by the government in sub-counties that do not have any secondary schools. The new seed schools are distributed across the country in the districts of Kisoro, Sheema, Rukungiri, Mbarara, Isingiro, Kapchorwa, Budaka, Kwania, Kotido, Moroto, Napak, and Sembabule districts. Others are in Masaka, Wakiso, Zombo, Nebbi, and Kalangala districts respectively.
The new seed schools in the above districts will start operation in January next year when the government reopens institutions of learning.

Dr Lukwago said the Education Commission has set up eight centres where application letters will be received. These centres include Mbale Secondary Schools, Mbarara High School, Mvara SS Arua, Soroti SS, Jinja SS, Gulu High School, Kololo SS, and Duhaga SS in Hoima.
The spokesperson at the Education ministry, Dr Denis Mugimba, yesterday said successful applicants would be posted to those newly-constructed seed secondary schools while others would be posted to other government-aided schools, which have vacancies.

“We advertised three months ago for various slots in the existing government-aided schools, but we did not get all the required numbers...”  Mr Mugimba said.
The government is set to reopen both primary and secondary schools next year in January after a six-month hiatus occasioned by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Education Service Commission, Prof Samuel Lugoba, said whereas the government would in January next year start recruiting teachers online, those particular ones will not be affected.
The Education Service Commission and National Information Technology Authority yesterday launched the new E-recruitment System will be used to recruit teachers online.

“All teachers should register on this new system if they want to be promoted or recruited in the near future because effective next year, all jobs will be advertised online. I urge all teachers to upload their profiles,” Prof Luboga said.
Since the introduction of seed schools in 2010, the government has to date recruited more than 10,000 staff to 356 seed schools. Currently, there are 41,000 secondary school teachers and 1,380 government-aided secondary schools across the country.