Available teachers as schools resume
The Ministry of Education and Sports has started a nationwide validation exercise of teaching and non teaching staff in public schools.
According to a circular dated November 09, headteachers from mainly Secondary schools, have been given upto November 19, 2021, to conduct the validation exercise.
Sam Kuloba, the Commissioner in Charge of Secondary Education, sent out a circular to all head teachers across the country informing them about the staff validation exercises.
“The Education Service Commission in conjunction with the department of secondary education has planned to carry out a nationwide validation of all teaching and non-teaching staff… all headteachers are required to submit soft copies and hard copies of the list,” the circular reads in part.
A source at the ministry says a similar programme will also be conducted in primary schools with head teachers required to personally confirm with their teachers whether they are still interested in working and also mobilize them to report to school to embark on preparations.
Available teachers as schools resume
The staff validation process is aimed at enabling the government to identify gaps and available workforce in schools ahead of reopening next year. This development follows proposals from key stakeholders in the education sector to monitor how many teachers will resume teaching as schools reopen considering they mostly have switched employment since the lockdown was instituted in March 2020.
During the celebrations to mark International Teachers’ Day last month, Uganda National Teachers’ Union (NATU) has asked the government to update its payroll to review teachers still interested in teaching when the schools reopen.
Filbert Baguma, UNATU General Secretary, urged the Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Kataha Museveni, to consider recruiting and orienting teachers as it was wrong for the government to work on assumptions that all teachers are still in the profession.
A report by the National Planning Authority (NPA) has also indicated that few teachers will return to the profession as most have found alternative money making opportunities that are working for them.
Since the lockdown was instituted in March 2020, 15 million learners and over 500,000 teachers have been left waiting for the reopening.
The lockdown on schools has also left thousands of teenage girls pregnant wrestling from rape, defilement and early sex. Many have been married off at an early age while others have resorted to doing odd jobs for survival.
Education experts, politicians and the public have continuously asked the government to reopen schools before the situation gets out of hand.
In his last address on Covid-19, President Yoweri Museveni indicated that schools for Primary and Secondary sections would resume learning in January 2022. The President, who had previously called for vaccination of teachers and learners as a prerequisite for the reopening, said the economy would fully reopen whether people have been vaccinated or not.
