By Patrick Jaramogi

Apac Resident District Commissioner Dauda Kasibante has tasked the Chief Administrative officer (CAO) and the District Education officer to screen out all “useless” teachers from the district.

Kasibante described some teachers in Apac as “irrelevant” and not fit to be in the teaching profession.

“It is so sad that there is low morale among teachers in the district. Majority don’t scheme, make lesson plans and timetables,” he said.

He was presiding over  the launch of Transparency International Uganda research findings on public expenditure Tracking and utilization survey of primary Education Funds in Northern Uganda.

The survey that was released in Apac last week covered 11 districts of northern Uganda from financial years 2008- 2011.

Reacting to findings read by Francis Ekadu the Transparency International Uganda Project coordinator, Kasibante decried the low levels of performance in Apac.

“How can a whole head teacher abandon the school and resort to riding a boda boda and continue to earning salary. That headmaster must be probed and scrapped off the payroll,” said Kasibante.

Kasibante said he would institute a probe to curb on drunken teachers and those who dodge school on market days.

The report had indicated that the head teacher of Atigolok Primary School in Chegere Sub County had abandoned the school for boda boda business in Lira town.

Ekadu had earlier said the performance of Primary Leaving examinations (PLE) was alarming with 91 percent of rural schools surveyed not recording a single pupil passing in division one for over three years.

“We discovered that most schools have never been visited by a district inspector of schools though they are required to visit at least twice a term,” said Ekadu. He said very few schools were visited at least once by the inspectors. He pointed out that effective learning doesn’t seem to be taking place due to over crowing coupled with rampant teachers’ absenteeism and late coming.

“There is complete absence of the demand for accountability in education service delivery in northern Uganda,” said Ekadu.  He pointed out that whereas the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act provides that the tenure of the members of the contracts committee shall be three years and a member may be re-appointed for only one term, it was established in most surveys that procurement committee members were permanent increasing the risk of being targeted by potential bidders for bribes.

Apac district chief Administrative Officer Andrew Leru vowed to ‘crack the whip” on errant teachers. “We are all aware that the remuneration for teachers is still low, but we can’t continue paying teachers who abscond from duty, don’t scheme, don’t plan and don’t make timetables,” he said.  He promised to work with the DEOs to check on headteachers and teachers who don’t meet the required regulations.