Govt, MPs clash over degree requirement for nursery, primary teachers

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The Government and Members of Parliament (MPs) have locked horns over the controversial proposal for a degree requirement for nursery and primary school teachers.

The friction intensified following Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka's statement that the state already has enough qualified teachers to fill the void that will have been left by exiting Grade Three teachers.

“The people who are in Government now must work to transition themselves and they have been given 10 years. But obviously, if they don’t transition in 10 years and the law remains as it is, they will be blocked [out]. Then the people who have degrees will come in,” Kiwanuka stated, sparking frantic protests.

Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka (left), the state minister for Higher Education, J C Muyingo (right), during the meting with the Education committee on Wednesday. (Credit: Edith Namayanja)

The tension unfolded on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, during a meeting between Parliament's education committee, chaired by James Kubeketerya (Bunya East, NRM), and education ministry officials, including higher education state minister John Chrysostom Muyingo, ministry permanent secretary Dr Kedrace Turyagyenda and other key education stakeholders.

The discussion focused on the National Teachers Bill, 2024, which stipulates in Clause 28 that only individuals with education degrees from institutions recognised by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) and who have completed a teacher internship programme will be permitted to enter the classroom.

The internship programme shall be for 12 months, starting from the date of reporting at the education institution.

The law is expected to take effect 10 years after its passage.

MPs poke holes

However, several lawmakers, including Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu (Kalungu West, NUP) and Irene Linda (Fort Portal City Woman MP, NRM) expressed concern arguing that the proposal fails to reflect the reality.

With this law in place, Linda argued that employers would be forced to offer significantly higher salaries to degree holders and this increased cost would ultimately be passed on to the parents of students, thereby disenfranchising them.

“If I am going to employ graduates, I am not going to pay them sh200,000 - sh300,000. I will employ graduates and pay them maybe a million shillings and above. School fees will be high and most Ugandans shall not afford them,” she contended.

“The issue of saying that a degree is necessary is panacea, Attorney General. It is not useful for teachers in primary and nursery. In all these institutions and schools, there are still diploma teachers and graduate teachers teaching there and they are performing better than bachelor’s [degree] holders. The moment you put up that bachelor’s it must start with remuneration. If it’s not there, you are wasting time,” Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu (Kalungu west, NUP) added.

Geoffrey Onzima (Aringa North, NRM), on the other hand, questioned the centralised recruitment of teachers, stating that it has led to schools being left without educators.

“As of now, we have 115 seed schools. Out of these, 76 are operational while 39 are not. The complaint they are raising is that the Education Service Commission (ESC) wants to organize interviews centrally, leaving the teachers on the ground. Particularly for Kei Seed School,” Onzima said.

Fate of PTCs

Chipping in, Abdul Mutumba (Kiboga West, NRM) questioned the fate of various Primary Teachers' Colleges (PTCs) if the Bill is passed into law.

“Some of these institutions have become defunct, the foundational bodies that started them want to hear from the Government what is going on as far as they are concerned now that we have dropped PTCs, National Teacher Colleges (NTCs),” he said.  

Teacher education and Training commissioner, Joseph Kikomeko, however, told MPs that six out of 22 affected PTCs have since been re-purposed.

“Rukungiri PTC was taken on by Kabale University, Kotido PTC by Gulu university, Laropi PTC by Muni University, Paidha PTC was taken on by Kyambogo University, Kabwangasi PTC in Butebo was taken on by Busitema University. Canon Lawrence PTC in Lira was taken over by All Saints University and Kotido PTC was taken on by Gulu University,” Kikomeko said.

The undertaking was arrived at during stakeholder engagements between 2022 and 2023.

“The other PTCs, we have Bweera, opted to become an instructor training (TVET) institution which has not been effected. We are working together as the planning department to ensure that resources are secured to operationalise these institutions. Bundibugyo PTC opted to become a health institution, Bikungu in Bushenyi opted for an instructor training college, Buhungiro is for the TVET institution,” he added.

Fast forward, James Kubeketerya, the committee chairperson ordered officials to tender in this information by the close of official business on Thursday.

All things considered, Muyingo hailed this bill as a transformative solution poised at revolutionizing the sector in countless ways.

“In our submission, we are saying that we shall have a standard teaching profession, once we professionalize education those differences will not even be there right from nursery, we will require them to carry out research, and we shall expect the head teachers at all levels to publish. We shall also require them to do what degree graduates are doing. From nursery up to the end,” Muyingo assured.