Uganda to host 16-country conference on teacher education reforms
UNITE Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof. Proscovia Namubiru Ssentamu said the conference will generate actionable strategies to improve teacher education.
Proscovia Namubiru Sentamu, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Uganda National Institute for Teacher Education addressing journalists during a press conference at the Uganda Media centre on September 21, 2026. (Photos by Nancy Nanyonga)
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The Uganda National Institute of Teacher Education (UNITE) is set to host a major international conference between October 1 and 2, which will bring together delegates from 16 countries to address gaps in teacher training, digital innovation and professional identity.
The two-day event is expected to attract more than 250 research abstracts and bring together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss practical ways to strengthen the teaching profession.
UNITE Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof. Proscovia Namubiru Ssentamu said the conference will generate actionable strategies to improve teacher education.
She made the remarks while speaking ahead of the conference at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday.
Ahead of the main event, UNITE will hold five interactive laboratory sessions on September 30, targeting early-career academics refining their research frameworks and mid-career professionals transitioning into administrative leadership.
The sessions will focus on digital responsibility, academic writing, competence-based assessment, leadership sustainability and gender equity in the classroom.
Dennis Mugimba, the Spokesperson Ministry of Education addressing journalists during a press conference at the Uganda Media centre on September 21, 2026. 
“A teacher cannot teach about 21st-century skills when they themselves have not trained in those capabilities,” Ssentamu said, emphasising the need to equip educators with modern competencies.
She likened the interactive sessions to the traditional African “fireplace” where people gathered to exchange knowledge and stories, adding that the approach would help bridge traditional and modern forms of learning.
UNITE, which admitted its first students in January 2025, has expanded its enrolment from 572 to 1,845 trainees.
According to the UNITE Vice-Chancellor, Assoc. Prof. Betty Akullu Ezati, the current enrolment comprises 465 pre-primary, 1,020 primary, and 360 secondary teacher trainees.
The growth comes as the two-year-old institution develops a national system for training, upgrading and continuously developing teachers.
Established in July 2024 under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, UNITE is a public higher education institution dedicated to teacher education.
It inherited the former National Teachers’ Colleges, which are now UNITE campuses in; Kabale, Kaliro, Mubende, Muni and Unyama in Gulu. Its headquarters are at the former Shimoni Core Primary Teachers’ College in Kyambogo, Kampala.
The arrangement brings teacher education under one institution, enabling UNITE to coordinate initial teacher training while supporting serving teachers to upgrade their qualifications and professional skills.
Ezati said 18 programmes have so far been accredited by the National Council for Higher Education, covering diploma and bachelors degree programmes in pre-primary, primary and secondary teacher education.
The conference is also expected to produce several institutional outputs. Selected papers will undergo external peer review for publication in the maiden UNITE journal, while accepted research will be compiled into a book of abstracts.
UNITE will also produce policy briefs and a communiqué containing recommendations for education decision-makers.
The communiqué will be presented during the World Teachers’ Day events to feed into discussions on the future of the teaching profession.
Dr Denis Mugimba, the Ministry of Education and Sports spokesperson, said the conference marks an important milestone in Uganda’s teacher-education reforms.
He said it is anchored in the National Teacher Policy 2019 and comes as the country seeks to strengthen teacher preparation and professional development.
“We are proud to see the teacher education reforms bearing fruit, and UNITE is one of the institutions demonstrating that progress,” Mugimba said.
He said UNITE’s establishment followed evidence from the 2013 Teacher Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa study, which identified the need for stronger systems for teacher education and professional development.
Uganda has about 185,000 primary school teachers and 65,000 secondary school teachers serving more than 10 million learners, many of them working under difficult conditions, including large classes, inadequate instructional materials and geographical isolation.
Mugimba said the Government is working to strengthen UNITE’s mandate through the proposed National Higher Education Policy and subsequent review of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act.