______________

Kikuube district education officer Deogratious Byakagaba has revealed that the district has a shortage of 500 primary school teachers, causing a rise in the teacher-to-pupil ratio.

This was during the 2nd edition of the Bugambe sub-county education conference held at Bugambe sub-county headquarters on Monday.

The district education boss who was a guest speaker at the conference was responding to parents who were concerned over the smaller number of teachers in government schools.

He, however, implored the parents to mobilize some funds which can enable government schools to hire more teachers privately.

Byakagaba also decried the high rates of school drop outs among learners in Bugambe sub-county due to early marriages. He blamed the local council one leaders for illegally allowing these acts.

Retired principal tutor Amos Tibaijuka, a second guest speaker at the conference said that to improve on the Primary leaving examination (PLE) performances, the teachers have to know their roles in educating the learners.

Peter Banura, the Kikuube district chairperson commended the sub-county’s leadership initiative of organizing education conferences but also noted that the education system in the district is still lacking.

Since Kikuube attained district status in 2018, Bugambe sub-county was ranking last among the seven sub-counties/ town councils up to 2022. In 2023’s PLE results, they ranked 3rd after having the first education conference.