Tutors to lose jobs over degrees

By John Eremu TUTORS without university degrees should be phased out of Primary Teacher Colleges, an evaluation report of the Teacher Development and Management System (TDMS) has recommended. The evaluation, done by two international consultancy firms, said the US$104m (sh187b) TDMS project had been largely successful but that tutors holding diplomas in PTCs should be urgently replaced. "The staffing of PTCs with large numbers of tutors holding the diploma in teacher education must be reviewed. The day when PTCs will be staffed by graduates must be hastened," the report said. One of the consultants, Prof. Asavia Wandera, from Development Consultants International, said all diploma tutors in PTCs should upgrade to degree level to cope with the challenges of the profession. Reading the report at a workshop in Kampala on Monday, lead consultant Moses Kizige said primary education should remain the responsibility of the central government and the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK) should control the curricula and examinations in primary education rather than the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB). Ends