Lira teachers flee due to bank loans
Sep 16, 2009
TEACHERS in Lira district have fled from schools due to failure to pay the loans they borrowed from various microfinance and banking institutions, the chief administrative officer, Christopher Okumu, has said.
By Alex Ocen
TEACHERS in Lira district have fled from schools due to failure to pay the loans they borrowed from various microfinance and banking institutions, the chief administrative officer, Christopher Okumu, has said.
Okumu said on Friday that the district was overwhelmed by claims from the microfinance institutions over teachers’ failure to pay loans.
He said some teachers failed to service the loans due to their low salary. “Some teachers have got loans from more than one institution. They got amounts that they cannot pay back. As a result, they fear going for duty as the micro-finance officials are always looking for them,†Okumu said.
He said the absence of teachers was affecting teaching and learning in the schools. He added that the district would establish regulations to ensure that civil servants get loans, which do not affect their service delivery.
He advised teachers against getting multiple loans because servicing them would be difficult, affecting their performance at schools and their respective homes.
He also appealed to the microfinance institutions to speed up the introduction of credit reference bureau services to help them identify cheating civil servants, who are fond of multiple borrowing.
TEACHERS in Lira district have fled from schools due to failure to pay the loans they borrowed from various microfinance and banking institutions, the chief administrative officer, Christopher Okumu, has said.
Okumu said on Friday that the district was overwhelmed by claims from the microfinance institutions over teachers’ failure to pay loans.
He said some teachers failed to service the loans due to their low salary. “Some teachers have got loans from more than one institution. They got amounts that they cannot pay back. As a result, they fear going for duty as the micro-finance officials are always looking for them,†Okumu said.
He said the absence of teachers was affecting teaching and learning in the schools. He added that the district would establish regulations to ensure that civil servants get loans, which do not affect their service delivery.
He advised teachers against getting multiple loans because servicing them would be difficult, affecting their performance at schools and their respective homes.
He also appealed to the microfinance institutions to speed up the introduction of credit reference bureau services to help them identify cheating civil servants, who are fond of multiple borrowing.