Wakiso UPE schools face teacher shortage

Aug 06, 2015

Under-staffing in Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools continues to affect performance in Wakiso district

By Andrew Ssenyonga

Under-staffing in Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools continues to affect performance in Wakiso district.


Frederick Kiyingi, the district education officer, said this has led to poor quality of teaching, as pupils do not get the required services.

Kiyingi said, according to government, each UPE school with a total 299 pupils, is supposed to have eight teachers including the head teacher to manage all classes.

"Some have eight but others have less. But even if we have eight teachers in all, the quality of teaching remains poor because teachers are always over worked," he said. Kiyingi was reacting to reports that many schools were continuing to perform poorly yet the district spends a lot of money to maintain them.

This was during the district's stakeholders meeting on service delivery organized by Transparency International Uganda Chapter (TIUC) at Nexus hotel in Nansana, Wakiso, on Wednesday.

Kiyingi said private schools have almost three teachers per a class compared to one teacher in UPE schools.

According to the 2014 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results, Wakiso was among the best and one of the worst performing districts.

Kiyingi said worst performing schools were UPE, while the private schools raised the flag of the district.

"We appreciate government's effort to promote free education for all, but it is hard to have better results with one teacher managing a class of over 100 pupils," he added.

Kiyingi said government last recruited teachers in 2011. "But the population of pupils continues to grow and nothing is done about recruitment," he added.

He said some schools face challenges of inadequate infrastructure and scholastic materials.

He said contrary to previous years, public schools inspection remains poor.

During the meeting TIUC presented a brief report on service delivery in the district focusing on issues of accountability, value for money and triple constraints, forms of corruption among others.

The report shows that the performance of the UPE schools in the district has continued to fall compared to private schools.

It also cited the inadequate attention given to special needs education.

While presenting the report, the project coordinator, Eddie Kayinda, said in some cases government teachers hire out private teachers from other schools to sit in for them in their absence.

"We found this practice in many schools. Government teachers pay their friends in private schools to cover up for them as they are doing their private work like farming," he noted.

In response, Kiyingi said they were not aware of the practice.

"It is illegal and unacceptable. We are going to investigate the practice and punish the culprits," Kiyingi said.
The report was compiled after a pilot project called Action for Transparency (A4T) since 2013.

Peter Wandera, the TIUC executive director said the project was aimed at enhancing social accountability that allows recipients and concerned citizens exercise their right of demanding for transparent and adequate usage of public funds.

The report listed the conducive learning environment and quality teaching as key ingredients behind good performance.

 


 

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