Pallisa teachers reprimanded for absenteeism

EDUCATION|DISCIPLINE

194 of the 900 teachers in Pallisa district on Wednesday appeared before the district disciplinary committee chaired by Martin Okello the deputy chief administrative officer.

Okello said according the reports made by the head teachers, the 194 victims whom he referred to as suspects should to be charged for neglect of duty because they stayed out of their respective station without permission.

"I want to warn head teachers against taking advantage of their positions and squeeze teachers who differ with them but make rightful submissions and also teacher to stop being defiant,"Okello said.

In his conclusion, Okello passed last warning to these teachers saying they should desist from the unprofessional practice and get committed to their work.

Mathias Turyasingura, the district police commander Pallisa said he had enough spaces to detain all the 194 if the chief administrative officer made statement.

"These teachers, to me are suspects whose criminal acts are to be investigated and find out exactly what happened," Turyasingura said.

However, Patrick Duchu the district vice chairperson said it was unfortunate for teachers to act contrary to their professional conduct.

Duchu said the problems most of the victims had were associated to numerous loans which tend to keep them out of their school for fear of being arrested.

"To curb this vice, class monitors should be given monitoring tools for their teachers," Duchu said.

John Francis Okuma, the Pallisa district education officer said most of the teachers victimized have bad record a part from few who fell victim of being out of school without written permission.

Okuma said by a teacher staying out of the school for a day meant a lot and affected performance of the learners resulting into high dropout rates in Pallisa.

"We are going to ensure the discipline of teachers is corrected because it is from them that pupils learn from and the nation gets patriotic communities," Okuma said.