Kayunga head teachers face demotion over poor PLE results
Feb 01, 2009
Head teachers in Kayunga, whose schools performed poorly, are panicking following a directive by the acting district chairperson, Boniface Bandikubi, that they be demoted.
By Charles Jjuuko and Egessa Hajusu
Head teachers in Kayunga, whose schools performed poorly, are panicking following a directive by the acting district chairperson, Boniface Bandikubi, that they be demoted.
Addressing the district council at the district headquarters in Ntenjeru last Thursday, Bandikubi said head teachers who failed to register good performance would be demoted to classroom teachers and be replaced by teachers who are willing to work hard and uplift the education standards in the district.
“I have already asked the CAO to identify head teachers who performed badly to be demoted because we cannot look on as our children fail,†Bandikubi said.
He said they would set up a five-man committee to assess the performance of all school head teachers in the last five years. Those found performing badly will be demoted.
Of the 7,102 pupils who sat for Primary Leaving Examinations in Kayunga district last year, only 41 passed in Grade One, 1,203 passed in Grade Two, 1,824 in Grade Three, 1,098 in Grade Four, while 2,426 failed. A total of 219 schools, most of which are under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, did not have a candidate in Grade One.
However, the district senior inspector of schools, Moses Olok, attributed the district’s poor performance on misunderstanding of the UPE policy by parents and the local leaders.
He also said lack of food for pupils contributed to their failure countrywide. Olok said head teachers made efforts to provide lunch for the pupils at a fee, but local leaders intervened and stopped parents from paying the money.
Olok added that lack of regular inspection of schools made some head teachers neglect their duties.
Meanwhile, Busia district education officer Charles Wadenya has given teachers new conditions to ensure that the education standards in the area improve.
Meeting the chairpersons of the school management committees and head teachers at Busia Border primary seven schools on Friday, Wadenya noted that indiscipline and absenteeism in the teachers was the major factor that led to poor performance of the district.
He directed head teachers to send weekly reports about the teachers’ attendance to his office. Wadenya also asked the chairpersons of school management committees to closely monitor the head teachers.
Head teachers in Kayunga, whose schools performed poorly, are panicking following a directive by the acting district chairperson, Boniface Bandikubi, that they be demoted.
Addressing the district council at the district headquarters in Ntenjeru last Thursday, Bandikubi said head teachers who failed to register good performance would be demoted to classroom teachers and be replaced by teachers who are willing to work hard and uplift the education standards in the district.
“I have already asked the CAO to identify head teachers who performed badly to be demoted because we cannot look on as our children fail,†Bandikubi said.
He said they would set up a five-man committee to assess the performance of all school head teachers in the last five years. Those found performing badly will be demoted.
Of the 7,102 pupils who sat for Primary Leaving Examinations in Kayunga district last year, only 41 passed in Grade One, 1,203 passed in Grade Two, 1,824 in Grade Three, 1,098 in Grade Four, while 2,426 failed. A total of 219 schools, most of which are under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, did not have a candidate in Grade One.
However, the district senior inspector of schools, Moses Olok, attributed the district’s poor performance on misunderstanding of the UPE policy by parents and the local leaders.
He also said lack of food for pupils contributed to their failure countrywide. Olok said head teachers made efforts to provide lunch for the pupils at a fee, but local leaders intervened and stopped parents from paying the money.
Olok added that lack of regular inspection of schools made some head teachers neglect their duties.
Meanwhile, Busia district education officer Charles Wadenya has given teachers new conditions to ensure that the education standards in the area improve.
Meeting the chairpersons of the school management committees and head teachers at Busia Border primary seven schools on Friday, Wadenya noted that indiscipline and absenteeism in the teachers was the major factor that led to poor performance of the district.
He directed head teachers to send weekly reports about the teachers’ attendance to his office. Wadenya also asked the chairpersons of school management committees to closely monitor the head teachers.