Education Ministry Official Says Government To Recruit 2,600 New Teachers
News of the planned hire of more than 2,600 primary school teachers received the immediate endorsement of Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU), with Secretary General Filbert Baguma, saying it will help reduce teachers’ workload.
The Ministry Of Education And Sports permanent secretary, Ketty Lamaro, said the government is set to hire 2,655 new primary teachers to work in 37 districts and cities across the country.
According to Daily Monitor, the education ministry said Shs13b is available to commence the exercise with “immediate effect”, and tasked accounting officers for the 37 beneficiary districts and cities to expedite hiring new primary school teachers.
“The money has been provided to the selected local governments…the recruitment is geared towards improving staffing levels in districts with least [number of] teachers,” the newspaper quotes Lamaro.
“The allocation of additional wage [in the 2022/24 fiscal year] targets the least staffed local governments to improve service delivery and equity,” she wrote in an August 8, 2022 letter to all local government accounting officers. She explained that the budget was provided under the Inter-Governmental Transfers (UgIFT).
UgIFT was launched in 2018/2019 financial year to, among others, increase capitation grants to schools and provide resources under the wage budget to recruit staff in understaffed districts.
Bankrolled by the World Bank, the project is to support construction of 259 seed secondary schools in fulfillment of the government’s ambitious programme to establish a public seed secondary school in every sub-county.
News of the planned hire of more than 2,600 primary school teachers received the immediate endorsement of Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU), with Secretary General Filbert Baguma, saying it will help reduce teachers’ workload.
Lamaro noted that an “analysis of the wage bill for FY2021/22 indicates that many local governments failed to absorb wage as a result of either late or failed recruitment”.
“The beneficiary local governments [of the new primary school teachers’ hires] are, therefore, advised to expedite the recruitment of staff for primary schools early enough to avoid returning funds to the consolidated funds,” she wrote.
SOURCE: Daily Monitor
