Ministry of Education and Sports officials say the scheme of service for primary schools was misinterpreted by education stakeholders, writes YUDAYA NANGONZI.
On October 5, teachers in Kampala converged at Lugogo cricket oval to celebrate their annual fete. Themed Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status, the national celebrations attracted President Museveni as well as his wife Janet, the minister for education and sports.
Through their umbrella organisation Uganda National Teachers’ Union (Unatu), teachers highlighted some of their challenges. Among other concerns, the policy of head teachers in primary schools upgrading to degree level caught the president’s eye.
James Tweheyo, the Unatu general secretary, said the current teaching situation is unstable, noting that the policy has forced several school heads to abandon their schools.
“Your Excellency, let me tell you this secret, head teachers and their deputies have disappeared from schools because they are busy pursuing degrees,” Tweheyo said. “And the support supervision is lacking in the schools because teachers are almost supervising themselves.”
Tweheyo’s statement prompted the president to summon Dr Jane Egau, the commissioner for teacher education in the ministry, to explain the policy.
“The issue of graduate head teachers is a structure that came from the ministry of public service and we shall talk with them [public service] to harmonize these issues,” Dr Egau said.
Not convinced, Museveni called Adah Muwanga, the ministry of public service acting permanent secretary, to give more details.
Muwanga said: “It is true the circular came from the ministry of public service. However, the education standards are set by the ministry of education.”
The two government officials left the president wondering who was telling the truth after they failed to explain who specifically initiated the policy.
“Well, to be a good primary head teacher, do you have to be a graduate? And if that was the case, why stampede people? It can be a technical good proposal but let also the political leaders look at it,” Museveni said.
POLICY MISINTERPRETED
In an interview last week, Hajji Badru Waggwa Lubega, the chairperson of the Education Service Commission (ESC), said the policy is part of the June 2013 Scheme of Service (SoS) for teaching personnel in primary schools, but has since been misinterpreted.
“I am surprised that some officials at Lugogo could not explain to the president that the scheme was disseminated by us,” he said. “We even engaged some of them during the drafting and implementation stage.”
Sarah Mabangi, the ESC principal policy analyst, said the SoS is a human resource tool which is aimed at introducing promotional ladders for teachers within the classroom. Before the scheme was implemented, there were only three levels of teacher, deputy and head teacher in a school.
“[But] we now have an education assistant who bears a certificate as the first entry level, then to senior education assistant, principal education assistant, deputy head teacher (with a diploma), and finally head teacher,” she said.
She explained that back then, it would take a Grade-III teacher with a certificate six years to be promoted and work for more three years to get the next promotion to be senior education assistant.
According to Mabangi, to become a deputy head teacher, a diploma holder needed at least 12 years in service and at least 15 years to become a head teacher.
“For us, we believe that in 15 years, somebody must have acquired a degree because some of them have already done. Honestly, you have an education assistant with a diploma, how can such a person be headed by a Grade-III teacher with only a certificate?” she wondered.
SCHEME OF SERVICE
An evaluation of the SoS conducted recently by the commission found that over 50 per cent of education assistants have already acquired diplomas. Already, even before some head teachers upgraded to degrees, their salaries were automatically increased, according to Mohammed Kaaya, a commissioner at ESC.
“We did this hoping that in three years, which expire in 2018, they would eventually acquire the qualifications and remain in those positions,” Kaaya said.
However, a July 1, 2014 circular by the ministry of public service indicates that those who will have failed to acquire the qualifications will be retired.
“But the circular is not cast in stone because if we receive any complaints on the timeframe, there is room for a review,” Kaaya said.
POLICY BENEFITS
According to Nicholas Gaboi, the ESC principal human resource officer, the benefits in the teacher’s scheme are immense. For instance, an education assistant (with a certificate), as the first entry level in primary schools, now earns Shs 533,000, up from Shs 377,000.
Gaboi says this amount is ideally higher for a primary teacher since other public servants in the same salary scale earn Shs 268,143. Deputy head teachers with diplomas earn Shs 599,322 while public servants in the same salary scale earn Shs 447,080.
Head teachers, whether they have acquired a degree or not, are currently in scale U4 and earn Shs 798,667. Yet other public servants in the same scale such as economists, administrators and human resource managers at degree level earn Shs 601,341.
“With those figures, are we not helping the teaching personnel? Even an education officer at the district who supervises the head teacher earns a lesser fee of Shs 601, 341,” Gaboi said.
The salary scales are expected to be integrated into the single-spine salary structure for all civil servants.
MINISTRY SPEAKS
Tonny Mukasa-Lusambu, the assistant commissioner for primary education, also disputed complaints by Tweheyo that head teachers have neglected their schools and concentrated on studies.
Mukasa-Lusambu said the ministry is currently conducting a survey on teacher absenteeism and, so far, it has reduced tremendously.
“In the reports so far, I have not heard anywhere that head teachers have abandoned their schools. That is false information,” Mukasa- Lusambu said, adding that Unatu officials ought to be informed on certain things before communicating them to the public.
According to the education service commission, head teachers and their deputies are supposed to study in the evening, weekends, during holidays or even engage in long-distance learning.
“We briefed them [head teachers and deputies] on the scheme and they know what to do,” Mukasa-Lusambu said. “The issue of better welfare for teachers was raised by Unatu people since 2011. We are trying to address their concerns through the scheme of service and I don’t know why they are making noise over it.”
nangonzi@observer.ug