The Education Service Commission (ESC) has warned school heads about a ring of conmen who solicit money from schools, in exchange for jobs.
This follows an ESC advertisement for 221 head teachers and 593 deputy head teachers in April. According to the ESC chairperson, Badru Lubega Wagwa, out of the 450 candidates who applied for the posts of head teacher, 166 candidates were shortlisted while 1,369 candidates are due to be interviewed for deputy head teacher positions.
Requirements for head teacher positions include a degree in education, 12 years’ teaching experience in a government-aided secondary school, three of which should have been at the level of deputy head teacher.
For deputy head teachers, a degree in education is also compulsory, along with nine years’ teaching experience in a government-aided secondary school, three of which should have been at the level of a substantive education officer.
“Some unscrupulous people have been sending messages to unsuspecting applicants requesting for money to be shortlisted but all services by the ESC are free of charge,” Wagwa said.
Wagwa Lubega emphasized that all successful applicants have been shortlisted on ESC notice board and website and no one should be hoodwinked into thinking.
“Nobody should convince unsuccessful candidates that they know how to get them onto the shortlist. The list is clear that whoever is not on it has not been shortlisted,” he said. “In case any applicant who has the requirements advertised has been left out, the affected person should submit a written appeal to the secretary ESC and that will be rectified.”
He added that attempts have been made to reach successful candidates by SMS to inform them of their interview dates. The interviews start today (May 30) and will run until June 10 for Kampala centre, while upcountry centres of Gulu, Mbale and Mbarara will hold interviews from June 13 to 17.
The recruitment exercise is a promotional exercise in schools that do not have substantive head teachers.
“Seed schools and community schools that have been taken over by government are all in need of head teachers. Some head teachers have retired while some have died. At the moment many schools are being managed by caretakers, which is unacceptable,” he explained.
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