The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government through the Ministry of Education and Sports is in a process of phasing out Grade III and Grade V teaching qualifications in favor of a bachelor’s degree in Education.
Currently, the Grade III certificate is the minimum qualification for primary school teachers, while the Grave V certificate is the minimum qualification for Secondary School teachers.
However, according to Dr. Kedrace Turyagyenda, the director of Education Standards in the Ministry of Education and Sports, under the new policy, a teacher will be required to have a Bachelor degree of Education in order to teach in either primary or a secondary school.
Speaking as the chief guest during Teachers’ Day Celebrations for National Teachers’ Colleges-NTCs at NTC Kabale in Kabale district on Wednesday, Turyagyenda says that the proposal is in accordance with National Teachers’ Policy that was introduced in 2017 with technical support from the UNESCO, International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) under the Capacity Development for Education Programme.
The day was cerebrated under the theme “Young Teachers: The Future of a Profession”. According to Turyagyenda, the proposal requires teachers with bachelor’s degree in education to make a decision of teaching in nursery, primary or secondary school levels.
Turyagyenda says that the policy will be implemented gradually after thorough consultations with all education stakeholders in order for it not to affect teachers who are already in service as well as existing core Primary Teacher’s Colleges and NTCs.
Filbert Baguma, the Secretary General of Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) says that the proposed policy is highly welcome because it is aimed at enhancing competence to effectively deliver quality learning outcomes and leadership at all levels of the education cycle.
Baguma says that because most teachers have no bachelor’s degree, they are always booed and underrated in public as less educated civil servants. Baguma also says that it is always a challenge to demand for teachers’ salary increment because the government is somehow not convinced with reasons of increasing salaries for certificate holders at this era.
He however says that the proposed policy should be implemented with care so that no teacher is affected.
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well its a good initiative which need careful analysis the effects it shall impact on the current trend to transform the poor education system in uganda
This shows that the education sector is taking place. Am very optimistic that when this is put into implementation, we shall enhance the performance of our students but this needs to be sorted with tripple care to avoid under staffing and unemployment. Never the less, how is the ministry going to portion salary pays if nursery, primary and secondary levels all have the same teacher qualifications?
What a bout those who are already on pay roll and have only grade 3 certificate
Government should immediately begin by paying teachers who already graduates other than making them wait for ten years. I’m advising teachers to up grade to the desired level
Thanks for that , but to be optimistic of the performance ,
have you considered the kind of children that you meet classes,some are slow learners while are quicker ones . please consider that factor
My worry is how can some one hold a degree and still teaches nursery class i don’t know but more analysis needed
Ugandan government is good at impromptu programmes.We have not seen the quality produce of thematic not even essential learning materials for the latter. The ministry has come up with very many subjects which died at the arrival.The biggest issue here is encourage the trs to research.degree wont guarantee efficiency,NO!Pliz Educ ministry,those degrees r papers.Invest in research centres for these poor trs modify teaching to suit the current demands,you wont regret.So,whichever tr wants to upgrade would just go on their one after appreciating the power of knowledge.Dont use force,it wont help.It will kill talent,it will kill Education.
Just curious how does possessing a university degree hinder effective educating of pre-primary pupils ?
Child psychologists have degrees, pediatricians have a five year degree in medicine, one year internship plus a three year masters in pediatrics and that doesn’t stop them from effectively handling very young children….
Maybe the government should go even further and raise the bar requiring an appropriate specialist masters degree to teach the very young Ugandan learners
Dear Milly, Nursery school is the foundation and that is where we need to have highly qualified persons to give our children a solid foundation. In fact, a first degree may not be enough at that level but we can start with baby steps and we shall get there. That is a very good direction that we are taking as a country.
Why can’t the government upgrade corruption to PhD? Those papers are the Corruptionist in government office. Who are those to attain bachelor’s degree with poverty level in Uganda.
As usual,NRM governement is goood at rushing issues to non proper success.Even the president himself was he taught by Bachelors holder at.primary level?No justitication.If I may ask,is the minister and the Director.includng tue president incompetent because they were not taught by Bachelor teachers?
In fact ,cert and diploma coirses are actually the hands on courses.Bachelors is just managerial.Bachelors teachers.lack proper skill.check.????
Ugandan government is good at impromptu programmes.We have not seen the quality produce of thematic not even essential learning materials for the latter. The ministry has come up with very many subjects which died at the arrival.The biggest issue here is encourage the trs to research.degree wont guarantee efficiency,NO!Pliz Educ ministry,those degrees r papers.Invest in research centres for these poor trs modify teaching to suit the current demands,you wont regret.So,whichever tr wants to upgrade would just go on their one after appreciating the power of knowledge.Dont use force,it wont help.It will kill talent,it will kill Education.
You don’t need a degree to teach a nursery kid.!!!!
Are your common senses right?????? Can you imagine!!!
Any one to contest for an M .P or L.C 5 position, just needs a S.6 level certificate, but for a nursery teacher a degree??????
So you want to say that a nursery teacher should be more qualified than an M.P???
Remember garage lll and lV are stricking every term for less pay, now expect the worst should all be graduates in future.
So far does UNEB have a syllabus for nursary?
Better require convert the syllabus from academic to vocational so that the leavers at any stage are skilled in various displines to help them get jobs easily that what it’s today.
Thanks
Your cavalier views of educating nursery pupils is alarming…the early years of education are key to succesful completion of education at subsequent higher levels and also maximizing the potential of these Ugandan children.
The era of jua kali approach to education should be in the past and teachers should be real specialists in education just like medical doctors are and also the teachers should have appropriate specialist masters degrees for whichever level of teaching they engage in.
When we have all teachers with minimum a masters degree then society will start giving education the neccesary financing and respect education needs and deserves.And then it won’t be strange if teachers are paid the same salaries as public university lecturers or government spending much more per child per year as compared to this joke of education expenditure of Ugshs 7,000 per child per year.
In conclusion Uganda’s greatest resource is its people and to maximize this human resource’s utility we as a country need to ensure the best education and healthcare for all Ugandans and at all levels starting right from point of conception.
In previous surveys, schools headed by grade iii teachers were found better performing than those led by grade v and bachelors. What are we doing? Teaching is not about papers, it’s a calling and whoever is called of God does not need to be pushed to campus! You’ll always find them there. Grade salaries according to papers and you may be there.
And, before you get excited with your bachelors holders, value the teacher on ground now because the nation is what it is because of the current teacher. From the president to the peasant, let’s learn to appreciate and regard people who have made us whatever we are!
Jesus reigns.
What was the work experience of these teachers of grade 3 ,grade 5 and bachelors in this study?
My bet is the study compared grade 3 teachers of 20years education experience against freshly minted bachelor of education teachers and 3 to 5 year educational experience for grade 5 teachers and obviously the 20yeas of experienced of grade 3 teachers appeared superior adminstrators to fresh bachelors graduates.
But if we compared the teaching and administrative abilities of fresh grade 3 teachers against fresh grade 5 teachers and bachelors graduates the study will turn out the opposite with and the fresh bachelors graduate will be much better than fresh grade 5 who would in turn be better than fresh grade 3 teachers.
The 20 year plus Learning by experience of the grade 3 teachers is effective also but it would take much longer to generate a such caliber of educationists and they would be in much smaller numbers than the country needs to adequately and properly educate ugandans for our country to be globally competitive in any arena than if as country we pushed the training levels/skilling of teachers to minimum bachelors degree.
Absolutely, but unless it is done with strict diligence. Am only worried of current education system where almost everybody now buys papers and also that ‘animal’ of favourism, nepotism…pa
Nomatter even when Jesus died for us all, we still mock him upto today, well, In previous surveys, schools headed by grade iii teachers were found better performing than those led by grade v and bachelors. What are we doing? Teaching is not about papers, it’s a calling and whoever is called of God does not need to be pushed to campus! You’ll always find them there. Grade salaries according to papers and you may be there.
And, before you get excited with your bachelors holders, value the teacher on ground now because the nation is what it is because of the current teacher. From the president to the peasant, let’s learn to appreciate and regard people who have made us whatever we are!
Jesus reigns.
I believe that was a proposal from the donors. If not that is a means of silensing teachers so that they don’t air out to the world that they are the least paid and underated civil servants in uganda. Now if the least qualification to teach is bachelors degree, what will be the qualification for the education ministers who will regulate the work of these teachers? How will an A-level certificate holder regulate the work of a degree holder?
I think it can be a good move that only teachers with bachelor’s degrees will be allowed to teach in order to improve education standards and quality.
Here I proposed the following to be done before implementation;
1. Training of grade III and V teachers should stop
2. All those who have been trained be recruited because there are teachers who completed their grade V in 90s but up to now government has failed to recruit them and these teachers do not have money to upgrade
3. PTC and NTC can be afflicted to some Universities and then bachelor programs is allowed.
Sure !, A Degree For Teaching Nursery En Primary And What About The Payment ?, Still A Meagre Pay For A Degree Holder ?, And The Mps To Earn 40 Million With S.6 Paper And Some Even Failed To Raise Points To Train As Teachers….What About The LTs ? ,what Was Their Qualifications.. So As They That Teachers Can Be Laid Off Any Time And Replaced Us Soldier True, TO ME I FEEL TEACHER NEED REFRESHER COURSES,BETTER PAY, LUNCH AND MEDICAL ALLOWANCE AND ACCOMODATION TO MOTIVE THEM THAN WORKING UNDER THREATS, YOU NEEAD TO DO MORE RESEARCH !! , FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.
Any innovation comes with its merits and demerits both to the initiators and the implementer s trs go to schools so that salary pay climb the ladder in order to suit the cost of living in this nation. of which it may be a demerit to the govt to pay papers.the papers are urs will help u get better job with NGOs and drop teaching.
I am disturbed the ministry want to articulate that the problem is teachers or the curriculum? there fore we need to implement vocationalization than just requiring papers. the vocationalism should be in the following ways like someone doing a certain course be given a hand on course like motor vehicle repair. There ford equip teachers with this skills so that they can go back and also teach the students and this is going to solve some problems other than needing them to acquire papers. the cu curriculum for teachers Should be revised to suit the best on my side papers can not work
You’re good.
It’s just the matter of time to be given to trs to become graduates but it won’t change the performance of a tr. Teaching is a calling, let the gov’t put more money in educ as far as salaries are such that trs can embrace it .
GOVERNMENT NEED TO GIVE TEACHERS RESPECT ,COZ AT ONE MOMENT THEY WERE NURTURED BY TRS.MPS EARNING 40M,SOME ARE A-LEVEL LEAVERS.
Each school should have career development officer who are well trained in carrying out psychological tests and advice students accordingly on career path other than teachers who simply focus on subject combinations which for years has never been so so helpful to all categories of learners.
Well, the proporsal is good, but it should be done with the knowledge of equal qualifications=equal harvest therefore this sets the govt through the ministry to set a side more income for salaries as qualifications for all get higher.
The idea seems good but take time to know the impacts it will cause. Because you can’t say even a nursery teacher should have a degree to teach . What of those young leaders who use form six certificate to lead meaning with time they will also require a degree to lead . People are going to have alot of questions to about that idea of having a degree inorder to teach . I think take a step after analysing alot.
Why does the gov’t in patnership with the education service commission roundup grade3 And 5 To bachelor holders like the way it was to LTS And grade2 Trs instead of disturbing trs
This is in fact not going to work because even nursery teachers are still serving as on private arrangement in private and government institutions, what about those in secondary schools with bachelors degree but serving on private arrangement?
This is rushing for nothing. Government should have started with G5 and pay them differently from G3s. Then teachers get the value of adding papers after Grade 3. And they would even go the Universities willingly but not forcing them.
I Feel teachers who are having their savings with NSSF should be cleared off to them so that it can help them to upgrade their Education because their profession is already threatened please Government, it’s very pitty to have the same qualification,the Headteacher,the deputy,the classroom teacher having the same qualification, please and please allow teachers in private to access their NSSF at this point before it’s worse, thanks for God and my Country
The issue of bachelor’s degree can’t work here,what matters is content delivery, because teachers in Uganda have really done almost the best job because they are the ones who handled the health workers who are appreciated everyday, so teachers need to be appreciated insteady of being pushed into hardships
Just imagine! This is ridiculous! Many people qualified long time but upto now they have not been absorbed by government. Many are employed by private schools who pay them peanuts for survival! 200,000/= as salary for a teacher in private schools can’t pay for a university degree plus taking care of a family.
Those who managed to upgrade to degrees upto now are still earning salaries of diplomas. First absorb all teachers who qualified since then & tell them to upgrade to the level you want.
The Chinese you see constructing roads in Uganda have no degrees ,the Ugandan engineer in fact are porters to these Chinese during these projects. any one can hold a degree but what can you perform.