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Uganda: Country Needs More Teachers
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New Vision (Kampala)
10 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Carol Natukunda
Kampala
UGANDA needs about 56,000 additional teachers, if it is to meet its targets in the universal secondary education. According to a recent United States Agency for International Development research programme, the Educational Quality Improvement Programme, Uganda's demand for teachers is projected to swell to 141,000 in 2015.
This would represent a 14% growth rate up from 3.4% in 2004. The study titled: "Expanding secondary education for sub-Saharan Africa: where are the teachers?" attributes the shortage of teachers to low motivation.
Uganda was found to annually produce 3,518 qualified teachers for lower secondary education and 7,373 graduates with education degrees. However, only 20% of graduates proceeded to become lower or upper secondary school teachers.
"Low salary and poor teaching conditions cause teachers to leave the field within one to three years of entering the service," the study noted.
Aidan Mulkeen, the World Bank education specialist, said countries needed to adapt their policies the constant demand for teachers.
"The demand changes every year and this is a problem that is going to get worse. But each country is different and can therefore use a different approach. It is clear that the university graduates don't want to teach in rural areas.
"Can diploma holders be helped to teach in lower secondary?" he asked during a recent conference on education in Africa at the Joaquim Chissano Conference Centre.
He suggested non-monetary and monetary incentives to motivate teachers to remain in the profession and ensure high quality graduates. Citing the lack of mathematics and science teachers, Mulkeen described it as a vicious cycle in the education system.
"Maths is badly taught at primary level, so what do we expect of graduates?" Mulkeen asked.
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The acting commissioner for teacher education in Uganda's education ministry, Margaret Nsereko, declined to reveal how many teachers the country recruits in a year.
"That is an issue to do with the public service ministry," she said.
But according to the report, Uganda employs 2,000 teachers per annum, which is insufficient to keep pace with the high student enrolment rate.
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