Dear Brother Oloya Opiyo,
Thank you for this nice article in defence of our teachers.
Where is beloved Dr Abel Rwendeire who used to defend their interests (He even gave them an across-the-board salary increase).
May be he was too good for a stupid country like ours.
Indeed this articlet is a terrible indictment on Dr Kiddu Makubuya.
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Word For Thought, Dear Dr Kiddu Makubuya
-- Teachers should be treated fairly and their integrity respected
Letter from Toronto By Opiyo Oloya
Dear Education Minister, Dr. Kiddu Makubuya, Your announcement last week that 2000 teachers will be transferred to other schools effective immediately was not thought through carefully. In fact, the Ministry of Education bungled the process that should have seen a smooth changing of the guard, but which is now riddled with chaos. Worse, there is no equity in the teacher transfer process since powerful schools are able to lobby successfully to keep excellent staff members while smaller ones can only see staff carted away to other locations. To be sure the rationale given for teacher transfer is good teachers can benefit from working in various environments throughout Uganda. However, this does not mean that the teachers must suffer undue hardship in order to fulfil the ministry's arbitrary transfer quota. The first mistake the Ministry of Education made was in mandating that a teacher be transferred after serving 10 years in a school. This arbitrary timeline effectively ties up the hands of ministry officials from moving teachers from low enrolment schools to schools with growing enrolment. For instance, with this policy, a teacher with two years of experience could choose to stay in the same school despite falling enrolment, when his or her services are no longer required. Such teachers would successfully argue that they could not be moved because they have not pierced the ten-year ceiling. The second mistake the ministry made was in giving transfer notices at the last minute, when schools were already in session. This not only disrupts the students who will lose their teachers but causes unnecessary hardship to the teachers being uprooted without warning. What makes this crude changeover so hard to swallow is the fact that teachers are being flung across the nation where they have little or no support system at all. How can a teacher whose life has been turned upside down be expected to rise and shine the following day? To avoid the same catastrophic chaos in subsequent years, the ministry needs to refine the system of teacher transfer. For instance, it makes no sense whatsoever to leave a teacher in a school for as long as 10 years before asking them to pack up to move from Kampala to Kotido or vice versa. The simple fact is that teachers become attached to their communities and, understandably, are reluctant to move to a new setting. One alternative is to shorten the number of years a teacher can spend in one school, say to three or four years before they move on. By moving teachers often, the ministry avoids the pitfall of having to come against a powerful community not willing to part with their experienced teachers even when falling enrolment numbers no longer support having those teachers in the school. Even then, teachers must receive transfer notice at least one year in advance of their actual physical move so that they can prepare socially and emotionally for the move. The more humane approach is to adopt the system currently used in most Canadian schools, especially here in Ontario. In April, each school reports the projected enrolment for the next school year, namely how many students it expects to have in the school. Based on pre-determined formula, school officials can then accurately predict the number of teachers required for the school in the new school year. A drop in student enrolment means fewer teachers are required, and as such, the teachers with the least experience will be declared "excess" and immediately notified that they must prepare to move to other schools. A teacher on the excess list can pick from a number of available positions open in various schools. However, teacher transfers based on seniority, where the less senior teachers must move, will only work when principals or headteachers are compelled to submit reports on expected student enrolment for the next academic year and, as well, the number of staff required to teach that population. While they can keep their most senior teachers, schools must immediately report the younger teachers who will be declared excess so that placement can be found for them. Secondly, long before the beginning of the new school year, the Ministry of Education must advertise all existing teacher positions, school-by-school, district-by-district. Every school, throughout Uganda, must receive the complete list of expected teaching positions. This information will allow the least senior teachers to begin to apply to fill those positions that are open. Moreover, senior teachers who wish to move should be encouraged to apply to move into those existing positions. So a senior maths teacher from Budo who wishes to relocate to Kitgum High school should be able to do so without having to wait for 10 years for transfer. In the end, teachers must not be treated like they were widgets to be moved from factory to factory. Their individual integrity must be respected at all times.
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Mitayo Potosi
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