Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, one of the worst hit sectors was Education sending over 15 million learners home and making it a struggle for the teachers to meet their daily needs.
According to the Ministry of Education and Sports, 5 percent of the teachers in private and government schools did not return to their profession when schools were reopened in January.
The commissioner for teacher education and training Jonathan Kamwana informed that of the 347,219 teachers in the country 17,360 of these acquired more lucrative and better paying jobs hence quitting the profession.
Now the government is embarking on efforts to fill the labour gap. While addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday, the Ministry of Education and Sports announced that it is to recruit 13,315 teachers to replace the ones out of the profession.
Commenting on the subject, RX Radio presenter James Onen aka Fatboy said that the situation is similar to a relationship, where one dumps the other because they have lost their job. And when the one dumped gets a new job, the other partner comes back requesting to be pardoned which most people wouldn’t do.
“So wouldn't you be a fool to be lured back to teaching after having been discarded while it was convenient for the government (the bureaucrats and officials who kept schools closed for two years and didn’t lose their salaries) yet you the teacher who either was laid off or didn't have a school to go and teach at you figured your way out.Now they're like, ‘oh we need you back.’ Who knows next time they won't say ‘oh another deadly variant, schools closed again?” Fatboy asked.
However, The Fatboy Show co-host Olive Najjuma argued that the ministry stated that government school teachers remained paid even during the lockdown. However she questioned why the education sector was losing over 17,000 teachers.
She further wondered who was teaching the children then when they returned to the schools to which Fatboy replied that it were the parents who were encouraged to homeschool their children.
“But when we talk about initiatives like homeschooling, we think about parents that are educated. Think about the peasant that has school going children and probably the peasant himself has never seen a chalkboard,” said Olive.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.