The Committee on Education and Sports has learnt that the desired e-recruitment system envisaged to curb down graft in recruitment, has been foiled by teachers’ poor literacy levels in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
This was revealed by Dr Asuman Lukwago, the Secretary of the Education Service Commission, saying that efforts to deploy the system proved futile and its enforcement would disqualify the majority of teachers.
“The Teachers’ proficiency in ICT is still low, even when we trained them some of them would fill out the forms but could not upload them to the system, we are now using the paper methods in recruitment,” said Lukwago.
Lukwago was speaking before the Committee on Education and Sports on Wednesday, 15 January 2025 alongside officials and board members of the Commission.
He noted that the electronic system was visualised to deal with teachers who forge documents to be able to qualify for some positions most especially those on promotion, a practice he said is on the increase.
“There is an increase in indiscipline among teachers, they discovered means of making self-transfers using forged letters that the district Chief Administrative Officers cannot easily detect because they look like those from the Commission,” said Lukwago adding that,” we have a report of a headteacher who got promoted using a forged master’s degree”.
Kashari South County MP, Hon. Nathan Itungo, asked the commission if it had taken any steps to address the reported graft in recruitment of teachers, expressing discontent about reports of bribery in recruitment.
The committee chairperson, Hon. James Kubeketerya, asked the commission to share the list of teachers who were recruited or promoted using forged documents. Kubeketerya further asked the commission to expedite completion of their official home which he said has been funded over the years but remains incomplete.
“The construction of your home has become a song for the past five years, what is happening with that building? You have been given money and it has been spent,” said Kubeketerya on realising that the commission is still seeking for more funds worth Shs7 billion to complete the building.
Hon. Phillips Lokwang (NRM, Napore West County) asked the Education Service Commission to conduct a comprehensive and meticulous assessment of teachers before the next recruitment.
“As a commission you should be able to visit the schools where you are sending teachers, do the analysis in schools and confirm who needs recruitment or promotion, if you want to benefit those who have been serving,” Lokwang said.
The Commission is seeking extra funding worth Shs 1.6 billion to recruit teachers in schools constructed under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers programme. Plans are also underway to appoint 3,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel as well as confirming 3,000 personnel in the service.
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