The Education Service Commission is in consultation with various stakeholders in the industry to make adjustments to the deployment policy of teachers, as a means of providing quality education.
According to officials at the commission, considerations are underway to start deploying teachers at duty stations of their choice to minimize absenteeism and late arrivals by teachers among others. Teachers are often dissatisfied with deployment as it throws most in areas they are unwilling to go hence affecting the poor quality of education.
Under the proposed policy, which is under the consultation of various stakeholders in the education circles, teachers can express interest in available vacancies in schools of their choice and will only be permitted to seek a transfer after at least three years of service.
The Chairperson of the Education Service Commission Reverend Professor Samuel Luboga, said during anniversary celebrations at St. Henry’s College Kitovu in Masaka city, that the changes, if effected, will solve outstanding challenges that compromise good education for learners.
He says that random recruitment and deployment of teachers outside their preferred terrain affects their performance and in some cases teachers deployed in hard-to-reach areas fail to fulfill their duties due to transportation challenges among other factors.
The Uganda National Teacher Policy (NTP) that was approved and launched in October 2019 creates a platform to professionalize and standardize the teaching profession and enhance the development and management of teachers.