Kaliro National Teachers College is one of the more than 50 NTCs and PTCs the government is planning to phase out. Photo | Net.
In 2009, May Mujinya joined Kitabi Primary Teachers College (PTC) in Bushenyi just after her Senior
Four. Although she joined the college because she could not afford to continue to A-Level, Mujinya was happy because she had always loved teaching.After two years, she graduated with a certificate in primary teaching and went straight into the classroom
“After
teaching for three years, however, I was challenged to upgrade because I
realised that my academic qualifications were lacking. Around that same
time, the school where I was teaching demanded that they now wanted a
minimum of a diploma for all teachers,” she narrates. This speedily
drove her back to school in 2015, joining National Teachers College
(NTC), Kaliro, for her diploma in education, which she believes was a
great improvement from her prior qualifications but also an experience
that enriched her as a teacher.
“For some time now, I have been thinking about going back to school for my degree because I believed that it would further my career and widen my horizons because each academic level gives a wider perspective and knowledge since there is a lot more to cover about the profession. I witnessed that when I did my diploma from certificate level, and so for me, phasing out Grade III and Grade V teachers has further confirmed my desire that I need to be a graduate teacher,” says Mujinya.
UNITE for better
In
a bid to improve the quality of teachers in the country, last year,
Cabinet approved a new Teacher Policy that also sought to standardise
the teaching profession through continuous development and training.
As proposed in the policy, the government has now embarked on phasing out Primary Teachers Colleges (PTCs) and National Teachers Colleges (NTCs), setting up the National Institute of Teacher Education (UNITE), which will be housed at Shimoni Primary Teachers College starting next year.
In this arrangement, all PTCs and NTCs will be affiliated to UNITE and will thus be turned into degree awarding institutions. This also means that certificates (Grade III) and diplomas (Grade V) will be phased out to make all teachers degree holders. Additionally, teacher training institutions will only be admitting Senior Six leavers and practicing teachers with certificates or diplomas will be required to upgrade.
It should be recalled that in 2015, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) conducted the National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) where 12,300 pre- and- in-service teachers, and 164 tutors were tested for literacy and numeracy skills. Eight out of every 10 teachers could neither read nor solve basic primary level mathematics questions.
What NTCs say
Shedding
light on how this arrangement will be rolled out and whether current
students in PTCs and NTCs will be affected by the changes, Benjamin
Turyahikayo, the Principal National Teachers College Kabale, notes that
although this policy has been institutionalised, it is going to be a
transition and a process.
“The body that is going to oversee
these changes has to first put in place operational guidelines and
procedures; instruments that will be used in the transformation. It is
not going to be rigid, so students have no cause to worry that they will
be thrown out of their courses before they finalise. In fact, we are
going to admit students normally like we have been doing, until proper
operational guidelines from the ministry and the task force are
finalised and in place,” he explains.
As Dr Cleophas Mugyenyi, the director Basic Education, noted earlier as these changes were being communicated, as other PTCs and NTCs will be opening for and enrolling students, only Shimoni will be affected. “Shimoni PTC is going to be phased out and those premises are going to house the Uganda National Institute of Teacher Education (UNITE). When other colleges are recruiting fresh students to study for Grade III certificate, Shimoni will not,” Dr Mugenyi said.
A step in the right direction?
When
asked whether this was a step in the right direction, Turyahikayo noted
that by the time the policy was put in place, studies had been
conducted for a long time and from different areas that showed there was
need for improvement of the quality of teachers in Ugandan classrooms.
“So,
yes it is a step in the right direction to improve and equalise teacher
qualifications so that teachers are not treated as being Grade III or
Grade V but generally as degree holders, regardless of the classes that
they teach. This is what is working globally and so it is the way to
go.”
This also means that Senior Four leavers will not be able to
enroll when this policy has been fully rolled out which has left some
parents with mixed feelings.
Amon Olong, a parent, is concerned that
although this is a good thing, it will lock out many secondary school
leavers, especially those at UCE level from getting into teaching.
“A
big number of students have been going into teaching after Senior Four
because some of us do not have the money to take the children through to
Senior Six before going to a higher institution of learning,” he
expressed.
He also notes that this is likely to affect the levels of enrolment into these teacher training institutes since the dropout level from O-Level to A-Level is high. In 2017, for example 70 per cent of Senior Four leavers who enrolled into secondary school in 2014 did not reach Senior Six according to UNEB. However, Filbert Baguma the General Secretary Uganda National Teachers’ Union assures Ugandans that there is nothing to worry about.
“Ugandans fear change and those
sentiments will be there. But why should worry be on the teaching
profession that it has very high entry requirements and not other
professions?” he wondered.
He further noted that one of the
challenges has been that the teaching profession had been turned into a
last resort for many people after failing to get into the professions
they want. He alluded to research done by the Ministry of Education and
Sports which found out that 47 per cent of teachers were ready to leave
the profession if they got another opportunity.
“That clearly
shows the negative attitude towards the profession. So the ministry is
devising means to attract the best students since teaching is the mother
of all professions. So, have no fear, the numbers will always be there.
We just need students with a positive attitude to education and not
those that go there because it is the last resort or after failing,
because teaching is a noble profession,” he explained.
Furthermore,
Baguma enlightened that phasing out of qualifications is not new in
education, giving an example of how Grade V tutors in PTCs were phased
out.
“Practicing teachers will have up to 10 years to upgrade to Bachelor’s There are some without financial means to qualify because of their meagre salary and many responsibilities, and some nearing retirement; these may not necessarily go to upgrade but can sponsor their children to have a degree and then they can exit normally,” he adds.
Other education stakeholders
James
Kassaga Arinaitwe, Co-founder Teach for Uganda also shared that as
partners in the education sector, they believe that it is long overdue
that government skilled teachers so that learners are taught by
graduates.
“Even in other African countries, providing better
skilled teachers has been a priority. I believe that graduates are
better placed to offer the psychological support, leadership and bring
to speed the challenges of learners. At a graduate level, they can be
trained in a variety of skills to pass on to the learners,” he says.
Kassaga
adds that this is why they hire graduates and top it up with further
training so that the teacher is skilled, mentored, supported and has the
right mindset to teach and give the best to our learners.
“Ideally, the graduate level is the way to go because to nurture professionals, you must hire professionals, so enrolling teachers that are motivated and passionate about the profession will be able to bring the glory of the teaching profession back,” says Kassaga.
Background
The
new institute (UNITE) will be responsible for training all the teachers
in the country. Currently, NTCs train secondary school teachers at
diploma level (Grade V) while PTCs handle primary teachers at
certificate level (Grade 3) who are admitted with at least a Uganda
Certificate of Education (Senior Four) but who can upgrade to diploma
through NTCs.There are 10 private PTCs and 46 government-aided PTCs in
addition to the five NTCs of Kabale, Muni, Unyama, Kaliro and Mubende.
UNITE will now replace Kyambogo University as the coordinator of teacher training in the country.
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